Next generation of scientists and innovators showcase their creativity, curiosity

By Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press Up-and-coming researchers showed off their microplastic extractions and homemade artificial intelligence models at the 2025 Manitoba Schools Science Symposium. Five years after it was abruptly called off due to COVID-19, the annual event inviting Grade 4 to 12 students to put their hypotheses to the test is rebounding. The competition has returned to the University of Manitoba’s Max Bell Centre and its latest edition drew 335 competitors from 35 schools — the strongest turnout since 2018-19. Veteran Ella Strachan was among them. For her final science fair, the Grade 12 student wanted to measure plastic pollution in Lake Winnipeg and determine where it is most likely to accumulate. She had a dozen vials of lake water containing colourful debris on…

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