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Peterborough’s Claire Sehn is making a name for herself on the national stage. The 14-year-old Grade 8 student from St. Catharine’s School was honoured at the Canada-Wide Science Fair, held from May 31 to June 7 in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Her project, Beat The Blaze, focused on creating a biodegradable treatment to help prevent drought and wildfires. It earned her a gold medal, the Challenge Award for best environmental science project in grades 7-8, and the Platinum Award for best discovery project in her age group.
Sehn says the reason she wanted to take on this project was inspired by her passion for protecting the environment and a desire to find practical solutions for real-world problems.
She qualified for the Canada-Wide Science Fair after placing third overall at the Peterborough Regional Science Fair, held at Trent University earlier this year. According to Sehn, the project took months of hard work, going back to research she started last year.
Broken down into three phases, her project combined biodegradable hydrogels with natural fire-retardant materials, including blue mussel shells, to retain moisture and slow the spread of flames.
Sehn says it was exciting to see her efforts pay off, but even more rewarding to meet so many like-minded students during the week-long event.
Looking ahead, Sehn says she’d love to pursue a career in environmental science or medicine, building on the same passion that drove her to create Beat The Blaze.
Sehn’s work shows how determination, creativity and a commitment to the environment can spark ideas with the potential to make a lasting difference — and it’s all the more inspiring when those ideas come from such a young mind.
(Written by: Scott Arnold)
