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Arushi Nath
The 75th Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), held from May 10th to 17th, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio, is the world’s largest annual STEM competition for pre-college students. This year it brought together nearly 1,700 young scientists from over 60 countries, showcasing their research across 22 categories spanning science, engineering, and mathematics.
Following a rigorous selection process, I was honored to be chosen as one of eight individuals representing Team Canada at ISEF. It was a privilege to represent Canada on the international stage.
My research entry was “NEPTUNE: Novel Exoplanet Prediction Technique Using N-body simulations, Bayesian Estimation, and Machine Learning” on which I had been working for the past year and had spent over 800 hours over weekend and during weekday evenings.
NEPTUNE is an innovative and accelerated approach designed to detect unseen exoplanets by analyzing Transit Timing Variations (TTVs) of known planets. Traditional exoplanet detection methods often overlook multi-planet systems containing long-period or non-transiting planets due to observational biases favoring short-period transiting planets. NEPTUNE bridges this gap by analyzing Transit Timing Variations (TTVs) of known planets to detect, characterize, and assess the habitability of possible unseen companions.
I entered the project under the ISEF’s Physics and Astronomy Category which had almost 80 submissions from other countries. Projects in this category spanned a diverse range, from quantum computing and artificial intelligence to spectroscopy and astrophysical phenomena. The project was well-received and I had 7 individual judging interviews of 15 minutes each. It was a very proud moment for me when my name was called on the stage to have won the Third Grand Award.
On the ISEF Stage for the Third Grand Award, alongside other winnersDay 0: Arrival
Members of Team Canada traveled from across the country— from British Columbia, Ontario, and Saskatchewan—to meet at Toronto Pearson Airport. We were joined by two delegates who accompanied us throughout our trip, assisting us with logistics, preperation and ensuring everything went smoothly. After gathering, we flew together to Columbus, Ohio, and settled into our hotel, ready for the week ahead.
ISEF PosterDownloadDay 1: Project Setup and Pin Exchange
Our first day at ISEF was dedicated to setting up our project booths. The event took place at the Columbus Convention Center, conveniently connected directly to our hotel. After completing registration and receiving our name tags, we proceeded to the main hall to locate our designated booth sections based on our project categories. ISEF provided standard 48×48-inch poster boards along with header boards to display our projects. Since my poster exceeded the provided height, I stacked two trifold boards atop one another to accommodate my materials.
To finalize the setup, each project required approval from two display and safety inspectors, who verified compliance with all official guidelines and safety regulations.
In the evening, we participated in the lively pin exchange event. Finalists from around the globe brought pins, stickers, and small souvenirs symbolizing their hometowns and countries, which we eagerly exchanged. This tradition provided an exciting and enjoyable opportunity to meet and connect with fellow students from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Day 2: International Shout Out and Opening Ceremony
Each year, ISEF hosts a cultural showcase where participants from each country present a poster and short video highlighting their national identity. Together with two fellow Canadian finalists, we created a dynamic 5-7 second video capturing Canada’s unique spirit.
Throughout the day, various symposium sessions covered topics such as college applications, STEM outreach, creativity, and innovation. The evening’s opening ceremony marked the special milestone of ISEF’s 75th anniversary. We arrived early, securing excellent seats near the stage.
The ceremony began with a memorable recap video, highlighting the competition’s growth and significant impact over the decades. The event was hosted by Barb Baker and featured inspiring speeches from Maya Ajmera, President and CEO of the Society for Science and Publisher of Science News, and George D. Yancopoulos, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Regeneron, who shared his personal journey and motivations for founding the company.
Following the speeches, a panel discussion took place, featuring distinguished leaders such as Frederick Berkely (President and CEO of COSI and CEO of the National Veterans Memorial and Museum), Jenny Britton (Founder of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams and CEO of Flora), Lewis Von Thaer (President and CEO of Battelle), and Ted Carter (President of Ohio State University and an ISEF alumnus). They emphasized the importance of STEM education, shared insights about aligning their professional work with public benefit, and provided valuable advice to aspiring young scientists.
The ceremony concluded with the International Shout Out, where each participating country was introduced individually. We proudly stepped onto the stage with our Canadian poster and presented our short video showcasing Canadian culture.
Team Canada selected for 2025 International Science and Engineering FairTeam Canada with Canadian poster and FlagDay 3: Media Interviews and COSI Museum
The third day began early, with all finalists heading to their project booths for media interviews. Representatives from the Society for Science media, as well as external media outlets, visited various projects throughout the morning.
Afterward, we visited the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) museum. We enjoyed a variety of interactive exhibits and activities, including the High-wire Unicycle, speed and strength challenges, electric shock machines, and a motion simulator.
Following our museum visit, we returned to the hotel to relax and prepare for the judging scheduled for the next day.
Day 4: Judging and Finalist Mixer
We woke up early for judging, which was organized into two approximately three-hour sessions, separated by a lunch break. Upon arriving at our posters, we received a schedule listing our assigned judges and their time slots. Additionally, unexpected judges and special award judges could also visit at any time.
I had seven judges, with each judging session lasting 15 minutes. Some judges requested a brief presentation first, while others, having reviewed my project materials and poster beforehand, moved directly to questions. It was an amazing experience presenting my work to experts in astronomy and physics. I got questions ranging to my project’s inspiration to more technical inquiries regarding N-body integrators, machine learning setup, Bayesian inference processes, and associated uncertainties.
After judging concluded, we attended the finalist mixer, a relaxing event with a variety of foods and desserts. Activities included axe throwing, ping pong, inflatable obstacle courses, basketball, and a lively dance floor. The mixer provided a wonderful opportunity to socialize with finalists from other countries.
Panel discussion at the grand opening ceremony of the 75th Regeneron ISEFDay 5: Public Outreach, Category Networking, North Market, and Special Award Ceremony
The fifth day was dedicated to public outreach, allowing students and families from Columbus and beyond to explore the projects. It also provided an excellent opportunity for us to visit other projects within our categories and learn more from our peers.
Later, we attended category networking sessions hosted by our respective category sponsors. My category, Physics and Astronomy, was sponsored by Jane Street. During our session, we engaged in solving complex puzzles collaboratively. The sponsor also provided fun merch like fidget toys, hats, and pins.
With ISEF finalists from Sweden and the United States at the Physics and Astronomy MixerIn the afternoon, Team Canada visited North Market, a bustling public market featuring Ohio’s finest independent merchants, farmers, and makers. We explored various stalls and enjoyed lunch. The day concluded with the special awards ceremony at the convention center.
Team Canada at Toronto Pearson Airport preparing for their journey to the International Science and Engineering FairDay 6: Grand Award Ceremony and City Tour
The final day began early with the grand award ceremony. Awards were announced category by category, beginning with fourth, third, and second places, concluding with the first place and top awards. I was honored to receive the third grand award in my category.
Afterwards, Team Canada explored Columbus, visiting landmarks such as the Ohio Statehouse and the German Village Book Loft. We spent the evening packing and preparing for our early morning flight home the next day.
Links:
List of Finalists
Award Ceremony
List of All Award Winners
Toronto Student Arushi Nath Wins International Award for Exoplanet Discovery Project at Regeneron ISEF 2025
Artash Nath, Stanford University
This announcement comes a few months late, but I am beyond thrilled to share that I have graduated as a TOPS student from Bloor Collegiate Institute in Toronto and have been admitted to the Stanford University Undergraduate Class of 2028!
As an inaugural Rise Scholar, and after an incredible journey through high school, I am eagerly looking forward to the next chapter at Stanford, where I will be pursuing Computer Science alongside Environmental Studies and Neuroscience.
Over the past decade, I have immersed myself in building robots, rovers, rockets, and AI models. I’ve developed innovative projects, participated in over 50 hackathons, and have been participating and winning in national and international science fairs since grade 5. You can revisit my first blog post from over 10 years ago when we started this website to spark conversations about science and technology at family dinner tables: NASA Space Apps Challenge 2014: Toronto People’s Choice Award Winner.
2014: Participating in my very first hackathon: NASA SpaceApps Toronto at the Ontario Science Centre. My Mars Rover (CuriousBot) won the People’s Choice Award! Some of My Recent Award-Winning ProjectsThroughout my journey, I’ve had the opportunity to work on several key projects that combine technology with real-world impact:
- Monitor My Lockdown: Developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, this platform visualizes lockdown measures and their effects on communities worldwide, aiding in data-driven decision-making.
- Monitor My Ocean: An initiative to track oceanic conditions such as temperature, pollution levels, and marine life activity, promoting awareness and conservation of our oceans.
- You Oceans: A collaborative project aimed at engaging the public in ocean conservation through educational content and interactive tools.
- AI Models for Exoplanet Characterization: Worked on developing AI algorithms to analyze data from telescopes for identifying and characterizing exoplanets, contributing to our understanding of the universe.
Winning the 2024 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes for my project on ocean noise and marine mammals conservationMy unwavering passion has always been using technology for the public good. My journey to Stanford has been enriched by countless mentors, team members, and organizations who have supported and guided me. Their encouragement, advice, and inspiration have made my learning experience both enjoyable and curiosity-driven. I’ve also found immense joy in sharing my knowledge through outreach activities.
These experiences have solidified my belief in the power of open data and open science to solve problems across various domains—from pandemics and exoplanet exploration to ocean conservation and artificial intelligence. Many of these challenges are intergenerational and require a collaborative approach that bridges policy and technology. I’ve had the privilege of working alongside government organizations, international bodies, UN agencies, and research institutions. Sadly, some of the very institutions that shaped my curiosity are no longer the same, such as the Ontario Science Centre.
Stanford Class of 2028 Orientation Week: With my dad!These experiences have prepared me to engage deeply in research and academics at Stanford and to develop innovative solutions for the benefit of humanity. Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey. You can follow me at www.ArtashNath.com
Special Thanks To:
- Ocean Networks Canada
- Ontario Science Centre
- The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
- EarthEcho International
- NASA International Space Apps Challenge
- University of Toronto Aerospace Team
- University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies
- Schmidt Futures
- Youth Science Canada
- The Canadian Science Fair Journal
- ECOP Canada
- Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
- Toronto District School Board
Thank you for being a part of this incredible journey. The future holds limitless possibilities, and I can’t wait to contribute to the world through innovation and collaboration.
The Los Angeles Planetary Defense and Asteroid Exploration Mini-Conference 2024, organized by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Los Angeles Section, was held on June 29, 2024. This hybrid event, hosted at the Lawndale Library in Lawndale, CA, gathered nearly 60 participants, both online and in-person. The conference was scheduled on the eve of Asteroid Day (30 June) – a United Nations-sanctioned day dedicated to raising public awareness about the risks and opportunities of asteroids.
Key PresentationsThe conference featured an array of speakers giving talks on the following themes:
1. Awareness and Education
- International Asteroid Day: Highlighting global efforts to raise awareness about asteroid impact hazards.
2. Planetary Defense Missions
- NASA’s DART Mission: Detailing the first mission to demonstrate asteroid deflection using a kinetic impactor.
- Planetary Defense Concepts from USC and ISU: Discussing preliminary concepts from the USC and International Space University.
3. Asteroid Exploration and Research
- Bennu Asteroid: Insights from the OSIRIS-REx mission, which extensively studied this near-Earth asteroid.
- Twenty Years of Bennu: From Arecibo to Orbit (and on to Apophis).
Presenting on PhAst at the Mini Planetary Defense Conference 20244. Asteroid Characterization
- PhAst: Accelerated Asteroid Characterization: Focusing on a novel methodology combining serendipitous and dense photometric observations.
- Rocks in Space with Radar: Covering radar observations of near-Earth asteroids.
5. Innovative Concepts and Future Technologies
- Introducing the Planetary Sunshade: Discussing a conceptual planetary sunshade to address climate crisis symptoms.
- From Ozone Layer to Planetary Defense: Lessons from the Montreal Protocol.
6. Computational and Simulation Approaches
- Ground Effects Simulations of Terminal Asteroid Disruption via Fragmentation.
- Hydrocode Simulations of Asteroid Disruption and Deflection.
My Presentation: Accelerated Asteroid Characterization Using PhAstI had the opportunity to present my innovative methodology, PhAst, which focuses on accelerating asteroid characterization. My presentation, titled “PhAst: Accelerated Asteroid Characterization through Novel Photometric Integration Using Ground and Space-Based Sky Surveys” discussed how PhAst combines years of sparse photometry from serendipitous asteroid observations with dense photometric data from robotic telescopes and citizen scientists.
