Lethbridge teens bring home national science fair honours

By Lethbridge Herald on June 7, 2025.

Alejandra Pulido Guzman
Lethbridge Herald

Two students from Lethbridge competed in the Canada Wide Science Fair in Fredericton, NB this week amongst 390 finalists from across the country. 

After successfully competing at the Southern Alberta Regional Fair in March 2025, Nycea Hazelwood, Grade 11 student and this year’s valedictorian of LCI, and Mehnaz Khan, Grade 7 student from G.S. Lakie Middle School, were selected to compete as finalists in the CWSF. 

Hazelwood’s project was about “Putting a Stop to Bacterial Talk – Cinnamon as a Quorum Sensing Inhibitor to Prevent Biofilm Growth.” The project earned her a special award. 

“I received the award for the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association,” says Hazelwood. “The award was for a project that helps further the knowledge in veterinary medicine and my project was about using cinnamon oil to stop communication between bacteria so they couldn’t form biofilms.”

She created the project outside of school, with the help of a professor at the University of Lethbridge who allowed Hazelwood to work in a lab there. 

Since she’ll be attending veterinary school after high school, she says she hopes the award looks good on her resume. 

“It was an amazing experience, this is my second time going in person, I also went once online. And it’s awesome to meet so many other kids who care about science and not being forced to do it, but are actually passionate about and enjoy it.”

Hazelwood is grateful to the regional and national fair organizers for putting up both events and providing a platform for kids to get together and enjoy science.

Khan’s project was about “Predicting Future Water Quality Using Random Forest Model,” which earned her a bronze medal. 

“My project was using AI and machine learning to see how a body of water’s quality will be in the future,” says Khan. 

She used the USGS National Water Dashboard because Alberta has water data but is not in the comprehensible stage. 

“The experience at the fair was really good. I like meeting people that love science and do it not only for school, but they are passionate about it,” said Khan. 

She says she’s passionate about environmental science and medical science, and once she finishes high school she plans to work toward a medical degree. 

“During the fair I talked to a lot of people – judges, professors, and other students from around Canada that came to participate,” says Khan. Depending on who she was talking to, the conversation were easy or a bit more challenging. 

“Kids are easy to talk to, but sometimes when you have a person with a PhD is slightly intimidating but overall, it was very simple.” 

This was her first time attending the CWSF, but she’s competed in the regional fair since she was in Grade 5.