Victoria Chouinard wins first place!
MONTRÉAL, le 25 avril 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Victoria Chouinard, secondary five student at École Saint-Jean-Eudes was awarded the Hydro-Québec First Prize, the highest distinction available at the Super Expo-sciences Hydro-Québec, Quebec Final. She received a cash prize of 1 500 $, a trophy, and a trip to James Bay.
L'ADNe…Euh! C'est quoi?
Traditional methods for the identification of marine species can have negative impacts on fish populations, including injuries and death. It is therefore necessary to develop less invasive referencing methods. With this idea in mind, Victoria Chouinard, a student at Saint-Jean-Eudes secondary school, decided to test a new method of referencing based on DNA. This technique allows the identification of fish species present in an ecosystem using traces of DNA present in water samples. Victoria was fortunate to be supported by the team of Professor Louis Bernatchez of Université Laval, a pioneer in the field of marine species identification. She collected various sites on the St. Charles River to make a complete listing of the fish populations inhabiting the ecosystem. The originality of her project and the rigor of her scientific approach led Victoria to win the top honors of the 2017 Hydro-Québec Super Expo-Sciences held in Saint-Hubert.
In addition to the Hydro-Québec First Prize, Victoria Chouinard was also awarded the following prizes:
The hard work of many other participants was also rewarded at the award ceremony, where nearly 250 000 $ in cash prizes, bursaries and participations in higher fairs, were handed out. In addition, 40 of these students were selected to be part of the Quebec delegation for the Canada-Wide Science Fair, in Regina, Saskatchewan from May 14th to 20th at the University of Regina. Exhibitors were also selected to represent Canada at the MILSET Expo-science International 2017 that will take place from August 6th to 12th at the Ceara Convention Center in Fortaleza, Brazil.
The pictures of the winners of 2017 Super Expo-sciences Hydro-Québec, Québec Final will be available on the official Facebook page of the Expo-sciences Hydro-Québec. Abstracts of their projects are available on exposciences.qc.ca
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Thank you to the Science Fair's partners
The Super Expo-sciences Hydro-Québec is an event organized by the Réseau Technoscience and made possible by the support of our presenting partner Hydro-Québec. This project is also financially supported by the Ministère de l'Économie, des sciences et de l'Innovation through the NovaScience program. Other national partners are: Merck Canada Inc., the Alcoa Foundation, and our media partners La Presse + and BLD Publications (Les Explorateurs, Les Débrouillards and Curium).
The Réseau Technoscience would like to thank École secondaire Mgr-A.-M.-Parent and the Commission scolaire Marie-Victorin for hosting the event. A special thanks our regional Elite partner, ArcelorMittal longs products and to École nationale d'aérotechnique – ÉNA, Ms. Sherry Romanado, Member of the National Assembly for Longueuil-Charles-Lemoyne, Mr. Pierre Nantel, Member of the National Assembly for Longueuil-Saint-Hubert, and Ms. Nicole Ménard, Member of the National Assembly for Laporte.
About the Réseau Technoscience:
Through its regional affiliates, the Réseau Technoscience is present everywhere in Québec in order to promote science and technology to young people aged between 4 to 20 years old. The programs and activities offered are aimed to support science and technology education with a concrete approach and encourage the emergence of the new generation of Quebec scientists. The Réseau Technoscience offers the following programs: Science Fairs, Défis technologiques, Club des Débrouillards and Les Innovateurs à l'école. The Réseau Technoscience also provides educational science kits to schools.
About NovaScience program:
This program is designed to improve the understanding of science and technology by the youth and the public at large as well as to promote the emergence of the new generation of scientists.
SOURCE Réseau Technoscience
Maude Péloquin, Communication officer, Tel: 514 252-3027 ext. 3895 / Mobile: 450 561-4697, [email protected]; Andrée Peltier, Press officer, Tel: 514 846-0003 / Mobile: 514 944-8689, [email protected]
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