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Guelph CVI student wins big at Canada Wide Science Fair

June 4, 2024

Guelph, ON – Plants don’t need to fear when GreenArmour is near. A big congratulations to Grade 11 Guelph CVI student, Roocha S, who took home multiple awards at the 2024 Canada Wide Science Fair for her research in plant growth and development.

Roocha was awarded the Senior Gold Medal – Challenge Award for Best in Division for Agriculture, and the prestigious Youth Can Innovate Award. Both awards were for her project that determined that sea buckthorn berry extract can help the growth and development of plants and protect them from stressful factors – an extract which Roocha has named GreenArmour. 

“The use of sea buckthorn berries for human health is well established, but there are no reports of the effects of the berry extract on plants. I was able to prove that sea buckthorn berry extract is a natural plant biostimulant,” said Roocha. 

Roocha’s findings have not been reported in literature before, making her the first. 

The process of this scientific discovery was not a short one, Roocha started her project back in October of 2023; she had to conduct research, gather resources and spend time conducting various experiments. 

The process had her spending extra time in the lab after school and on weekends, with her research concluding in March 2024 before beginning to work on how she would present her findings to the Canada Wide Science Fair. 

The Canada Wide Science Fair is hosted annually and its objective is to bring together the nation’s brightest minds and their passions in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematical subjects. 

Roocha said it was very exciting presenting her research to the judges, finalists and other attendees at the fair as well as learning what the other contestants had been working on, “I was also able to make meaningful connections with other finalists, it was very inspiring to meet fellow students who are just as excited about scientific research as I am.” 

Roocha said her first reaction was surprise when she found out that she had won both awards, “especially when I won the Youth Can Innovate Award as it is one of the grand, prestigious awards at the fair.” 

Roocha shared that her experience at the fair has pushed her to continue to stay motivated towards her dedication to science, having previously won the Founders’ Award of Excellence at the Waterloo-Wellington Science & Engineering Fair last year. Roocha has been competing and placing in science fairs since she was in the seventh grade. 

You can learn more about Roocha’s GreenArmour project here.

This photo features Roocha S on stage with other contestants , her picture and name featured on the screen in the background. This photo features Roocha S. in front of her Green Armour presentation.

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