IIAADownload Asteroid Discovery vs. Characterization: The pace of asteroid discovery surpasses the rate at which their physical properties can be analyzed, posing a challenge for planetary defense and understanding the solar system’s evolution. * Phase Curves: Phase curves, crucial for asteroid characterization, have been generated for only a few thousand of the 1.3 million known asteroids due to the need for multiple phase angle observations over several years. * PhAst Methodology: PhAst integrates sparse photometric observations from sky surveys with dense observations from professionals and citizen scientists. The algorithm generates phase curves to determine geometric albedo, composition, absolute magnitude, rotation period, and mutual orbital period for binary asteroids. * Testing on Didymos: PhAst was tested on asteroid Didymos, the target of NASA’s DART mission, accurately determining its albedo, rotation period, mutual orbital period, strength, size, and taxonomy. * Large-Scale Analysis: PhAst was used to generate phase curves for over 2100 asteroids in 100 hours on a home computer, providing valuable data to the binary asteroid working group and gaining insights into asteroid migration during solar system evolution. * Citizen Scientist Engagement*: Open-source PhAst training modules have been developed to empower citizen scientists to contribute to asteroid characterization and planetary defense.
Key Points from My PresentationQuestions from the AudienceThe presentation was well-received, prompting several questions from the audience, related to:
- Telescope Equipment: The types of telescopes and equipment used in my observations.
- Past Research on Apophis: My previous work related to the Apophis asteroid.
- Future Goals: My future research directions and goals in asteroid studies.
ConclusionThe conference provided an excellent platform to share my research and interact with other experts and enthusiasts. The feedback and questions from participants were invaluable, helping to shape the future direction of my work in planetary defense and asteroid exploration. I thank the conference organisers, including Kenneth Lui and Nahum Melamed for giving me an opportunity to participate and speak at the conference.
For more details about the event, visit the official event page.
Speaking at the Save Ontario Science Centre RallyArushi Nath, Grade 9 Student, Toronto
Childhood comes only once, and some of the most memorable joys are visits to places where children are welcomed, entertained, and inspired. The Ontario Science Centre has been such a place, igniting curiosity and wonder in young minds for generations. it have been a gateway to discovery, a place where children with families or on school trips return repeatedly, each visit fostering a love for science and learning.
The Ontario Science Centre has now been permanently closed by the Ontario Government. It is a direct consequence of its willful neglect and underfunding so much so that certain roof panels are deteriorating along with other issues, with the risk of potential roof panel failure. There is a danger that this vital institution be lost forever robbing hundreds of thousands of children of their childhood joys.
The proposed plan of the Government to demolish the iconic building and replace it with a 50% smaller building without a planetarium, butterfly garden, and stripped down science programming atop a parking garage by destroying another iconic place, the Ontario Place is worrisome. The Government fails to understand the public and intergenerational role of the science centre in lives of kids and reduces it to a mere tourist attraction like a spa or a casino.
We need to put pressure on the Ontario Government to repair, reinvest and reinvigorate the Ontario Science Centre and preserve its role. A rally was organised on 23 June 2024 (Sunday) at Wells Hill Park, St. Clair West, Toronto by the Save Ontario Science Centre group.
I was honored to be one of the speakers alongside others kids and adults who benefited from the Ontario Science Centre and see the value of keeping it open. The complete text of the speech is given below.
Joining Other Students and Children Protesting Against Ontario Science Centre ClosureActions You Can Take: Sign the Petition
We need your help to send a message that Ontarians care about the Ontario Science Centre. Send a message to the Premier, provincial Ministers of Infrastructure and Tourism, Members of Provincial Parliament, and the City of Toronto’s Mayor and City Councillors today. Demand that proper investments are made in the Ontario Science Centre so that it continues to be a world class educational institution that Ontarians can be proud of and enjoy for decades to come.
https://act.newmode.net/action/evidence-democracy/save-ontarios-science-centre
Over 200 People Gathered for the Save Ontario Science Centre RallyOntario Science Centre: Ours to Make Discoveries Not to Destroy
Hello, Bonjour, I hope you are well. J’espère que vous allez bien.
I am Arushi, a Grade 9 student from Toronto, Canada.
My family has been a member of the Ontario Science Centre since I was born. My Dad bought a family pass to the Ontario Science Centre when we immigrated to Canada 14 years ago. I remember my Dad combining it with the TTC weekend pass to bring us to the Ontario Science Centre on Saturdays, and sometimes again on Sundays.
It felt like coming home – a welcoming place where kids belonged. I knew all the right places to go: the bridge with rocks of different ages, the planetarium for the astronomy shows, the Van De Graaff Generator for hair-raising displays, the tropical garden with butterflies, the kids’ play area,
I loved meeting the friendly Ontario Science Centre staff, wearing white coats with science puzzles in their hands, interacting with kids and answering their questions. It was a place where asking great questions was celebrated as much as knowing the answers.
There are Ontario Science Centre memories in everyone’s lives. For me, it is the place where I met my first astronaut, met a Nobel Prize winner, watched through a telescope, and learned about the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. It’s where I realized women can be scientists, engineers, and astronauts. It’s where I learned it’s okay to be excited and passionate about science.
I started creating my own science projects and presenting them in science fairs. Each year, my projects grew more complex as I learned new skills. I ended up winning the top award at the Canada-Wide Science Fair in 2022 and 2023 for my project on detecting and deflecting asteroids. I proudly represented Canada internationally at the 2023 European Union Contest For Young Scientists in Belgium, where I won the second prize. A big credit goes to the Ontario Science Centre for keeping my passion for science and curiosity alive.
I find it unbelievable that our provincial government is permanently closing the Science Centre and robbing children of their science, curiosity, and childhood joys. Students make up 25% of the Ontario Science Centre users, but the Ontario Government never consulted us, our families, teachers, and the school boards who are directly impacted. The Government was determined to destroy the Ontario Science Centre, an intergenerational public asset, to justify destroying another intergenerational asset, the Ontario Place.
My heart goes out to the growing number of kids and families in Ontario. These kids need to experience the Ontario Science Centre as I did. We need to open more science centres and invest in and take care of existing ones, as they turn these kids into future engineers, doctors, artists, astronauts, and even good policymakers.
Instead, the provincial government chose to neglect and underfund the Ontario Science Centre, and now it stands fenced off and permanently closed.
The fight to save our public spaces and public goods is worth fighting for. I cannot vote, but I have a voice. I am writing letters to editors, meeting local, provincial, and federal policymakers, signing petitions, using social media to organize classmates and science fair participants, and joining protests. And I am waiting to become of voting age so that I can cast my vote against those who vote against science and the future.
I am confident we can win this fight and make the Ontario Government reverse its misguided decision, reinvest, and reopen the Ontario Science Centre. Ontario Science Centre is ours to Make Discoveries Not to Destroy. I urge everyone to keep protesting, keep organizing, and to step out and vote during elections to support the future of young people in this province.
Thank you.
Sign the petition to protest against closure of the Ontario Science Centre: https://act.newmode.net/action/evidence-democracy/save-ontarios-science-centre
Inteviewed by the Global News TV on How Children Benefit from the Ontario Science CentreInterviewed by CP24 TV Channel On Why Ontario Science Centre Should Remain OpenNeed to Protect Public Places: Our Ontario Science Centre
Arushi Nath, Grade 9 Student
Most school students may be too young to vote. But we have a voice and we use it to protect our interests.
The decision of Ontario Government to destroy the existing Ontario Science Centre at the Don Mills road and replace it with a 50% smaller Centre atop a parking garage at the Ontario Place is a wrong one. With half the programming, absence of immersive exhibits such as the planetarium and tropical rainforest, and reduced staff does not protect the interest of young people.
My speech at the Save the Ontario Science Centre rally: Ontario Science Centre is for ours to discover not to destroyStudents account for 25% of the visitors, with over 100,000 school children from around the province visiting the Ontario Science Centre each year. Yet, the Ontario Government chose to exclude us by not consulting us. The Ontario Science Centre is one of our country’s best-performing assets, producing intergenerational returns for the past 50 years. Ask any doctor, scientist, engineer, or astronaut in Ontario, and they will have their Ontario Science Centre stories to share. There is a bit of Ontario Science Centre in everyone’s lives. And yet, the Government has chosen to underinvest in it.
As Ontario’s population grows and more immigrant families and young kids call Ontario home, we need to expand our Ontario Science Centre. We need to build more science centres, expand their activities, and invest in them so that we can inspire the next generation.
Young people may not be able to vote but we have a voice and we want to save the Ontario Science CentreIt was wonderful listening to all the amazing community speakers including politicians from the across all party lines (representing Councillors, Members of Provincial Parliament and Members of Parliament) who are asking the Ontario Government to reverse its decision of destroying the Ontario Science Centre and instead invest in it to make it bigger and better.
Here is the text of my speech I gave at the community rally organised by the Save the Ontario Science Centre group (sign the petition on their website) in the East end of the city at the Lynn Park near Danforth avenue and Woodbine park on 3 March 2024. Over a 100 people from the community and beyond joined the rally. It was a festive event with music, posters, chants, whistles and lots of kids and their parents. So many of us had an opportunity to share our experiences and visions of the Ontario Science Centre.
Mayor Olivia Chow, The Ontario Science Centre is built on land leased by Toronto, We need to be consulted.Ontario Science Centre: Ours to Discover, Not to Destroy
Hello, Bonjour, I hope you are well. J’espère que vous allez bien.
I am Arushi. I am a Grade 9 student from Toronto, Canada..
I am a member of the Ontario Science Centre.
My father first bought a family pass to the Ontario Science Centre when he immigrated to Canada 14 years ago. Combined with the weekend family pass of the TTC, it was a great deal that allowed us to visit the Ontario Science Centre repeatedly. I remember my Dad taking us to the Ontario Science Centre on Saturdays, and sometimes again on Sundays.
It felt like coming to my home – a safe place where I belonged. Every visit was a full-day visit. I knew all the right places to go – the planetarium for the astronomy shows, the Van De Graaff Generator for hair-raising displays, the pulleys to lift heavy loads with my finger, the tropical garden with butterflies, and the kids’ play area.
I loved meeting the friendly Ontario Science Centre staff, wearing white coats with science puzzles in their hands, interacting with children, and answering their questions. It was the only place I knew where asking great questions was rewarded and celebrated rather than just knowing the answer.
There are Ontario Science Centre memories in everyone’s lives. We will not let it be destroyedIt set me into the path of following my curiosity and I developed a love for astronomy. Ontario Science Center is the place where I met my first astronaut. The place where I met a Nobel prize winner. The place where I learned about the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. The place where I realized women can be scientists, engineers and astronauts. It’s the place I learned it’s okay to be excited and passionate about science.
I started creating my own science projects and presenting them in science fairs. Each year, my projects would grow more and more complex, as I learned new skills. I was able to win the top award at the Canada-Wide Science Fair twice in both 2022 and 2023 for my project on asteroids and planetary defense. As a result I was able to represent Canada internationally at the 2023 EU Contest For Young Scientists (EUCYS) held in Brussels, Belgium where I won the second prize. A big credit for this goes to the Ontario Science Center which kept my passion for science, curiousity, and asking questions alive.
Dr. Adil Shamji, Member of Provincial Parliament, Don Valley EastStudents make up 25% of the visitors at the Ontario Science Centre, but the Government did not choose to consult the kids, students, teachers, and school boards. Every school year, I have visited the science centre, be it for geology class, physics class, or just a fun outing. Trips to the science centre are what brought us together. I have attended birthday parties, slept overnight, had play dates, and even spoken at the Ontario Science Centre. I am aghast that any government would ever consider demolishing our Ontario Science Centre. You do not destroy an intergenerational public asset to justify destroying another intergenerational asset, the Ontario Place.
My heart goes out to the growing number of immigrant families moving to Canada and Toronto. Their kids need to experience what I experienced and how the Ontario Science Centre shaped my life. To meet the growing need, we need to open more science centres in every part of this growing city. We need to fund them, invest in them because they will turn these kids and students into future engineers, doctors, astronauts, and even good policymakers.
The fight to save our public spaces and public goods is worth fighting for. I am writing letters to editors, signing petitions, meeting local, provincial and federal policymakers, sharing information with my classmates and science fair participants, and joining protests. I am confident we can win this fight and make the Ontario Government reverse its misguided decision. I urge you all to keep protesting and thank you for supporting the future and vision of young people.
Thank you.
Arushi
Ontario Science Centre is an intergenerational asset inspiring next generation of doctors, engineers, astronauts. Andrea Hazell, Member of Provincial Parliament, Scarborough—GuildwoodChris Glover, Member of Provincial Parliament, Spadina Fort York and Peter Tabuns, Member of Provincial Parliament, Toronto—DanforthPaula Fletcher, Councillor, Ward 14, Toronto-DanforthSara Ehrhardt, Ward 15, Toronto-Danforth, TDSB TrusteeOntario Science Centre is our top performing public asset raising next generation of scientists. Do not exchange it for a private spa.Yes. The Ontario Science Centre belongs at the Don Mills Road.Destroying the Ontario Science Centre can never be a good deal. Thank you Save the Ontario Science Centre organisers for allowing me to share how Ontario Science Centre shaped my lifeWith Mayor Olivia ChowWith Dr. Adil Shamji, Member of Provincial Parliament, Don Valley EastWith Chris Glover, Member of Provincial Parliament, Spadina Fort YorkWith Councillor Paula Fletcher and TDSB Trustee Sara Ehrhardt
Arushi Nath, Grade 9 Student, Toronto
The 34th edition of the European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) took place in Brussels, Belgium, from 12 to 17 September 2023. EUCYS is the most important annual student science fair in the EU, showcasing the best student scientific achievement in the EU and beyond. EUCYS 2023 brought together over 130 youth from 36 countries from the EU as well as from Canada, China, Cyprus, Egypt, Japan, Israel, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the USA. The event was organized by Jeunesses Scientifiques de Belgique and EU Science, Research and Innovation.
