We uncover the passion behind great ideas, meet STEAM thought leaders and talk with young people working on inspiring innovations! This podcast is brought to you by the Science Fair Foundation of BC.
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April 11, 202621 min
Chilliwack Secondary School Science Fair
In this episode of Let’s Innovate, host Michael Unger visits a vibrant school science fair at Chilliwack Secondary School in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley. Hearing directly from students about their projects and from teachers Avril Broekhuizen and Scott Liang about the challenges and rewards of organizing a school fair, the episode explores how classroom curiosity becomes the first step on the journey to regional science fairs and why supporting teachers is key to growing the next generation of innovators.For more information go to sciencefairs.ca. If you have any questions or comments you can email Michael Unger at munger@sciencefairs.caFollow us on Instagram, and LinkenIn @sciencefairs, and @michaeljohnunger.
March 6, 2026Episode 521 min
2025 Youth Innovation Showcase Winners
We just wrapped up the 2025 Youth Innovation Showcase, a virtual STEM competition for youth in BC and the Yukon who have used science to solve a challenge in their life or community. This is heart of innovation, and we give these youth a platform to delve deeper into these ideas, but to showcase them to the public. And in this episode of Let’s Innovate we’re going to hear from the winners from the two age categories. In the 12-15 category it was a Nara Harvey, and in the 16-19 category it was Sameer Assanie and Bobby Yang. If you want to get full context, watch each of their pitch project videos linked below.Nara Harvey - AI-Driven Sailboat to Combat Marine PoachingSameer Assanie and Bobby Yang - AirlumeFinalists Age 12-15 RecapFinalists Age 16-19 RecapAll finalists and semi-finalistsFor more information go to sciencefairs.ca. If you have any questions or comments you can email Michael Unger at munger@sciencefairs.caFollow us on Instagram, and LinkenIn @sciencefairs, and @michaeljohnunger.
February 6, 2026Episode 419 min
Let's Innovate with Stephan Leafriver
Stephan Leafriver is a nêhiyaw (Cree) Métis-Scottish, 2-Spirit artist, Land Steward, and filmmaker working at the intersections of story, sound, and stewardship. Living and creating on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, Stephan’s practice bridges Indigenous sovereignty and governance, climate adaptation, and community economies. They were the 2025 valedictorian of Native Education College’s Indigenous Land Stewardship program and have advanced into the University of British Columbia’s Bachelor of Indigenous Land Stewardship (BILS) pathway, with applied research spanning marine conservation in the North Pacific, Haida Gwaii climate planning, and Guardians program design.As phenstrom, Stephan composes immersive, land-attuned music and facilitates performance spaces that invite calm focus and relational accountability. Current projects include an Indigenous lead Land Trust models (supported by their ancestral nation, the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation; Treaty 6), podcast(s) and public-facing conversations on healing-centered practices, and film work that frames reciprocity, justice and environmental care through lived story. Whether on stage, in the field, or in the classroom, Stephan works to make policy tangible, data humane, and future development collaborative, centering kinship with the lands and water.If you want to learn more about the programs we’re doing to support students not just in science fairs, but in all sorts of extracurricular STEM projects, head on over to our brand new website sciencefairs.ca.For more information go to sciencefairs.ca. If you have any questions or comments you can email Michael Unger at munger@sciencefairs.caFollow us on Instagram, and LinkenIn @sciencefairs, and @michaeljohnunger.
January 2, 2026Episode 325 min
Pranav Menon
Pranav Menon is the adjunct professor at UBC in Applied Science and Engineering. He is also Program Director at The Knowledge Society (TKS), a 10-month global innovation program for ambitious high school students ages 13-17 which they advertise as the world’s top global accelerator for teens.Pranav says in his bio that he trains nerds to solve big problems, so that sounds like the perfect guest for this episode of Let’s Innovate with Pranav Menon. You can find a recent workshops that he’s done for us here. YIS 2025 Workshop Series - Science Fairs Foundation British Columbia And if you want to learn more about TKS their programming go to TKS | The World's Top Innovation Program for YouthIf you want to learn more about the programs we’re doing to support students not just in science fairs, but in all sorts of extracurricular STEM projects, head on over to our brand new website sciencefairs.ca.For more information go to sciencefairs.ca. If you have any questions or comments you can email Michael Unger at munger@sciencefairs.caFollow us on Instagram, and LinkenIn @sciencefairs, and @michaeljohnunger.
December 1, 2025Episode 221 min
Future Science Leaders and Will Primrose
Dr. Will Primrose is the Program Manager for Future Science Leaders at Science World in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Future Science Leaders (FSL) program at Science World is a 26-week after-school program for secondary school students that provides hands-on experience and mentorship in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art & design, and math) fields.He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Thompson Rivers University, where he was also the Director of the EUReKA! Science Program. Under the supervision of Professor Zac Hudson, Will then spent the last five years studying luminescent molecules and nanoparticles at The University of British Columbia where he obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry in August of this year. For more information go to sciencefairs.ca. If you have any questions or comments you can email Michael Unger at munger@sciencefairs.caFollow us on Instagram, and LinkenIn @sciencefairs, and @michaeljohnunger.
