Platinum, Gold and Bronze for 4-H Members at Canada-Wide Science Fair

May 18, 2018

Ottawa, Ontario – 4-H Canada is ecstatic to announce that five 4-H members were medal-winners at the Canada-Wide Science Fair held in Ottawa, Ontario this week.

Mac Dykeman from B.C. took home top honours in the Junior category, earning a gold medal and platinum award for her project “Safer Chick-ments: An innovative solution to reducing stress in chick shipments.”

Mac’s project was voted one of the top three out of 406 in the entire science fair. Mac received several other awards as well, including the Youth Can Innovate Award and the Junior Innovation Challenge Award for best junior project in her category.

Four other 4-H’ers won bronze medals at the Intermediate level:

>Neleah Lavoie (P.E.I.) for her project “Cost-effective Extraction of Chitin and Chitosan from Lobster Shells”
>Lara and Liesl Stewart (Alberta) for their project “Biosecurity Disinfectant Efficacy”
>Amanda Hardman (Alberta) for her project “Crickets for Lunch”

All five of these 4-H’ers earned top spots at the 2018 4-H Canada Science Fair in Truro, Nova Scotia in March 2018, an event made possible with the generous support of Bayer – 4-H Canada’s Science & Technology pillar partner.

These five brilliant young minds then moved on to the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Ottawa this week to compete among the brightest and most innovative students from across the country. Mac Dykeman will now go on to attend the 2019 International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona with the Canadian team.

“The creativity and passion for science from our 4-H members never ceases to amaze me,” said Shannon Benner, 4-H Canada CEO. “Having our 4-H members competing and winning at the highest level in the country is a testament to our youth and the importance our programming places on STEM learning. A huge congratulations to Mac, Neleah, Lara, Liesl and Amanda and all those that participated. I am already looking forward to next year.”

“Congratulations to all of the 4-H members for their outstanding efforts, and for being such a great ambassadors for the 4-H STEM community,” said Luc Bourgeois, Technical Issues Manager at Bayer, and Canada-Wide Science Fair Judge. “The innovation, passion and enthusiasm that was on display was second-to-none, and demonstrates that the 4-H Science & Technology program is developing strong leaders in STEM. Congratulations to all the participants who made it to the Canada-Wide Science Fair.”

4-H Canada’s participation in the Canada-Wide Science Fair is part of an ongoing commitment to furthering science and technology skills and knowledge development for youth through 4-H programming. Together, 4-H Canada and Bayer are working to develop responsible, caring and contributing Canadian youth.

Source : 4-H-Canada

Video: The Investment Opportunities of Industrial Hemp

The fledgling U.S. hemp industry is decades behind countries like Canada, France and China, but according to impact investor and this week’s podcast guest, Pierre Berard, it could flourish into a $2.2 billion industry by 2030 and create thousands of jobs.

To reach its potential, what the hemp industry needs most right now, Berard said, is capital investment.

Last month, Berard published a report titled “Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity — A Pioneering Venture for Investors and Corporations Driven by Environmental, Social and Financial Concerns” in which he lays out the case for investment.

It’s as if Berard, with this report, is waving a giant flag, trying to attract the eyes of investors, saying, “Look over here. Look at all this opportunity.”

Berard likens the burgeoning American hemp industry to a developing country.

“There is no capital. People don’t want to finance. This is too risky. And I was like, OK, this sounds like something for me,” he said.

As an impact investor who manages funds specializing in agro-processing companies, Berard now has his sights set on the U.S. hemp industry, which he believes has great economic value as well as social and environmental benefits.

He spent many years developing investment in the agriculture infrastructure of developing countries in Latin America and Africa, and said the hemp industry feels similar.

“It is very nascent and it is a very fragmented sector. You have pioneers and trailblazers inventing or reinventing the field after 80 years of prohibition,” he said. “So I feel very familiar with this context.”

On this week’s hemp podcast, Berard talks about the report and the opportunities available to investors in the feed, fiber and food sectors of the hemp industry.

Building an industry around an agricultural commodity takes time, he said. According to the report, “The soybean industry took about 50 years to become firmly established, from the first USDA imports in 1898 to the U.S. being the top worldwide producer in the 1950s.”

Berard has a plan to accelerate the growth of the hemp industry and sees a four-pillar approach to attract investment.

First, he said, the foundation of the industry is the relationship between farmers and processors at the local level.

Second, he said the industry needs what he calls a “federating body” that will represent it, foster markets and innovations, and reduce risk for its members and investors.

The third pillar is “collaboration with corporations that aim to secure or diversify their supply chains with sustainable products and enhance their ESG credentials. This will be key to funding the industry and creating markets,” he said.

The fourth pillar is investment. Lots of it. Over $1.6 billion over seven years. This money will come from government, corporations, individual investors, and philanthropic donors.

The 75-page report goes into detail about the hemp industry, its environmental and social impact, and the opportunities available to investors.

Read the report here: Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity

Also on this episode, we check in with hemp and bison farmer Herb Grove from Brush Mountain Bison in Centre County, PA, where he grew 50 acres of hemp grain. We’ll hear about harvest and dry down and crushing the seed for oil and cake.