Winning the Second Core Prize at 2023 EUCYS. With Mariya Lyubenova, EUCYS head Judge and Anna Panagopoulou, Director for ERA & Innovation, DG Research and InnovationNational Participant Selections for EUCYS 2023
Only “National Science Fair Organisers” can submit student entries for the EUCYS. These students are usually the winners of Science Contests held at the national level. Each country may submit up to 3 projects, with a maximum of 6 contestants (aged between 14 and 20). In Canada, the top two winners of the Canada-Wide Science Fair (CWSF) – the Best Project Award (Discovery) and the Best Project Award (Innovation) are selected to attend EUCYS.
I won the Best Project Award at the CWSF in 2022 and 2023. I was 13 years old in 2022 and did not meet the minimum age requirement of 14 years to participate in EUCYS 2022 and had to miss it. I was determined to try once more. I worked hard and won the top award again in 2023, becoming the first back-to-back winner in 33 years and the youngest to do so. It also meant I could now participate in EUCYS 2023, making me the youngest national and international participant.
I was very excited to represent my country through my project in the international arena! My project was “Creating Algorithms to Determine an Asteroid’s Physical Properties and Applying Them to Measure the Success of Asteroid Deflection.” This project won the Best Project Award (Innovation) at the 61st edition of the Canada-Wide Science Fair held in Edmonton, Alberta, along with five other awards. The second participant from Canada was Elizabeth Chen, who had won the Best Project Award (Discovery) at the 2023 CWSF. Her project was “Optimization of CAR-T Cell Therapy using RNA-Sequencing Analysis for Biomarker Identification.”
We travelled to Belgium from Toronto with Reni Barlow, the director of Youth Science Canada and Canada’s national representation to the EUCYS. The Gwyn Morgan And Patricia Trottier Foundation sponsored the participation of the Canadian team at the 2023 EUCYS.
With EUCYS 2023 Participants and OrganisersThe EUCYS Competition: Five Days of Fun, Friendships, Science and Awards
The competition was spread across five days filled with exciting activities, including ice breakers, setting up posters and displays, interacting with judges, browsing displays of other participants and listening to their presentations, award presentations, and lots of social activities, including a visit to the town, dinners, music and dance.
Day 1, 12 September 2023: Arrival and Setting up Posters
We arrived in Belgium early morning. Team Canada was the first team to arrive. EUCYS volunteers welcomed us. Many of them were more comfortable speaking French than English, which was awesome as we were able to converse in French.
After waiting a few hours at the airport for teams from China and other countries to arrive, we headed by bus to the Convention Center in Brussels Square. The Square was the main venue of the 2023 EUCYS and was right in the city centre. On arrival, we got our welcome swag that included an EUCYS bag, Program Booklet, T-shirt, Stickers and Pins.
Opening Ceremony: National Participants with their Country FlagsThen, it was time to find the allotted stands for national participants to set up posters and displays. The stands were organized based on the nine themes under which the EUCYS accepts the projects. These were Biology, Chemistry, Computing, Engineering, Environment, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine, Physics, and Social Sciences.
My project came under the “Physics” theme at 2023 EUCYS and was allotted a stand in that section. Adjacent to me were projects by contestants from Sweden, Armenia, and Denmark. Each project was given a table, one chair and three stands in the form of a cubicle on which to fix the poster. You can see a short video of my display stand https://eucys2023.eu/physics-05/
In Front of My Project StandIt took an hour to set up the poster and the display table. Participants and volunteers helped each other to set up the stands. The rest of the afternoon saw us playing ice-breaker activities and eating lunch. Afterward, we headed to our hotels to unpack and prepare for the next day.
Day 2, 13 September 2023: First Day of Judging and Visits of School Children
The competition was officially kick-started with an opening ceremony held in the auditorium at the Convention Centre. All the national participants, national organizers, EUCYS staff and local organizers were present. There were introductory speeches from the organizing committee, including Karen Slavin, EUCYS Project Officer; Antoine Van Ruymbeke, Director of EUCYS 2023 and host organization Jeunesses Scientifiques de Belgique and Mariya Lyubenova, head judge of EUCYS 2023.
The opening ceremony ended with a representative from each participant country going up on the stage carrying their national flag. I was happy to carry the Canadian flag to the stage. It was a joyous atmosphere and our first chance to see participants from all other countries competing at EUCYS. After the opening ceremony, the participants returned to their stands as it was the first day of judging. The judging was spread over three days, and each participant would get five judges. The participants did not know in advance what days the judging of our project would happen.
EUCYS was a big event in Brussels. School kids and the general public were invited to visit the event and look at the science projects from international participants on the display. It was wonderful to see so many schools bringing their students in grades 9 to 12 to attend the EUCYS
In Belgium, people speak many languages, including English, French, Dutch and German. While the main posters of all the contestants were in English, we were encouraged to create a smaller poster with a summary of our project in languages other than English. I prepared the summary of my poster in all three national languages: Dutch, French and German and kept it on the display table.
When the school kids and judges were not present, we had an opportunity to look at the projects of other contestants and learn about their project goals, their methodologies and the results they got. I had my first judging interview in the morning. It was an exciting feeling to be explaining my project to an international judge. The interview lasted 30 minutes, and it was a wonderful experience.
In the middle of the day, we got a lunch break, where we went to the patio of a nearby restaurant and ate sandwiches. The judging and public visits resumed after lunch. Toward the end of the day, everyone went to the auditorium again to view a short documentary about the history of EIROFusion. It showed the team behind the project and the struggles they faced while trying to produce Fusion Energy. After that we got to ask questions to Morten Lindholm, one of the key members of the team.
For dinner, all the participants walked to the Albert restaurant in Brussels Square, close to the Convention Centre. We sat at round tables in groups of 10 participants. It was an opportunity to mix with participants from other countries. I sat with teams from Switzerland and Estonia. It was fun talking to youth worldwide and learning about the countries they came from. Post-dinner, we walked back to the hotel.
Day 3, 14 September 2023: Second Day of Judging and City Tour
The judging and public visits resumed. I found it very interesting that judging and public visits could happen simultaneously. In our national competitions, the judging days were separate from the days on which the fair was open to the public. Having public visits at the same time allowed us to stay busy while waiting for judges. It was an opportunity for a more relaxed discussion.
The judges all wore red T-shirts, so when judges came to our stall, most of the public knew that judging was underway and moved on to the next stands. This was also a shorter judging day, so I only got one of my judges.
After lunch, the organizers arranged for a tour of the city for the participants. We divided ourselves into smaller groups to explore the city. Volunteers were spread out at key landmarks around the city and gave us tips and guidance on where to go. I went alongside participants from Estonia and Austria. We had a wonderful time walking along cobbled paths. We got to visit famous landmarks, like the Grand Place, Manneken Pis and Royal Galleries, and take pictures. We also saw street performances while walking from one landmark to the next. I enjoyed the city very much. In downtown, there were close to no cars, which was a welcoming change. After the tour, we headed back to the Albert restaurant once again for dinner.
Day 4, 15 September 2023: Last Day of Judging and Taking Down of Posters
This was the last day of judging and public visits. More school children accompanied by teachers and even families came in. It was much busier than the first and second days. Those who had already completed their five judging interviews were more relaxed. While others had to stay near their stands, prepared for the judging. I still had 2 of my 5 judges left, so I kept near my stand most of the morning. By lunchtime. all the interviews were done for the contestants, and the judges could now proceed with the jury deliberations.
Post lunch, there was still a steady stream of public visitors coming through. But it was quieter, and we got a lot of time to chat with each other and form friendships.
At 4.30 pm, the EUCYS exhibits ended, and it was time to start dismantling the posters and displays. It also meant that EUCYS was slowly coming to an end. This was an opportunity for participants to trade pins, food and stickers from their home country.
Day 5, 16 September 2023: Award Ceremony and Saying Goodbyes
This was the final day. In the morning, we had some free time, so we decided to go and buy souvenirs.
Awards Ceremony
In the afternoon, everyone took shuttle buses to “The Egg,” where the award ceremony would be held. We got the chance to eat lunch first, before going to sit in the auditorium for the award ceremony.
It was an amazing week of getting to know each other and their projects. We were simply excited to have had this opportunity to come together from so many countries because of our shared love for science, technology and innovations. This meeting of minds, friendships, and potential for future collaborations were the biggest rewards in itself, and everyone was a winner. The award ceremony featured live music onstage to accompany the award announcements, which was cool.
They first started out with special prizes. Most of them were given out by Euroforum. The awards were sponsored visits to different European science laboratories like the European Space Observatory, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, EuroFusion and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. Others included participation at Expo-Sciences Luxembourg and a free entrance to the Bulgarian Workshop on Coding Theory.
After that, the Core prizes were called out. There were four 3rd place winners (3500 euros), four 2nd place winners (5000 euros) and four 1st place winners (7000 euros).
Winning the Second Prize
I was honoured to have my project on “Creating Algorithms to Determine an Asteroid’s Physical Properties and Applying Them to Measure the Success of Asteroid Deflection” win the 2nd core prize. See the press release by Youth Science Canada.
My team mate Elizabeth Chen, won the 1st core prize for her project on “Optimization of CAR-T Cell Therapy using RNA-Sequencing Analysis for Biomarker Identification.”
The complete list of 2023 EUCYS winners is available at: https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-09/EUCYS2023_Winners_List.pdf
Watch the 2023 EUCYS Awards Ceremony at https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=325494863352844
A Note about Judging:
Every project was judged based on a technical written report (sent in advance), posters and displays, and their performance during interviews by the judges. There were five judges allotted to each project. Each judge came at separate times and spent about 30 minutes on the project. For the first 5 minutes, they would let you explain your project, and then the judges would ask you questions for the remaining 25 minutes. I got questions about the challenges I faced doing the project, external help I received along the way, outreach I performed, Inspiration behind the project and clarifications on the methodology. I would also get the chance to show my supplementary material like robotic telescope proposals, training modules and publications.
I really enjoyed the judging process. It was more of a conversation where the judges tried to assess your passion and the pathway you took to develop your science project. The judges were top experts in their respective fields, and many of them had past experiences in judging science fair projects. I found all the judges had closely read your technical report sent in advance and were very knowledgeable about your project.
End Note: A Once in A Lifetime Experience
Participating in EUCYS is a wonderful experience. It is also a once-in-a-lifetime experience as participants are only allowed to compete in EUCYS once to have as many young people as possible benefit from this community and meet ignited STEM minds.
I made friends around the world, got to present my project to many judges, and had an opportunity to talk about my passion for astronomy with hundreds of students, teachers, and families who visited the public exhibition of our projects.
Links
Meeting all the teams: https://www.instagram.com/p/CxLE27BPtgA/
Day 1: https://twitter.com/EUScienceInnov/status/1701983765684179311
Closing Ceremony: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=325494863352844
Arushi Nath, Grade 9 Student. Toronto.
At the Tundra Launchpad Mentorship EventI had a fantastic opportunity to attend an annual Launchpad Mentorship Event at the University of Toronto’s Hart House on 9 November 2023. Tundra Technical Solutions, a global staffing firm, organized the events. It was aimed at encouraging young women to pursue STEM-oriented careers.
Organizations around the world are understanding the role of STEM in solving ongoing and emerging challenges, so much so that 8 November is celebrated as National STEM Day. We must encourage, train and mentor generations of youths to tackle these challenges. This event was an excellent initiative to mentor high school female students from Grades 9 – 12 in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Almost 150 students from across Toronto and the region attended the event. In addition, around 20 mentors from several organizations gathered to interact with the students. Many staff members from Tundra were also present to support the event. I was eager to participate in the event as I am fascinated with the new opportunities that open with STEM education and projects. Having won the top award at the 2023 and 2022 Canada-Wide Science Fair and Second Prize at the European Contest for Young Scientists in Brussels, I am conscious of the role of STEM in the lives of young people.
Keynote Speech: Science and Space is for All
The evening started with a keynote speech from Margot Lee Shetterly, the author of Hidden Figures book. Hidden Figures explores the biographies of three African-American women who worked as computers to solve problems for engineers and others at NASA.
With Margot Lee Shetterly, the Author of Hidden Figures bookIn her speech, she talked about her journey writing the book and what drew her to the topic. The fact that one of the three women was her neighbour was a big inspiring force. She shared the background of these brilliant women mathematicians, their personal stories, anecdotes and the crucial roles they played during the Space Race.
Several questions were posed to her, including how she felt about having her book transformed into a movie before the book was even complete and how students could merge their other passions with science.
