Glenlyon Norfolk School Celebrates Canada-Wide Science Fair Success

This year two Glenlyon Norfolk School students qualified for and attended the Canada Wide Science Fair, held in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Ethan Lee ’26 and Kevin Su ’26 impressed us all with their scientific prowess and research skills, and represented GNS incredibly well. 

This followed the Vancouver Island Regional Science Fair which Kevin won and where Ethan placed fourth (and both received many awards!). At the CWSF Kevin received a Bronze Medal as well as the Top Energy Challenge – Senior award. 

We spoke with Kevin and Ethan about both of their projects and their journey towards the CWSF. 

Congratulations on your incredible achievements! Kevin, your project is entitled Aquatic Wireless Batteryless Telemetry: A Self-Sustaining Fish Tagging Device with Enhanced Data Transmission. Can you please explain what exactly you studied?

Kevin: My project created a fish tag that is powered by itself. A fish tag is a device that helps research fish and right now they rely on batteries. Once the battery of the fish tag dies, we basically lose the fish. Scientists right now have to essentially recapture the fish and put a new tag on it. 

What I wanted to see was if I could use something called a piezoelectric material, which is basically materials that when you put mechanical stress on them they generate an electric charge. I built a fish tag using these materials that can generate energy as the fish moves in the water. I built it and I simulated the movements of a fish in an experiment setting, and it showed that it could work in a lab, but I haven’t done any testing on actual fish because of ethical concerns. 

Ethan, your project is entitled Synthesis and Applications of Functionalized Graphene Oxide-Activated Carbon Composites for Advanced CO2 Adsorption. Can you please explain what you studied? 

Ethan: My project explored carbon capture materials. I optimized the capacities and efficiencies of them using stuff like different amines with high numbers of functional groups, as well as enhancing the regeneration cycles through copper nanoparticles due to their thermal conductivity. Over multiple regeneration cycles, I saw that they experienced much higher CO2 uptakes throughout their regeneration.

With one of the materials I used, graphene oxide, I speculated that it could improve the surface area just because it’s a high surface area material as well as containing a high number of functional groups. I was surprised after I used the scanning electron microscopy to find that it actually broke down some of the particles, which was quite unexpected.

How do you feel that you grew and learned throughout this process?
Kevin: Along the way, I gained a lot of skills, especially about the designing portion. I often didn’t get it on the first few tries, but then got the wisdom that if you try again, eventually you’ll get it. Through this process, I gained a lot of other project ideas about what I can do with these materials and so right now I’m looking at what I want to do next year.

Ethan: Doing this project was a really cool experience because not only did I get to go to the Canada Wide Science Fair, I also had to do my own experiment, which was interesting. I haven’t really worked in the lab very much prior to this.

Why did you choose the topic that you did? 

Ethan: I liked chemistry quite a bit beforehand, as well as climate change is a really big issue in the world right now. So when I found out that there was a field of study that combines these two things, it really fascinated me. 

Kevin: I’ve always liked making things and I’m also really passionate about electrical engineering, which is probably what I’m going to study in university. This project really allowed me to explore both these fields. Also, because we are on Vancouver Island, I go to the water a lot and I go crabbing and fishing quite a bit.

Ethan, do you have any idea what you are planning to study in university?

Ethan: I’m not too sure yet. I think there’s a lot of fields within science that I could be really interested in. One of the things I might be considering is medicine.

You both competed in the 2025 Vancouver Island Regional Science Fair in April. How was that experience for you?

Kevin: I felt like actually going into Regionals, I was a lot more nervous compared to Nationals. I felt like all my hard work paid off. And coming in first was an outcome that I wasn’t expecting, because I thought the projects were very competitive.

Ethan: It was a really cool experience to see what other people in other schools have done. I also think that the judging in the regionals was a bit more personal and they gave feedback afterwards as well.

How was your experience travelling to Fredericton and competing at the CWSF? What were some highlights?

Ethan: It was really cool to see what other people had come up with and to look at all the different projects, as they are the top 400 projects in Canada.

Kevin: My highlight was meeting a bunch of new people who had similar interests, from all over Canada. And there were even international delegations from Mexico and Taiwan too.

Who was your biggest supporter/cheerleader throughout this process?
Kevin: Ms. Simard has definitely helped with all of the coordination and she was able to give us a lot of feedback and tips towards the judging and presenting aspect leading up to it. Mr. Irvine (who teaches IB Physics) was also a really big help, lending me all the equipment and helping me set up all my bench top testing. And so without him, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do it.

Ethan: I think definitely the biggest supporter of my project was Mr. Luckham, who is the lab technician at the school. He pretty much oversaw everything I did in the lab and worked with me throughout basically every lunch break and a lot of times after school. Ms. Dallin (who teaches IB Chemistry) and Ms. Simard were also helpful in preparing for the fairs. Dr. Humphrey from UVic also helped me with some of the scanning electron microscopy which was a big part of some of my data in my experiment as well.

Both Ethan and Kevin encourage any interested students to join STEM club here at GNS, and that participating in science fair is an incredibly fun and engaging opportunity to build your own skills. 

Congratulations Ethan and Kevin, we are so proud of you! 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity