Noah Bryan a Grade 10 student from Bayview Secondary School won the Platinum Discovery Award for the Best Intermediate Project among all Intermediate Gold Medal Winners at the Canada-Wide Science Fair.
Bryan also won the Challenge Award representing the Best Project in the Environment and Climate Change category, the Sanofi Biogenius Canada Award and the Gold Medal for his project “The Phage Takes Centre Stage for Water Quality Testing”.
Noah’s project was inspired by no swimming signs posted at Lake Wilcox due to illnesses caused by bacterial contamination. Coliphages (viruses that infect E.coli bacteria) are used as indicators of fecal contamination in water and his project studied coliphages as water quality indicators. Using water samples from Lake Wilcox, coliphages were characterized by Microscopy and DNA Sequencing. Results showed the isolated phage called NB1 could be used to assess bacterial contamination in water.
Noah competed regionally through the Canadian Black Scientist Network and was mentored by Dr. Lawrence Goodridge.
"Taking the Platinum Award at the Canada Wide Science Fair was a huge accomplishment for me" said Noah Bryan, YRDSB Student. "Black students are still sadly underrepresented at the national level of science competition and it is my hope to elevate the importance of STEM to all students from all walks of life”.
"We are immensely proud of Noah's big win at the Canada Wide Science Fair," said Aldrin Fernando, Principal, Bayview Secondary School. "Noah's love of science is just one of his many interests which is driven by his commitment to bettering his community. I look forward to watching his passion and global thinking blossom into what will no doubt be a promising career."
Bryan has also won the 2021 Aminolabs Promising Biologist Award and was a Gold Medal Winner at the York Region Science and Technology Fair in Grade 8. He was also featured in A YRDSB Story video for his research into natural alternatives to hand sanitizers.
York Region District School Board is the third largest school district in Ontario with over 128,000 students in180 elementary schools and 33 secondary schools. York Region students consistently perform above average in provincial testing and the Board is one of the top achievers in Ontario. For more information about the York Region District School Board, please visit the Board website and follow YRDSB on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
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