Panel Discussion: Science and Space is for All
Following the keynote speech, there was a panel discussion with women leaders in the STEM domain. The Launchpad Event panel featured an impressive lineup of leaders: Anne Steptoe, VP of Infrastructure at Wealthsimple; Linda Siksna, SVP of Technology Ops and Platforms at Canadian Tire; Natasha Nelson, VP of Ecostruxure at Schneider Electric; and Allison Atkins, National Leader for Cloud Endpoint at Microsoft.
Panel Discussion in ProgressThe panel was moderated by Marisa Sterling, Assistant Dean and Director of Diversity, Inclusion, and Professionalism at the University of Toronto. The panellists represented various STEM domains, from energy corporate responsibility to technology and environment.
After giving a short introduction, each panellist talked about their journey in STEM, what challenges they faced along the way and how it led to their respective careers. I found it inspiring that each of the women took different pathways to achieve their aspirations, yet all of them were united in their desire to see more young women enter STEM fields.
Mentorship Sessions: Sharing Advice, Encouragement and Opportunities
With Marisa Sterling, Assistant Dean and Director of Diversity, Inclusion, and Professionalism at the University of TorontoAfter the panel, the event transitioned into mentorship sessions. The students were divided into smaller groups based on their table, each led by a mentor specializing in a particular STEM field. These 20-minute sessions provided an invaluable opportunity by allowing the mentees to ask questions to the mentors about their career journey and seek advice on pursuing their interests.
It was interesting to hear that while many mentors changed their career interests after getting a degree, the soft skills they learned while studying, like time management and speaking, were invaluable in their current position.
Prizes and Awards: Winning 2023 Mentee of the Year Award
At the beginning of the event, all mentees were given 5 raffle tickets to go towards prizes of their choice ranging from books to headphones and telescopes. Towards the end, the raffle results were drawn in, and the winners were called to the stage. I was happy to have won the Hidden Figures book autographed by Margot Lee Shetterly herself.
At the end of the raffle, I was surprised to hear my name called on the stage. I was honoured to receive the 2023 Mentee of the Year Award. I thanked the organizers for this gesture and for organizing such a wonderful evening of fun, learning and networking.
It was energetic to meet so many young women and established leaders in STEM. We all went back home filled with new ideas and inspired by the support of the community behind us. Thank you for this amazing event and I look forward to attending again next year!
Winning the 2023 Mentee of the Year Award! (Image courtesy: Tundra Technical Solutions)With Fellow Ignited-STEM Minds at the Launchpad Event (Image courtesy: Tundra Technical Solutions)2023 Mentee of the Year Award Certificate
Arushi Nath. Grade 9 Student. Toronto
On 1 November 2023, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) awarded this year’s top NSERC Awards at a ceremony held at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa. As a back-to-back winner of the top awards of the 2023 and 2022 Canada-Wide Science Fair, I got an invitation to join this ceremony. You can learn more about my research on developing algorithms for asteroid astrometry and photometry to measure the success of the NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission at www.MonitorMyPlanet.com
I could not attend the ceremony last year, but I was determined to attend it this year, and I am glad I did. It was an excellent opportunity to learn about the exceptional research carried out in Canada on issues ranging from astronomy to microbiology, ocean sciences, wastewater and machine learning and how it impacted us. I even got to meet and talk to several researchers, ask them questions, and understand what it takes to produce impactful research.
Around 100 people gathered for the awards ceremony, including award winners, their family members/supporters, professors and researchers, representatives from government and embassies, and NSERC staff. The evening started at 5.30 pm when people began to arrive at the Canadian Museum of Nature, and there was an hour for getting to know each other and having conversations. The formal award ceremony started at 6.30 pm.
With Lloyd Longfield, Federal Member of Parliament representing Guelph (picture courtesy: Lloyd Longfield)The Awards and What I Learned About the Research Undertaken
Arthur B. McDonald Fellowships
The first award of the evening was the Arthur B. McDonald Fellowships given out by none other than the 2015 Nobel Prize Winner astrophysicist Arthur B. McDonald himself. He is known for discoveries that neutrinos (the tiniest subatomic particles in the universe) have mass. These Fellowships were to early-stage academic researchers in the natural sciences and engineering from various universities in Canada.
There were six recipients of these awards: Amanda Bates (for gathering large collaborator networks and using biodiversity datasets to identify ecological responses to global change in oceans), Nicolas Cowan (for pioneering techniques to map the surfaces and atmospheres of exoplanets), Foutse Khomh (for Trustworthy AI – improving the dependability and trustworthiness of software systems), Karen Maxwell (for identifying new archetype of phage defence that has opened the door to the discovery of new drugs for treating viral and bacterial infections), Chelsea Rochman (for identifying the sources, fate and impacts of microplastics and their associated chemicals in aquatic ecosystems), and Mark Schmidt (making machine learning faster and more user-friendly so it can become more broadly accessible).
It was wonderful to have one of the awardees (Nicolas Cowan) recognized for his work on astronomy, particularly exoplanetary atmospheres. This area of research is of interest to me. Coincidentally, I contacted Dr. Cowan some months ago when he became Canada’s lead in the European Space Agency’s upcoming Ariel mission. I have been doing citizen science research for the Ariel Mission’s ExoClock initiative by improving the ephemeris of transiting exoplanets. It was wonderful to discover this connection!
2015 Nobel Prize Winner Arthur B. McDonald awards the Arthur B. McDonald FellowshipsSynergy Awards for Innovation
The Synergy Awards for Innovation recognized collaborative research between scientific organizations, colleges and universities. The winners were Michael Organ (for developing a novel reactor design that led to the preparation of billions of COVID-19 test kits), Beth Parker (for innovative multi-level monitoring well network for drinking water supply that led to the safe operation of Guelph’s water supply wells), Allen Curry (for developing new knowledge about the river ecosystem and New Brunswick Power with greater confidence for renewable energy generation), and the team Guillaume Caron, Léo Charest and Dominic Lanteigne (on air-pollutant emissions -to analyze combustion cycles and to make the necessary adjustments to improve the environmental performance of wood-burning appliances). The theme of collaboration came up repeatedly during the ceremony – many awardees recognized their teams and partnerships, which made their research possible.
Synergy Awards for Innovation WinnersBrockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering
The Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering went to Heather Sheardown and the C20/20 team at McMaster University, the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo. The C20/20 team addresses complex ophthalmic problems that must be tackled with deep knowledge from different perspectives ranging from basic science to biomaterials and applied manufacturing. For instance, the C20/20 team created a comfortable eye drop product that only requires dosing twice per week and delivers faster clinical results, reducing the burden for both patients and healthcare providers. The Prize recognized the work of the team on eye diseases and vision impairment, which impacts millions of Canadians.
Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering WinnersJohn C. Polanyi Award
The John C. Polanyi Award was given to Cathleen Crudden from Queen’s University for her breakthrough discovery in organic-on-metal coatings and overall contribution to the advancement of the field of chemistry. Dr. Crudden is a world-leading scientist whose research on the use of organic coatings to modify metal surfaces. Organic-on-metal coatings are critical components of most electrochemical, biological and optical sensors. She was the first to demonstrate a special kind of carbon-based ligands that form organic films on metal surfaces and resist decomposition under a range of conditions, including solvents, oxidation, and extreme temperatures.
John C. Polanyi Award: Cathleen CruddenDonna Strickland Prize for Societal Impact of Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
The recipient of the NSERC Donna Strickland Prize for Societal Impact of Natural Sciences and Engineering Research was Peter Vanrolleghem for his work on COVID-19 epidemiological monitoring through wastewater analysis. His work on analyzing sewage water was fascinating as it had a clear application: to be used as a low-cost, aggregated, early warning system for new epidemic outbreaks. His work allows detection of trends in the pandemic of a city days ahead, allowing better preparation time for public health authorities to manage the epidemic. I was slightly familiar with that work as it was reported in the media during the COVID-19 pandemic. Donna Strickland, on whose name the award is instituted, is a Canadian Nobel Prize winner in Physics 2018 for her work on developing chirped pulse amplification, which led to the creation of the most intense laser pulses used in laser eye surgery.
Donna Strickland Prize for Societal Impact of Natural Sciences and Engineering Research: Peter VanrolleghemGerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering
The top and most prestigious award, the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, went to Yoshua Bengio from the University of Montreal for his work on deep learning (artificial intelligence) and its applications. Interestingly, I had come across the work of Dr. Bengio before while taking up some online courses on Coursera during the COVID-19 school lockdowns.
Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering: Yoshua BengioWhat I Learned Talking with Researchers
After the formal award ceremony, we all moved to the second floor of the Museum for a reception. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet the award winners and other researchers gathered there. The gathering was friendly, and everyone was very forthcoming about sharing details about the research they were doing in a manner that a school student could understand. I met astronomers, biologists, chemists, geologists, mathematicians, marine scientists, policymakers, researchers and family members supporting the award winners.
Wonderful Opportunity to Meet Other ResearchersThe fact that the work of some of the Canadian researchers being recognized at the Awards ceremony was already known among school students indicates the impact of the research work carried out in Canada and the applications that have emerged from it. The research of award recipients focused on ongoing topics (climate change, water systems, exoplanetary atmospheres) and issues which demanded immediate attention, such as developing COVID-19 pandemic monitoring systems and COVID-19 testing kits. It showed that the Canadian research sector is responsive and can direct its research to pressing needs to produce applications that positively impact millions of lives.
Talking with Alejandro Adem, President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of CanadaI learned that continuous collaborations and partnerships are essential to produce world-class results. It was amazing to see so many Awards recognize this collaboration and most winners acknowledging the role played by their research team. I will remember these three words that researchers shared can lead to producing quality research. They are: “I don’t know”. When researchers profess they do not know something about an issue, it opens up avenues to learn more about it. Researchers are usually embracing of working together if you state what you do not know. I have found this to be true in my personal experiences too. When I take a complex project, I try to break it into smaller sections and work on individual sections to produce a model or a prototype. When I face a problem, I find it easier to seek help from the wider community when I show what I did and where I need some guidance to proceed from there.
We need to long-term and substantially fund and encourage curiosity-driven exploratory research. This research may not have an immediate application but, over time, could lay the foundation for game-changing innovations and applications. The need to attract and retain talent at every stage is also critical. Given the high cost of living, it is important to pay the researchers, especially young and early-career researchers, above the poverty levels. This will ensure they apply their knowledge to solving societal and bigger challenges instead of being driven to industry-oriented jobs or opportunities south of the border to the United States.
With Alan R. Davidson, University of Toronto and Christian Baron, Canadian Institutes of Health Research: Learned a Lot, Made New Connections for Future ResearchSome Suggestions to Raise a STEM-ignited NexGen in Post-COVID-19 World
I think the research investments and funding should start earlier, to even include school students. We are the most connected generation ever and are aware of scientific research and developments happening in the world, be it in the area of astronomy or marine sciences, microbiology or machine learning. Our learning pathways have also changed. COVID-19 lockdowns spurred the use of Zoom, online courses and virtual conferences to learn about a new topic, connect with researchers, collaborate with them, undertake projects and then present them virtually – while attending school. STEM conversations and collaborations are starting earlier and need to be encouraged so that more students pursue STEM, undertake curiosity-driven projects, and maintain this curiosity and scientific temper no matter what career paths they choose.
It calls for greater investments in school science project scholarships, new and expanded science centres, research collaboration platforms, open-data sharing, allowing students access to conferences, creating community maker spaces, opening up high-speed computing facilities to students, more science festivals, fairs and competitions, and encouraging greater diversity in science.
Arushi Nath, Founder. www.MonitorMyPlanet.com
Artash Nath, Grade 12 Student. Toronto.
A two-day residential Underwater Acoustics Data Challenge Workshop 2023 was organized by the “Special Interest Group for Underwater Acoustics (SIGUA)” of the UK Acoustics Network on 11-12 September 2023 at Guyers House, near Bath, UK. The workshop objectives were to explore solutions to research challenges set by industry.
30 people attended the workshop, mainly from the UK but some also from France and the Netherlands. I was the only representative from Canada. The event was organized in the form of a hackathon, making available underwater ocean environment data available to the participants in advance. Over the two days, the participants worked in teams based on the challenges that interested them to develop innovative solutions. Each challenge was anchored by a company, including Thales, Ultra, and ORE Catapult. Representatives from the companies were present to provide more contextual information and answer questions.
With Team Mates Valentin Bordoux, Matthew Garcia and Artash Nath: Taking on Challenge 3 (Sonobuoy Network for Marine Mammal Tracking)When I worked on my www.MonitorMyOcean.com project to measure the quietening of global oceans during the COVID-19 lockdowns, I spent a lot of time gathering hydrophone data from different ocean observatories. While some of these sources were comfortable with sharing the data, many did not, as hydrophone data has military usage, too. It also explained why representatives from companies, such as Thales, which undertakes contracts from the UK Government and the military, could not fully disclose all the purposes they use the hydrophone data.
