Five St. Albert Catholic High students are off to New Brunswick this weekend to take on the world as part of an international environmental science competition.
SACHS students Mapy Barba, Élise Chaisson, Emily Pillott, Deirdra York, and Avalina Zenari will represent Alberta next week at the National Conservation Foundation’s 2023 Envirothon in New Brunswick.
The squad from SACHS will be up against some 500 competitors from Canada, China, Singapore, and the U.S. in a contest of soil, forestry, aquatic ecology, wildlife, and environmental science. The top team will take home a trophy and $15,000.
Alberta last sent a team to the international Envirothon in 2019, said SACHS Envirothon coach Neil Korotash, who also coached the 2019 Alberta team. The SACHS squad took first place in the Alberta Envirothon held May 3-5 at Lakeland College.
Korotash said this contest was super exciting for the students, as it gave them a chance to get hands-on experience doing real environmental science with top experts in the field.
“There’s so much negativity out there with climate change and water scarcity and forest fires,” he said.
“It’s nice to be able to show (students) there are solutions.”
Scientific Olympiad
Korotash said the squad from SACHS is made up of the team that placed first at provincials (Barba, Chaisson, York, and Zenari) plus Pillott from the third-place group.
Zenari said she and her teammates have been studying hard in preparation for next week’s competition.
“I’ve always been super interested in making a difference,” she said, when asked how she got involved in this contest, adding that she was an active member of her school’s Environment Club.
Zenari said she and her teammates competed against 10 squads at the Alberta Envirothon, which saw them learn how to identify trees and water bugs and present a comprehensive solution to an environmental problem. Their winning solution showed how a hypothetical Alberta rural community could use small modular nuclear reactors to create jobs and reduce its carbon foot print.
The Alberta Envirothon saw students perform water quality tests, analyze soil horizons, and learn how to track animals using transponders and radio collars, Korotash said. Next week’s contest will see participants exchange souvenirs, tour Halifax and St. John, and learn about forestry and other sciences from experts. For the contest itself, students will have to pass a series of written exams and present a solution to an environmental problem related to the event’s theme — adapting to a changing climate, in this case.
Zenari said Alberta and New Brunswick both faced challenges of extreme weather due to climate change: extreme heat and drastic weather changes here, and floods and hurricanes there. Cutting fossil fuel use and reducing waste could help reduce the severity of these changes.
Zenari said she was looking forward to having a good time at the Envirothon with her teammates and said she was optimistic about their chances.
“None of us were expecting to win the provincial one,” she said, and the group has really come together as a team.
Zenari, who hopes to become a teacher to foster local, sustainable environmental solutions, said the Envirothon was a wonderful opportunity for anyone interested in environmental science to make new friends.
The 2023 NCF-Envirothon runs from July 23 to 29 at Mount Allison University in Tantramar (formerly Sackville), New Brunswick. Visit envirothon.org/the-competition/current-competition for details.