The Three Challenges
There were three challenges set aside, each headed by an industry partner. These were:
Challenge 1: Marine Acoustic Sensing using Repurposed Fibreoptic Cables (Thales)
Underwater fibre-optic cables that transmit data across the world can act as vast arrays of hydrophones sensing vibrations every couple of meters over thousands of kilometres. By measuring the light backscatter in these fibres, it is possible to measure the underwater sound causing these vibrations.
The participants were given access to the Ocean Observatories Initiative RAPID dataset, where two seafloor cables located offshore Oregon recorded data over a 4-day in 2021 when they were not being used. By analyzing the data, it is possible to observe wave and tidal effects and extract sounds of marine mammals (blue & fin whales) as well as shipping noise. The challenge was to develop algorithms that could extract information about these observed phenomena, characterize them, and, if possible, create visualization. https://acoustics.ac.uk/underwater-acoustics-data-challenge-workshop-2023-thales/
Challenge 2: Passive Acoustic Underwater Detection and Tracking (Ultra)
Due to the abundance of noise in underwater environments, human sonar operators typically outperform traditional passive contact follower algorithms when analyzing broadband waterfall displays. They are also better at detecting and tracking the more interesting “quieter contacts” in broadband sonar data. The challenge is to create robust algorithms that outperform the traditional algorithms without increasing the false alarm rate.
The participants were provided with 250 vignettes of synthetic Hull Mounted Sonar (HMS) data that contained signals from a number of contacts, as well as the corresponding ground truth tracks. These vignettes were 2-dimensional arrays where the columns correspond to the look angles of the HMS while the rows correspond to time. https://acoustics.ac.uk/underwater-acoustics-data-challenges-workshop-ultra-2023/
Challenge 3: Sonobuoy Network for Marine Mammal Tracking (ORE Catapult)
Marine mammal tracking reports for offshore energy project consenting are of increased interest to local governments, as they lead to a reduction in site consenting times for the development of offshore wind, tidal and wave technologies. Thus, there is a great demand for exploring underwater acoustic sensing networks to track marine mammals.
The participants in the challenge are given access to the Detection, Classification, Localisation and Density Estimation (DCLDE) Datasets from hydrophone arrays laid out in a 4×8 grid arrangement separated by around 8km each off the East Coast of Canada. The highly endangered North Atlantic Right Whales (NARW) are known to frequent this area. The 32 sonobuoys dataset contains data recorded over two days in multiplexed format, stored in .wav format, and ordered as omni, sine (East-West), and cosine (North-South) channels. The main goal of this challenge is to develop methods for detecting, characterizing, localizing, and tracking marine mammal calls. The NARW signals mainly consist of their upsweep and down-sweep calls.
Coincident shipboard and aerial NARW visual surveys, as well as oceanographic surveys by Slocum ocean gliders, were also conducted within each sonobuoy array over the two days. A spreadsheet containing information on the different whale sightings was included in the provided data to act as ground truth for testing algorithms. Furthermore, manual labelling of identical calls detected simultaneously at different sonobuoys was also included. https://acoustics.ac.uk/underwater-acoustics-data-challenge-workshop-2023-ore-catapult/
The Hackathon and Team-Making
On the evening prior to the start of the event, I met several participants, including the organizer, Dr. Alan Hunter, as well as researchers from various companies behind the three challenges. It allowed me to get a better understanding of the backgrounds of the participants, what their interests were, what they expected out of this event, and the challenge that interested them the most. Being the only high school student in the group, it was a wonderful learning opportunity to see a broad gathering of people from different universities and institutions interested in the specific subject of underwater acoustics.
The next day, after a hearty breakfast, everyone met in the common room. Alan gave an introductory talk about the workshop objectives and the schedule ahead. It was followed by a short presentation from representatives of companies acting as anchors for each of the three challenges. Many participants had already decided upon the challenge they were most interested in and had identified groups they would like to work with.
Working on Challenge 3: Using Machine Learning to Identify Bioacoustic Signals
I was interested in Challenge 3 as I have been working on acoustics signals for a few months using hydrophone data from Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and also as a part of the working group member of the International Quiet Ocean Experiment (IQOE).
There were around ten people interested in the challenge. We all went into the courtyard and started brainstorming ideas on how to tackle the dataset. As some of the participants had already viewed the datasets and had a good understanding of them, a lot of great ideas were generated. We decided to break into even smaller groups to build upon those ideas. Three sub-groups were formed. I teamed up with Matthew Gracia, a master’s student from the University of Bath and Valentin Bordoux, a master’s student from France.
As Matthew had been working on the DLCDE dataset for his master’s degree, we were able to get a headstart on the project. The main issue we discovered was annotations on multiple sonobuoys that were needed to localize the data were missing. Labelling 32 sonobuoys manually was a challenging task, so only the first observed time of a specific whale call was usually annotated by the university researchers who had created the annotations for the DLCDE dataset. This meant there were many unannotated signals.
Our immediate objective was to use the pre-existing annotation data samples to train a machine-learning model to identify unannotated calls in the dataset. Our model should be able to go through a sliding window and detect whether a 5-second segment contains a signal. To do this, we needed to prepare a dataset containing samples of segments with signals in them as well as segments without any signal.
To make the dataset with positive detections, we created 5-second windows centred on each annotated call. For the negative call detections, we just picked a random time stamp that did not overlap with an annotated call. Although these windows may have contained a few unannotated calls, the duration of the call would have been miniscule in comparison to the duration in which there were absolutely no calls.
We trained a Convolution Neural Network (CNN) model on the negative and positive detections. As we only had 36 hours to work on our projects, we didn’t have time for much preprocessing and fine-tuning the data, which is essential for getting higher accuracy. Consequently, we could only achieve a test accuracy of 65%. Although low, it demonstrated that a highly accurate model capable of detecting new unannotated calls was possible. We applied our model to a sample buoy and were able to detect 7 new calls that had not been annotated before!
We planned to continue working to make an improved model and increase the annotations for surrounding hydrophone calls.
Group Presentations
On the last day, all the teams created presentations of the work they did and presented them to the entire group.
For Challenge 1, three teams presented their work. I found it interesting that one of the teams correlated signals detected from the fibre optic cables with the AIS vessel data. They used different segments of the cables to triangulate the distance to ships. Teams were also able to observe the overlap between marine mammal calls and the noise of the ship. In one instance, the sound of a ship overshadowed the mammal call when it passed close to it, validating the known fact that growing shipping noise is hampering the ability of marine mammals to use sound for communication and navigation. Some of the team did an additional analysis to determine the vessel and propeller type from the sound signals.
Two teams tackled the challenge 2 on sonar tracing. One of the teams tried three different models – convolutional autoencoders to generate traces from a full image, a CNN model that predicted segments, and a CNN/RNN hybrid combination that tried tracing in real-time.
Four teams tackled challenge 3. One team went in-depth into a single observed scenario, carefully analyzed a signal detected by 4 hydrophones, and used an algorithm to improve the time stamps for each call, allowing for accurate TDOA localization. Another team also went in-depth, tracing one call across 6 hydrophones and identifying the directional property of an NARW call. Our group took a more broad approach aimed at the entire dataset. Our model would automatically create annotations, allowing models created by other teams to do more in-depth analysis for each specific scenario in the dataset.
Thanks, and Until the Next Workshop
I learned a lot during this hackathon-styled workshop. The opportunity to work together with lots of researchers and young professionals allowed me to pick knowledge on new tools, algorithms and developments in the area of underwater acoustics.
Thank you to UK Acoustics Network for offering the overnight stay alongside breakfast, lunch and dinner and transportation to and from the Bath Spa train station. I hope to join you again in the next workshop.
Arushi Nath. Grade 9. Toronto Predictable, stable, and adequate funding is essential for city governments to produce public goods and services we enjoy daily, from picking up garbage to public […]
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Arushi Nath. 13 years. Grade 8. Toronto. Olivia Chow was sworn in as Toronto’s 66th mayor today (12 July 2023). She is the first racialized and only the third women […]
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Arushi Nath, Grade 8 Student, Toronto
The 2023 Canada-Wide Science Fair (CWSF) took place in Edmonton, Alberta, from May 14 to 19, 2023. It was the first in-person event since 2019 because of the pandemic. The 61st edition of the national science fair brought together some 396 regional science fair finalists from 7th to 12th grade from across Canada. The event was organized by Youth Science Canada, which is also responsible for coordinating over 100 regional science and technology fairs across the country.
My Journey to Winning the Best Project Award Innovation (second year in a row) at the 2023 Canada-Wide Science Fair
Toronto Science Fair 2023
The journey to the Canada-Wide Science Fair starts at the regional level. In my case, I first entered the 2023 Toronto Science Fair held at the University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus, on April 1, 2023. Almost 300 students from various schools in Toronto participated in the Fair.
Won 6 awards at the Canada-Wide Science Fair 2023 including the Top Award: Best of Fair Award (Innovation)I was excited to have won a Gold Medal and two special awards: the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Award and the University of Toronto (Scarborough Campus) Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences Awards – Physics Award at the Toronto Science Fair.
My project was “Developing algorithms to determine asteroid’s physical properties and success of deflection missions.” It was a wonderful experience presenting my project to the various judges and answering their questions. Each interview lasted around 15-20 minutes. I had four judges for my project, and the final results of the Toronto Science Fair were declared on the same day.
At the end of the Awards ceremony, the organizers announced 10 winners from amongst the Gold Medal Winners who would be part of Team Toronto at the Canada-Wide Science Fair 2023. I was one among them and I was excited about the journey ahead.
Winning Gold Medal and other Awards at 2023 Toronto Science Fair: The starting point of my journey to the Canada-Wide Science Fair 2023
Canada Wide Science Fair 2022: A look-back to Winning the Best Project Award (Innovation)
It was a wonderful realization that I will finally be able to attend the Canada-Wide Science Fair in person. In 2022 too, my project “Strengthening Planetary Defense: Detecting Unknown Asteroids using Open Data, Math, and Python” won a Gold Medal, the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Award, and was selected to be part of Team Toronto to Canada Wide Science Fair. Unfortunately, the CWSF 2022, which was supposed to be held in Fredericton, New Brunswick, could only be held virtually.
I performed exceeding well at the 2022 Canada-Wide Science Fair. I won the Best Project Award (Innovation) amongst over 350 entries and became the first 7th grader in 17 years to win such a prestigious award. Only three junior participants had even won the top award in the 60 years history of the Fair. In addition, I also won four other awards, including Gold Medal, Excellence in Astronomy Award, Youth Can Innovate Award, and the Top of the Category Award in Curiosity and Ingenuity.
Won 5 awards at the Canada-Wide Science Fair 2022, including the Top Award: Best of Fair Award (Innovation)My Canada Wide Science Fair 2023 Project: Developing Algorithms to Determine Asteroid’s Physical Properties and Success of Deflection Missions
The pace of discovery of near-earth asteroids outpaces current abilities to analyze them. Knowledge of an asteroid’s physical properties is essential to deflect them.
My project had two goals:
- Develop algorithms to determine the physical properties of near-earth asteroids by combining images from robotic telescopes, open-data and school-level math.
- Apply the algorithm to a real-world planetary defense test by determining the physical properties of the Didymos binary asteroid and measuring changes after NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission impact to validate the success of the asteroid deflection mission.
I developed open-source algorithms that combine images from robotic telescopes, open data, and math to determine asteroids’ size, rotation, and strength. I took observations of the Didymos binary asteroid, and my algorithm determined it to be 820m wide, with a 2.26-hour rotation period and rubble-pile strength. I measured a 35-minute decrease in the mutual orbital period after impact by the 2022 NASA DART Mission. External sources validated the findings. Every citizen scientist could now be a planetary defender.
Complete project details: https://projectboard.world/ysc/project/developing-algorithms-to-determine-asteroids-physical-properties-and-success-of-deflection-missions-zbdjwn
Participation in the 2023 Canada-Wide Science Fair in Edmonton
The 2023 Canada-Wide Science Fair was spread across 6 days, and each day was filled with exciting activities and interaction with other participants.
Day 0
The winning team members from different regional fairs made their way to Edmonton and settled in their hotels.
Team Toronto had 10 finalists and was supported by two delegates: Barbara Worth and Gabriel Ayyavoo. Both were the key organizers of the Toronto Science Fair and had worked hard to make this trip possible.
Team Toronto alongside Barbara Worth and Gabriel Ayyavoo, heading to Canada-Wide Science Fair 2023 in EdmontonDay 1
We had to set up our stall by attaching posters and arranging all the supplementary material. We were briefed on how the judging process would happen.
Day 2
This was the Judging Day for the excellence awards. It went on from morning to afternoon with a break for lunch. This was something all the participants were prepared for and looking forward to. Each of the finalists had four assigned judges who came at different times. Each judging interview lasted around 20 minutes. Around 7 minutes for presenting our project and the rest of the time answering their questions.
Stall set up! Waiting for the JudgesThe day ended with visiting the Edmonton Mall for fun and leisure. It was a chance to take pictures and interact with participants from other regions.
Day 3
All the participants got a chance to explore the University of Alberta. It was an incredible experience to tour the campus, visit different buildings and labs, and see fascinating things like the solar observatory, meteorite samples, and the university’s bug museum. We also heard an inspiring keynote speech from Bill Flanagan, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Alberta. All of us even got a free swag: a cool University of Alberta sweatshirt.
Day 4
This was the day for special awards judging. Each participant had self-nominated their project for up to three special awards, and judges interviewed the finalists against those awards. We were informed that judges could visit us at any time, so we had to stay with our projects throughout the day. With each special award judge, we had 10 minutes, using 3 minutes for our presentation and the remaining time for questions. Throughout the day, I had over 20 judges, some for the special awards I self-nominated for and others for awards under different categories. It was exciting to be able to share my project with so many judges and answer their knowledgeable questions.
While the judging was happening, the venue was also open to the public. We had students from several local schools visiting the science fair and interacting with the finalists.
In the evening, all the finalists got to visit the Telus World of Science, which was specially reserved for them. We got to interact with the exhibits and view the laser show.
Explaining my project to visitors at the CWSF 2023 ExpoDay 5
This was the STEM Expo and public viewing day. Many universities and research institutions had set up their stall, and their representatives were briefing the students about their programmes.
The evening of Day 5 was the much-awaited Awards Ceremony. This was the moment all the finalists had been waiting for eagerly. It started with Land Acknowledgement, followed by acknowledging the organizers and sponsors, and then moved to the presentation of special awards, excellence awards, and finally, the best of the Canada-wide Science Fair awards.
The Award Ceremony was followed by a banquet and dance. It was a chance to once again meet and mingle with fellow participants.
Day 6
The morning started with “Meet the Winners” where each of the winners shared goals or their project, the challenges they faced, and advice they had for other participants. The panel was moderated by Reni Barlow, Executive Director of Youth Science Canada.
The public viewing and the STEM Expo continued in the afternoon. It was followed by participants dismantling their project posters and packing their things.
In the evening, the Closing Ceremony of the 2023 Canada-Wide Science Fair was held. It was a time to say our final goodbyes to all the participants with promises to see them again.
Day 7
It was the day to travel back home. Our Team Toronto took the evening flight back to Toronto after having one of the greatest experiences of our lives.
Results of the 2023 Canada-Wide Science Fair: Winning the Best of Canada-Wide Science Fair Award (Innovation) and Breaking the 33-year-old record
For the second year in a row, I won the Best Project Award of the Canada-Wide Science Fair (Innovation), becoming the first back-to-back best project award winner since 1989-1990 and the youngest ever to do so.
Arushi Nath, winning the Best of Canada-Wide Science Fair Award 2023 back to back, breaking a 33 years old record and being the youngest to do so!Excited that 800 hours of hard work behind the project was rewarded with the Top Award of the CWSF 2023As a result of the best project award, I will be representing Canada at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) in Brussels this September 2023.
In addition to the Best Project Award, I also won 5 other awards:
- Gold Medal
- The Actuarial Foundation of Canada Award
- Excellence in Astronomy Award from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
- Top of the Category Award in Curiosity and Ingenuity
- Youth Can Innovate Award
I was extremely pleased to have been rewarded with these awards and opportunities after having invested over 800 hours in my project.
Resources
Press Release by Youth Science Canada:
Canada-Wide Science Fair presents Best Project Awards to projects on alternative cancer treatments and planetary defense. https://youthscience.ca/cwsf-2023-winners/
CWSF 2023 Award Ceremony
Meet the Winners Panel
More Pictures
Team Toronto at the Canada Wide Science Fair 2023Team Canada to EUCYS (Elizabeth Chen and Arushi Nath)Group Photograph with Platinum Award Winners
Arushi Nath. Grade 8 Student.
The Bio Summit is a global community of Do-It-Yourself biologists, biohackers, biomakers and members of community laboratories. It has been coming together annually since 2017 to share, discuss, collaborate and frame the future of independent research in the life sciences. This year, the 6th Global Community Bio Summit was held as a hybrid event, with most programming delivered virtually from January 26-29, 2023.
It was my first time participating in this event. I learned about this community while watching online videos on the genetic rescue of endangered species for biodiversity conservation. As I have been working on biodiversity-related projects and am interested in neurotech and hacking, I decided to register for this event in November 2022. As the participants were encouraged to share their ongoing projects, I submitted an abstract of my ongoing project related to bio-mimicking the neuron architecture of a dragonfly to build a drone.
I was delighted when in early January 2023, I received a confirmation that my registration and abstract were approved. I was given a 20 minutes slot to make an oral presentation of my project to the broader bio summit audience on 28 January 2023. My presentation would be under the “Open Innovation: Science and Automation Track” of the Biosummit.
Open Innovation: Science and Automation Track
This track happened on 28 January 2023 at 4.50 pm EST on Day 2 of the Summit. Day 2 focused on Open Innovation, Learning & Education, Environmental Stewardship, Responding to Global Health Challenges, and Workshops.
The Science and Automation track was moderated by James Parsons. The other speakers in my track were: David Castillo on Proteopresso: Affordable, automated chromatography at a glance, Dahlin Zevallos on Development of a mercury whole-cell biosensor, Mehreen Raza on Promoting open source science & technology, and Tim Dobbs onOpen Auto Club: Open-Source Robots For Al
It was interesting to hear so many fascinating presentations about projects people undertook in their countries with support from the community. I learned how people used 3D printers to print lab equipment to assist with Pelvic Surgery, how to perform chromatography, and so much more.
Dragonfly Drone: Learning from Nature using Neurons and Logic Gates
My presentation went well. There were over 30 participants in my track. It is always fun to share ongoing projects with others to get their feedback and answer questions they have.
Who is the best hunter in nature? It is, surprisingly, a dragonfly. A dragonfly has more than a 97% chance of catching its prey, while lions have only a 25% chance and sharks 50%. It is because a dragonfly has
only 16 visual neurons. The small number of neurons ensures that information can travel fast, making the dragonfly quick in making decisions. When the dragonfly sees prey in front of it, it first estimates its size to ensure it is not a predator. It then silently follows it and waits for the right time to capture it. Finally, it sends signals to its wings to fly, which allows it to swoop upon the prey. Over six months, I used the neuron architecture of the dragonfly to create my Dragonfly Drone as an open-source project. I built several prototypes of my Drone using aluminum cans, water bottles, and Lego. I experimented with different sensors and cameras, motors and servos, and used Python and Arduino as the programming languages. My final design uses a camera to identify the prey, an ultrasonic sensor to estimate the distance of the prey, and digital logic gates to replicate the functioning of neurons.
Video Demonstration of the Dragonfly DroneAn Arduino microcontroller provides decision-making support, and servo motors were used to replicate the functions of its wings.
The Dragonfly Drone had five features:
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Detection of prey
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Getting the distance to the prey
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Deciding to fly or not to fly
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Which direction to fly, and finally
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Which direction to turn the motors to determine the best flight path
Python programming was used to process data from the camera and sensors, and digital logic gates. Arduino was used for controlling the movements. I am now using the learnings from this project for my other neurotech projects.
I am currently working on measuring electrical activity in the human brain, particularly neural oscillations, using an open-source biosignals platform to help stimulate patients’ memories with Alzheimer’s disease. This project was initiated during the Brain Hack Toronto 2022. More details about this project are available at: BrainHack Toronto 2022: Neural Oscillations, Flickering Lights and Open-source Biosignals
Arushi Nath. Grade 8 Student. Toronto.
Budgeting is an essential part of producing public goods and services. It decides the level of financing available, which determines the quantity in which that good can be produced and how many people can benefit from it. In simpler terms, if there is no money in the budget, then that good is unlikely to be produced and offered to the public, be it reliable transit, homeless shelters, or parks and libraries.
It is essential to have the views of citizens, especially those who are vulnerable, to be included in the budgeting process. With this perspective in mind, I registered myself with the Budget SubCommittee of the City of Toronto to give a “Depute” in person. As I have school from morning until afternoon, the only option available for me was to register for Depute in the slot starting at 6 pm at the City Hall.
Making my Depute to the Budget Sub Committee. 17 January 2023. 6 pm,I arrived at the City Hall around 5.45 pm. After a quick security check, I went straight to Committee Room 4, where the Deputes would be held. It was wonderful to meet in person many people who had assembled to give Deputes, including many people from TTCRiders group.
The Budget SubCommittee includes Councillor Gary Crawford (Chair), Councillor Alejandra Bravo, and Councillor Chris Moise.
I was the second person on the list of speakers. After the initial housekeeping and other announcements, the Deputations started. As the first speaker was not present, I became the first person to make the Depute. I had to take a seat in front of the committee and had 5 minutes to make my statement.
Even though it was my first Depute in person, I was confident and excited at the opportunity to present my statement. The Depute went well, and I even got a question from Councillor Chris Moise. The Committee Chair, Councillor Gary Crawford, thanked me for my well-structured and concise statement, and I thanked everyone in return for giving me the opportunity.
My Depute in Progress. Image Credit: https://twitter.com/ttcriders/status/1615488797617037325 Text of My Speech (watch the video of my speech here)
Budgeting is a Tool to Improve the Lives of People: Use it Wisely to Maximize Public Good
Hello. Bonjour.
I am Arushi, a Grade 8 Student from the Spadina Fort-York ward.
My favourite subject is math. Yet, I do not see Budgeting as a number exercise.
I see Budgeting as a TOOL to improve the lives of people in Toronto.
But budgeting exercise is a double-edged tool. Sometimes:
Cuts in the Budget can increase costs.
And an increase in the Budget can cut costs.
Let me share 3 examples from the Budget
First, The Budget plans to save $46 million per year through service cuts in TTC during off-peak hours. It means those who do not have the privilege to work or study from home, students like me, shift and part-time workers on daily wages, nurses, support workers, and grandparents would have to wait longer at TTC stops.
Waiting is a productivity loss for this vulnerable group that could have gone to increasing their income, education, child care, enjoying parks and libraries, and volunteering.
Assuming 250,000 riders at off-peak hours must wait additional 3 minutes longer daily. Valuing their time at minimum wage levels translates to over 58 million dollars being taken away from this group per year, who have no choice but to take the TTC. A 10 cents increase will push this loss even higher.
Second, Budget saving by cutting down on 24/7 respite spaces and warming centres has led to hundreds of people sleeping rough in Toronto. Being a volunteer for Bike Brigade and Community Fridges Toronto, I have seen firsthand how the reliance on charities and soup kitchens is growing.
Homeless people have to use transit, parks, libraries, hospitals, and local businesses for shelter and washrooms. It has increased emergency care and enforcement budgets of libraries, hospitals, transit, parks and private businesses. These costs now exceed the budget savings pushing the overall cost.
Third, the loss of Social Capital that is not reflected in the Budget. I am coming here to Depute, leaving my studies – as social justice is everyone’s responsibility.
Much of the city’s social capital goes into petitioning, protests, and letter-writing on issues that should not be.
- The City of Toronto’s own statistics points to 3.5 homeless deaths per week and people freezing to death. Yet, here we are making Deputes protesting the closing of shelters.
- TTC’s November 2022 report says that the increase in ridership is driven by students and workers. Yet, here we are, making Deputes that cutting services and making TTC expensive for students and workers is not the solution.
I implore this Committee to use the Budgeting tools to maximize public good. The math part is not difficult; any middle school kid can do it.
But in democracies, people give elected officials the power to use Budgeting tools to improve our lives. Please use it wisely.
Thank You
Heading back home at the end of my Dispute and listening to many others sharing their views. But work is not over!.
Arushi Nath. Grade 8 Student.
Youth groups are one of the strongest users of many city-provided public services. These include public parks, transit, libraries, community centers, city-run recreational programs, and museums.
Thus they are affected by decisions made by city governments. And disproportionately, too. Young people must bear the long-term consequences of all decisions made by current policymakers: the good ones, the bad ones, those made with foresight, and those made with little foresight that maximizes short-term gains over long-term costs.
Arushi Nath delivering a Depute at the TTC Board Meeting. 9 January 2023.Youths: Cannot Vote. But Can Voice Concerns
With the voting age set at 18 years, most school-going youths cannot vote. But the inability to vote should not mean – not having a voice, or having a voice but suppressing it until you are 18. Youths of today are passionate, engaged, and civic-minded. Thanks to the power of social media and online communities, youths can find or create platforms to voice their concerns.
I am a daily Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) commuter. I use it to attend school in the morning, reach home in the afternoon, get to swim classes on some weekdays, and visit libraries, museums and friends on weekends. As a daily user, I have first-hand experiences with public transit and have views and suggestions for its improvement.
Reading the news, I came to know that the City of Toronto government would be:
- Reducing the TTC services
- Increasing the wait times
- Introduce more crowding in the transit
- Expand the enforcement team, and
- Charge the commuters more for reduced services
In the era of climate instability, increasing densification of cities, and growing diversity and inequality in Toronto, this would be the wrong direction to take. For short-term gains, it would push the social and environmental costs of transit reduction and deterioration in public services to youths who will have to solve more demanding challenges with minimal resources.
TTCriders: A Grassroots Organization to Voice Citizen Concerns on Public Transit
I started looking for avenues for sharing my views. And this is when I came across the TTCriders group through Twitter. It was the first time I heard about this group. Going through their website, I learned about the organization and its objectives.
TTCriders is a grassroots transit advocacy organization that gives TTC riders a voice. The organization focuses on transit funding, fares, services, dedicated transit lanes, accessibility issues, and unique issues faced by the people of Scarborough.
My Depute in Progress at the TTC Board Meeting on 9 January 2022. City Hall. Toronto.I joined the group and signed up for updates. Through these updates, I learned about an upcoming TTC Board Meeting on 9 January 2023, which was open to presentations by the public. The public was allowed to submit written comments or register to speak to the TTC Board in person or by video conference.
Preparation for my First Depute to the TTC Board Meeting
I decided to present my views to the TTC Board and registered to speak at the meeting. To support the general public in making deputations to the Committee, the TTC Riders had also organized an online training session the day before. It would allow anyone to understand how the deputation process goes, how to prepare your intervention, the time available to present (3 minutes) and what to expect.
As this was my first deputation, I registered for the TTCRiders online training session and found it very useful. I also learned that 30 people had registered to make a depute in person or online, and I was number 18th on the list.
TTCriders Training Session in ProgressMy Depute:
As the TTC Board Meeting was during school hours, I decided to make my depute from my school. The TTC Board Meeting will be happening at the City Hall, Toronto, in Committee Room 1, and the following TTC Board Members will be present to hear the deputations:
Board Members Chair – Councillor Jon Burnside, Councillor Paul Ainslie, Joanne De Laurentiis (Citizen), Councillor Stephen Holyday, Fenton Jagdeo (Citizen), Ron Lalonde (Citizen), Councillor Nick Mantas, Councillor Chris Moise, and Julie Osborne (Citizen).
While I was told my turn would be at around 10.45 am, there was a delay, and I got to speak at 12.03 pm. My school was kind enough to accommodate my request to take time off from a class to make my intervention.
I enjoyed delivering my intervention. While there were no questions from the Committee Members, I was glad I had taken the initiative to register my opinions and suggestions about TTC services and put them on the record. I am absorbing the learnings from this experience. I hope to build upon them as I advocate for better public transit for all.
Online Link to the TTC Board Meeting: Watch my Depute
Intervention by Arushi Nath
2022 Operating and Capital Budgets. Monday. 9 January 2023
Location: Committee Room 1, Toronto City Hall
https://www.ttc.ca/public-meetings/board/2023/Board-Meeting-Jan-9?tab=0
Hello, Bonjour. I am Arushi, a Grade 8 student from the Spadina Fort-York area.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a big impact on school-going kids. The schools became virtual for a year and a half, and all after-school and extracurricular activities stopped for over two years.
Now that school life is returning to normal, TTC services have become unreliable.
- There are: long wait times for Bathurst, College and Dundas street cars in the morning and the afternoon
- There are frequent route changes
- Often, part of the streetcar route is replaced by a bus doubling the wait times
- And bunched up “Not in Service” street cars have become the new short turns
Many schoolkids do not have phones. Electronic displays on bus stops that showed timings of the next few TTC vehicles have either been removed, are broken or do not show the correct information. Most bus stops are in a terrible state, providing no shelter from the elements.
For most city kids, TTC is the only mode of transportation. Some days, it takes over 40 minutes to cover a few kilometres by streetcar. It impacts every aspect of our lives, such as being late to school in the morning, reaching home late in the afternoon, or the inability to reach swimming classes in time, even when starting earlier.
There is an urgent need to expand the TTC services and make them more frequent and reliable. The direction TTC is taking in having TTC service levels below 2022 levels for 2023 through 2025 by reducing services is plain wrong.
In the era of climate instability and the increase in density of our neighbourhoods: affordable, fast, frequent, clean, safe and reliable public transit should be the primary mode of transportation.
I suggest 3 things:
- Public Transit should have dedicated lanes to make it faster.
- Existing technology should allow TTC drivers to record and report drivers of vehicles passing open doors to make street cars safer.
- Fare hikes should be rolled back to keep TTC affordable for all.
Please make that happen, as the school-going youths of today could be your largest and most dedicated group of TTC riders tomorrow.
References: 2023 TTC Conventional and Wheel-Trans Operating Budgets
Artash Nath. RISE 100 Global Fellow, Schmidt Futures and Rhodes Trust. Grade 11 Student. Toronto.
ArcticNet is a Network of Centres of Excellence in Canada to study the impacts of rapid natural, climate, health and socio-economic changes in the Arctic. It does so by partnering with Inuit organizations, northern communities, federal and provincial governments, and international research teams throughout Denmark, Finland, France, Greenland, Japan, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Every year it organizes its flagship ArcticNet Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) at a different Canadian location to highlight Arctic and northern research happening in Canada. The meeting brings together thousands of researchers, community leaders, engineers, officials from the government and the private sector, young professionals, students, and the media.
ArcticNet Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) 2022, Toronto
The 2022 ArcticNet Conference was held from December 4-8 at the Beanfield Centre in Toronto, Ontario. The objective of ASM2022 was to advance our collective understanding with an inclusive view of the North spanning from Inuit Nunangat across the Canadian territories and provinces, circumpolar Arctic regions, and beyond.
Excited to register for my first ArcticNet Conference ever!It was my first time participating in an ArcticNet conference. In 2020 and 2021, the ArticNet Conference was organized virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. After a gap of two years, it physically brought together over 1200 people interested in Arctic-related research. As Toronto is far from the Arctic and the oceans, it is uncommon to have such an eclectic and distinguished community with experience working on Arctic and northern issues gathered here. Almost 35 % of the participants were from indigenous and northern communities.
With ArcticNet Scientific Director Jackie DawsonWhy I Decided to Participate in ArcticNet?
I learned about ArcticNet through some of the virtual events last year. Inspired by some of the research poster presentations I came across, especially those on shipping and tourism in the Arctic, piqued my interest.
My ongoing research on Anthropogenic Ocean Noise had an Arctic component. I used several years of open data from a hydrophone operated by Ocean Networks Canada in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, to monitor changes in ocean noise in the Arctic. This data was used in my webApp www.MonitorMyOcean.com, endorsed by IOC- UNESCO as a UN Ocean Decade activity. As I plan to keep adding newer data points to this App and expand it to other oceanic regions, participating in ArcticNet would help me connect with researchers who could provide feedback and connect me with more data repositories.
In addition, the venue of the 2022 conference was the Beanfield Centre in Toronto – just a few kilometres from my home and school. I could attend the conference every weekday afternoon after attending school. All these reasons motivated me to apply to the 2022 ArcticNet Conference.
Talk Accepted at ArcticNet 2022
I submitted an abstract for the conference based on my research project on ocean noise. It was very encouraging when my abstract was accepted. I was invited to deliver an oral talk at the ArcticNet conference in the session: MAR55-Shipping and Transportation in the Arctic.
Student Day: Early Career Northern Researchers (ECNR) Annual Meeting
The conference opened on the afternoon of 4 December 2022 (Sunday). Participants were invited to collect the registration material and the lanyard to provide them entry to the conference venue.
Day 1 was also the start of the inaugural two-day Early Career Northern Researchers (ECNR) Annual Meeting organized by ArcticNet and the Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies (ACUNS). These organizations created a joint Student Day program to support the next generation of Arctic and northern studies researchers.
I was apprehensive about giving a talk at the esteemed ArcticNet as this was my first time participating in the conference. While I knew many people, organizations and networks in the ocean community, the Arctic community was new to me. However, the opportunity to meet new people and learn from them, make new connections, participate as a speaker and present my research to a broader audience gave me the encouragement I needed. I accepted the invitation and went ahead with the registration for the conference.
As the main conference events were to start the next day, it was a relatively smaller gathering – most of them early careers researchers present for Student Day. The “Student Day” allowed me to become familiar with the surroundings, explore different rooms where events would be held, and introduce myself to early career researchers who were present from various universities. I found it amazing that many of them also spoke French, which was a great way to make connections to Arctic research happening in the Francophone world.
One of the best moments of ArcticNet was getting to talk with so many Inuit researchers and learn about the research they are doing in their communiities in the Arctic.I attended some of the ECNR sessions. One of the sessions that stood out for me was on conducting research in the Arctic, with a focus on bear safety. The session focused on practical aspects of Arctic research, such as bear safety, sustainability, limiting our environmental footprint, and cultural sensitiveness.
I got the opportunity to meet ASM Scientific Directors Jackie Dawson and Phillipe Archambault, who were kind enough to welcome me to ArcticNet and introduce me to some other researchers.
Key Learnings from the ArcticNet Conference
I attended several events over the next few days. As I did not want to miss school, I was only able to participate in afternoon events – rushing to the venue from school but staying until late to be able to participate in all the remaining events.
Merging Indigenous Knowledge with Modern Technologies
Indigenous knowledge accumulated over generations is critical for preserving the Arctic habitat and marine mammal conservation. For instance, observations made by indigenous hunters are being used to create statistical spatial maps of ring seals on the shoreline and to improve the accuracy of population forecasting models.
Many northern researchers are applying digital technologies such as crowdsourcing to map local knowledge of Inuits during their regular visits to the field, such as collecting data points on ice thickness, cracks on ice, hazards, weather patterns, or wildlife sightings. For instance, community-based Monitoring in Nunatsiavut combines indigenous observations with simple measurements to characterize the arctic char fish ecosystem. Seasonal winter camps are set up to monitor fisheries and undertake stock assessments.
Arctic-specific technologies, such as low-bandwidth Apps, Apps that can culturally annotate data, or those incorporating features and indicators that are meaningful to communities, can support the community-based efforts to preserve and manage the Arctic habitat.
One of the coolest ArcticNet Sessions: How to be Bear Aware while conducting research in the ArcticTransboundary Pollution in the Arctic: Investigating sources of pollutants and their abatement
One of the fascinating sessions I attended was the plenary panel discussion on the “Sensitivity of Arctic Regions to Contaminants and Pollutants” held on the last day of the conference. It featured presentations from several arctic researchers.
I learned how black carbon — a particle produced in combustion emitted primarily in Europe and Asia drifts to the polar cap due to the arctic heat flux and ends up in the snow. The presence of these particles significantly reduces the spectral albedo of the snow, meaning less solar radiation is reflected into the atmosphere — speeding up the melting of glaciers and sea ice in the Arctic. It is a clear example of how pollutants do not respect national boundaries. Often, the communities that must adapt the most to the presence of pollutants in their environment contributed the least to it. We need to strengthen policy regimes and undertake pollution abatement projects at the source to ensure pollutants emitted from industrialization in Eurasia do not end up in the Arctic.
Talking about data collection and methods for CTD sampling in the Arctic with Stefanie Mellon, Ocean Networks CanadaBut how to identify the source of the pollutants? A research presentation focused on an innovative way of using lead isotopes to trace harmful pollutants to their origin. While lead occurs naturally in the environment, the high levels in the Arctic regions come chiefly from human activities. It is a byproduct of industrial processes and urban sources and is often found alongside other contaminants. By measuring the concentration of lead isotopes in the environment, it is possible to investigate where the other contaminants came from and trace their route from the South to the Arctic.
Other tools to measure the concentration of heavy metals could be biomarkers, as I learned from a research study focused on long-term contaminant monitoring in sea birds in Canadian Arctic. The researcher studied the archived egg tissue from 1975 – 2017 to track the presence of these harmful substances.
I also learned about new pollution-related terminologies such as POPs or Persistent Organic Pollutants. These are harmful soluble compounds that can travel via atmospheric winds and oceans. The more soluble a POP is, the less likely it will sink and can travel long distances. International regulations and conventions, such as the UNEP Stockholm convention to measure traces of 12 harmful compounds in different fluids such as air, ocean and drinking water, have effectively reduced the concentration of these pollutants over the past decades. However, climate change and the volatility of secondary replacements of these harmful chemicals pose new challenges, and their levels are not declining at the expected rate.
Enjoyed meeting so many new people from different organizations. With Lucianne Marshall from Ocean Networks CanadaOpen Data and Data Standardisation
Petabytes of new Arctic data are generated daily via local communities and sensors placed on the ground, in space and in oceans. While data generated increases exponentially, the research community that can process and produce timely analysis from this data does not grow at the same rate.
To bridge the gap between data and its analysis, we need to make data available in an open-access but ethical manner. Any data archival system should guarantee the right of indigenous communities to control and access their data at every stage.
Respecting local knowledge, ethical data collection, standardization of data, annotation, attribution, ensuring accuracy, and archiving in an interoperable format will make the data more usable and speed up analysis, benefiting local communities, decision-makers and the public. It will also draw a broader community of researchers, data scientists, youths, and data entrepreneurs to use this data and create useful products and services.
There is a spectrum for data standardization. On one end, we have the researchers for whom correct terminologies and data annotation is essential for research and publications. Then we have the national governmental and international agencies. Creating national policies and meeting requirements set under international agreements require consistency in data collection, measurement and monitoring methodologies. And finally, we have the local communities and the public, who should be able to understand the terminologies and draw meaningful conclusions from the data.
Climate Change and the Arctic
Rising temperatures, melting polar ice caps, thawing of the permafrost, year-round shipping: it is clear that climate change is rapidly affecting the Arctic. As the ArcticNet 2022 conference had many sessions, posters and exhibits prepared by the northern researchers, it was like getting a firsthand account of changes happening in the Arctic. The impact of these changes is felt most by the northern communities and the next generations who have to adapt their livelihoods, food, culture and lifestyles. It is exacerbating the existing disparities in health issues and year-round food security.
Learning about dynamic and mass balance evolution of Northern Hemisphere GlaciersI attended some sessions on technical monitoring of the Arctic ecosystem, including on the melting of northern hemisphere glaciers and the increase in permafrost temperatures triggering large-scale changes, including reshaping landscapes and ecosystems. I learned about Glacier hypsometry or the science of assessing a glacier’s response to climate change. It involves measuring changes in the mass balance and the volume of the glaciers. Comparing results over the years yields important information, such as how much melting ice masses contribute to rising sea levels and the relationships between ice masses and climate.
Climate change is also increasing ocean temperatures leading to an inflow of freshwater from melting glaciers, a reduction in sea ice cover and shifts in atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns. These directly impact marine diversity, including changes in fish stocks and disruption in return migration patterns of Arctic char to the lakes they spawned in.
Shipping in the Arctic
The shipping traffic in the Arctic is increasing: the number of ships entering the Arctic waters grew by 25 percent between 2013 and 2019. This increase poses potential risks and benefits to the Arctic region. Some of the traffic serves the needs of remote communities in the Arctic. Disruptions in their environment due to climate change mean that the northern communities are more dependent on exports from the South for their food security.
The Arctic region is impacted by the rise in energy demand for oil, gas and minerals, and economic imperatives to increase trade, open up new supply chains and reduce shipping time and costs. Combined with climate change reducing sea ice, making year-round shipping possible puts additional stress on the Arctic. The increased geopolitical and strategic importance of the circumpolar Arctic is also bringing unique challenges to the Arctic region.
Enjoyed participating in so many ArcticNet sessions, including some on underwater noise: my current area of ocean researchAll these factors amplify risks for Arctic communities and the ecosystem. Increased shipping traffic means slow-swimming baleen whales are at risk of being struck by ships and other marine vessels. Some measures have been adopted to manage shipping fleet traffic in the Arctic, including setting up no-go zones, limits on the number of vessels in the summers, low-impact shipping corridor initiatives, and speed restrictions to reduce underwater noise. However, many of these are voluntary measures that need to be studied for effectiveness.
Research studies are also being conducted on the migration paths of bowhead whales, their population densities, and the identification of potential hotspots of vessel strike risk using Automated Identification System (AIS) data for ships in the region. Concerns of northern and Inuit communities regarding growing marine tourism and increased cruise ship and pleasure craft activities also need to be addressed.
My Talk on Ocean Noise at the “MAR55-Shipping and Transportation in the Arctic” session
My talk was scheduled on 8 December 2022 in the MAR55-Shipping and Transportation in the Arctic session (13:30 – 14:45). The session aimed to encourage critical discussion on the state of marine shipping and transportation in the Arctic, potential impacts and future policy directions. It was co-chaired by Jean Holloway, University of Ottawa and Nicolien van Luijk, Memorial University.
There were three other speakers: Stephen Howell, Alison Cooky and Madeline Vainionpää. While Stephen talked on “Multi-Year Sea Ice Conditions in the Northwest Passage: 1968-2020”, Alison presented on “Shipping season length variability in the Canadian Arctic based on POLARIS: 2007 to 2021,” and Madeline on “Examining open-source web GIS methods for public dissemination of Arctic seafloor mapping data.”
My talk was titled: Silence of Global Oceans: Measuring Acoustic Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown.
Enjoyed delivering with my first oral talk at the ArcticNet 2022 on Monitoring Underwater Ocean Noise and the Impact of the COVID-19 LockdownLow-frequency noise from marine shipping is an underwater acoustic pollutant. The noise spectrum overlaps with frequencies marine mammals use to communicate, leading to stress, and disruptions in foraging, mating, and migrating behaviours. My research established a model to measure the effects of anthropogenic activities on underwater noise. The COVID-19 lockdown led to a decline in marine traffic. The model quantified the reduction in noise levels before and during the lockdown in the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. The analysis revealed that global oceans quietened by an average of 4.5 dB, or the peak sound intensity decreased 2.8 times during the lockdown period. The maximum decrease was at locations close to major shipping channels and cruise tourism destinations. The findings were validated by comparing shipping traffic using the Automated Identification System. The study proved that strategic “anthropauses” could reduce underwater noise levels giving marine mammals a chance to reverse the population decline.
A webapp MonitorMyOcean.com was created to provide updated anthropogenic ocean noise levels. The App, endorsed as a UN Ocean Decade Activity, allows policymakers to determine if measures such as shifting existing shipping routes or moratorium on new shipping routes are leading to “Quieter Oceans.”
The session was well attended. There were 50-60 people present in the session. I enjoyed fielding the questions on my research at the end of the session. Questions included differences in noise produced by the machinery on the ship (broadband) versus noise produced by propeller cavitation (lower frequency), difficulties in acquiring hydrophone data from so many oceanic regions, and how I created the open source algorithm for data analysis and for designing the WebApp. Through my presentation, I connected with many people, including those from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (Government of Canada), Natural Resources Canada and several universities. Several opportunities to collaborate came up and which I plan to pursue.
Great meeting in person with so many people I had interacted with virtually in the past. With William Halliday, Arctic Acoustics Program Lead, World Conservation Society.Posters and Exhibits
There were over 200 posters in the exhibit room, published by ocean scientists, students, indigenous researchers, and citizen scientists. They covered wide-ranging topics, from impacts of climate change on the Arctic ecosystem and melting of glaciers to ocean acoustics, contaminants in Arctic waters, and work being carried out by Inuit researchers in their communities. During the evening, the authors of the posters were often present, providing an opportunity to meet them, discuss their research, network, and ask questions.
There were over 200 posters at the ArcticNet by students, scientists, researchers and communities. So much to learn and so many new ideas came up!In addition to the posters, there were exhibitor stalls demonstrating products and services related to Arctic research. I got an opportunity to meet representatives of several organizations with whom I had interacted before and whose products and services I had used in my research. These included Ocean Sonics which produces the ICListen hydrophones. Many of the ocean observatories whose data I had used for my research had deployed “IC Listen” hydrophones to capture underwater sound. I interacted with many researchers at the Ocean Networks Canada exhibit and learned about new research publications and data products from their ocean observatories.
Great to finally touch an IC Listen Hydrophone at the Ocean Sonics stall. I have researched over 25 years of Hydrophone data but saw one for the first time!It was wonderful to see Early Careers Ocean Professionals (ECOP) Canada well represented at the ArcticNet. ECOP had put up an exhibitor stall, and several network members presented talks and posters at the conference. I enjoyed visiting the exhibits by community organizations from the northern communities showcasing their community projects and research.
Enjoyed participating in ArcticNet 2022, Toronto. Hope to be at ArcticNet 2023 in Iqualit, Nunavut.Final Reflections
My objective to participate in the ArcticNet 2022 Conference was fully met. I learned firsthand from community leaders and researchers from the North about the changes they are observing in the Arctic region over the years, the challenges they are working on, and the solutions they are proposing.
At the conference, I presented my research on monitoring underwater ocean noise in the Arctic and the impact of anthropogenic activities. I explored collaborations to add more dimensions to my research (such as assessing marine mammals’ movements and population and undertaking fieldwork) and expand it to oceanic regions in the Arctic. It would allow me to advocate for ocean noise monitoring as a long-term monitoring tool to measure changes happening the in the Arctic.
Finally, I was able to rapidly build up my knowledge of Arctic-centered research encompassing polar ecological habitats, marine biodiversity, long-range transport of pollutants, sea ice monitoring, shipping, changes in livelihoods and lifestyles of indigenous communities, and transformations in the Arctic within the wider geopolitical lens. This knowledge would allow me to explore other areas of research.
I hope to be at ArcticNet 2023 to be held in Iqaluit, Nunavut!
Acknowledgements
I take this opportunity to thank the RISE – Schmidt Futures for funding my participation in ArcticNet by paying my registration fees. I also thank the session chairs, Jean Holloway, University of Ottawa and Nicolien van Luijk, Memorial University, for accepting my abstract for an oral talk at the ArcticNet 2022.
Closing Plenary of ArcticNet 2022 (The Future of ArcticNet) Jackie Dawson and Phillipe Archambault,
Arushi Nath. Toronto.
BrainHack are a global network of collaborative events that bring together experts, enthusiasts, students and the curious to learn, collaborate and develop projects related to brain and neurosciences. The Covid-19 pandemic meant that for the last few years, BrainHack events could only be held virtually.
BrainHack Global Toronto 2022 – a part of BrainHack Global, was held as a hybrid event this year, bringing together participants online and on-site at the Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatic (KCNI) at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto. The venue was the same as the BrainHack Global Toronto 2019. (Checkout blogpost: BrainHack Toronto 2019: Complexities of Using Machine Learning on Functional MRI Scans – some learnings)
So cool to have an awesome Centre of Excellence (Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics) on neuron research in my neighbourhood!I am interested in gathering external data using sensors and working on open datasets for science and the public good, so I decided to participate in my first BrainHack Global Toronto at their physical location. It would allow me to learn more about the exciting field of brain science, meet people working in this sector, and become familiar with new discoveries and ongoing research happening in neurosciences.
Day 1: 8 December 2022
The event started at 9 am with registration, where the participants got some BrainHack swag, including a cool cap and a stress ball in the shape of a human brain. The event began with an introductory session that included some fun ice-breaking activities. The participants had to answer several “Yes/No” questions posed to them by either wearing or removing their BrainHack cap. It was a great way to learn about other participants and whether they had participated in BrainHack events before, had beginner or expert knowledge about neuroscience, and the institutions they came from.
BrainHack Toronto 2022: Introduction and Pitching (Image Credit)The “pitching session followed this.” Participants could talk for a few minutes about projects they hoped to work on during the BrainHack. They could also talk about skills and expertise they could offer participants during the hackathon. There were around ten pitches made related to MRI scans, computational neuroscience, open hardware, and datasets. I learned a lot of new terminologies, and exciting neurosciences-related challenges participants wanted to work on. It was clear that I would learn a lot and converse with many people during the two-day event.
I also gave a short pitch on a project I hoped to develop during the BrainHack: Assessing Mental Health and Emotion of Astronauts during Long-Term Deep Space Missions. So far, I have worked on analyzing external facial features such as eye and jaw movements for emotion recognition using OpenCV. But I was curious to learn what other tools and techniques were available in the field of neurosciences.
What fun to be back working as a Hackathon Team in the real world! Our project focused on Alzheimer Disease and the efficacy of 40Hz sensory stimulation.The pitching session was followed by “Team Formation” based on the interests of participants. As I am super eager to work with new hardware and sensors, and Alfredo had brought many gadgets to measure brain and heart signals, we decided to create a team along with Kiah, Gabrielle, and Justin. Working together as a hackathon team in a physical world once again was thrilling.
But for brains to function, you need food. And then, there was a break for lunch for some gourmet sandwiches while snacks were available throughout the day. Post-lunch and throughout the day, there were several interactive activities, for example, placing a sticker on your preferred coding language to keep everyone engaged.
Coding, checking new libraries and firmware to gather data from the hardware and analyse itOur Project: Alzheimer’s Disease
Our project was on Alzheimer’s disease, which causes human memory loss and difficulty in accomplishing simple tasks, e.g. speaking. Patients are found to have abnormal neural oscillations in the gamma band (30hz to 90hz). Some research studies, including GENUS (Gamma ENtrainment Using Sensory stimuli) research, have pointed out the efficacy of 40Hz sensory stimulation (a light flickering at 40hz) to treat Alzheimer’s disease. It was found to be safe and therapeutic.
Hardware hackathons are so much fun!While Kiah and Justin worked more on the research side of disease and gamma signals. Gabrielle and I worked on the hardware side while Alfredo supported both aspects. We created an instrument to blink light at 40hz using an adjustable pulse width modulation (PWM) meter, which uses rapid switching on and off digital signals to generate analog signals of different duty cycles. We tried using the ECG (heart) monitoring instrument to measure the impact, but we could not make it work. The ECG Instrument had old firmware, and we could not install the newer version on both mac and windows computers.
It was an exciting first day getting to talk to many people and learning new things. We plan to continue working on this project on Day 2, with many fantastic events lined up, including panel discussions with previous BrainHack organizers on their current research and project presentations from different teams.
End of Day 1. Excited for Day 2
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