October 3, 2025Episode 112 min
Gerald Poulton
Dr. Gerry Poulton is a retired Chemistry professor from the University of Victoria, whose decades of mentorship and leadership have helped shape science fairs in th the Greater Victoria Regional Science Fair. From guiding countless students to national and international competitions, to championing the transformative power of inquiry-based learning, Dr. Poulton’s contributions have left a lasting mark on the science fair community, so much so that he’s being awarded a legacy award this year. Gerry has made such difference in this province for education, science fair, and science in general. He’s such an inspiration, and shows for me, just how science fairs which even in my life, is something that you could say is off the side of my desk from my main job, but is so richly rewarding. If you want to make a difference for some of these amazing youth head on over to our website sciencefair.ca/mentorship, you can sign up to be one, and participate in our monthly open office hours meeting called Science Club. It’s an online meetup where youth, parents, and teachers come to ask questions and be inspired.Another way you could have a big impact, is volunteering at local fairs, if you’d like to get in touch with your local regional fair we can also help facilitate that. You can email Michael Unger, our host and Manager of Community Engagement munger@sciencefairs.caEnjoy this episode with Gerry Poulton!For more information go to sciencefairs.ca. If you have any questions or comments you can email Michael Unger at munger@sciencefairs.caFollow us on Instagram, and LinkenIn @sciencefairs, and @michaeljohnunger.
June 27, 2025Episode 818 min
Nathan Hellner-Mestelman
Here at the Science Fair Foundation we mostly are focussed and supporting a variety of initiatives around science fairs, which is not surprising. You have school fairs, local fairs, regional fairs, and the youth innovation showcase. All amazing opportunities for youth to delve into their curiosity and express themselves with their ideas, and projects.Over the past couple of years i’ve gotten to know someone, that did get involved with all of those initiatives, but took it one step further. He wrote, and published not one, but two books about the universe.Cosmic Wonder: Our Place in the Epic Story of the UniverseThe Language of the Stars: The Scientific Story of a Few Billion Years in a Few Hundred PagesAnd the thing is he’s competing all of the competitions, written these books, and he hasn’t even finished high school yet.Nathan is such a hard worker, but I really believe he is someone that is going to make a difference on this planet. Nathan has had a couple of really solid mentors in his life which is something that if you want to make a difference for some of these amazing youth head on over to our website sciencefair.ca/mentorship, you can sign up to be one, and participate in our monthly open office hours meeting called Science Clu. It’s an online meetup where youth, parents, and teachers come to ask questions and be inspired.Another way you could have a big impact, is volunteering at local fairs, if you’d like to get in touch with your local regional fair we can also help facilitate that. You can email me munger@sciencefairs.caFor more information go to sciencefairs.ca. If you have any questions or comments you can email Michael Unger at munger@sciencefairs.caFollow us on Instagram, and LinkenIn @sciencefairs, and @michaeljohnunger.
May 30, 2025Episode 721 min
Meaghan MacKenzie
As Science Fair season starts to wrap up with the culmination of the 2025 Canada Wide Science, Michael Unger chats with an alumni that competed at four straight Canada Wide Science Fairs from 2013-2016. Meaghan MacKenzie is now a Environmental Engineer-In-Training with Tetra Tech Canada Inc., and she shares her insights into what skills she really took away from competing in science fairs, and how they have helped her in career today. For more information on the Canada Wide Science Fair youthscience.caFor more information on the support the Science Fair Foundation and BC gives to the regional fairs in the province like the one Meaghan came out of go to sciencefairs.caIf you have any questions or comments you can email Michael munger@sciencefairs.caFollow us on Instagram and LinkenIn@sciencefairs, @michaeljohnungerFor more information go to sciencefairs.ca. If you have any questions or comments you can email Michael Unger at munger@sciencefairs.caFollow us on Instagram, and LinkenIn @sciencefairs, and @michaeljohnunger.
February 8, 2025Episode 621 min
2024 Youth Innovation Showcase Winners
Continuing our celebration of these inspirational young scientists, in this episode our host Michael Unger gets into it with our 2024 YIS winners Jora Singh Nahal & Inbal Tzafrir.Join them as they discuss why they felt compelled to develop apps that help to navigate the struggles which disabled individuals face, what skills they have taken away from YIS, and what is that special something that keeps bringing them back to science fairs.Watch Jora's innovation pitch videoWatch Inbal's innovation pitch videoListen to the 2023 Youth Innovation Showcase Winners episode that also featured Jora Singh NahalFor more information go to sciencefairs.ca. If you have any questions or comments you can email Michael Unger at munger@sciencefairs.caFollow us on Instagram, and LinkenIn @sciencefairs, and @michaeljohnunger.
January 3, 2025Episode 519 min
2025 Youth Innovation Showcase Recap with the Judges
It’s the end of 2024, and for us here at the Foundation, it’s also the end of the Youth Innovation Showcase. So for the next few episodes, we are going to recap an amazing showcase. In this episode i brought in two of the judges from the Youth Innovation Showcase to hear their thoughts their conversations with all of the amazing youth this year, but also their perspective on mentorship and the benefits they get out it. First up we have Clare Yip a biomedical engineer, that is now working as a private tutor, and has served on the committee for the Greater Vancouver Science Fair and Ivelina Daiss, an engineer by trade who holds the role of a Technology R&D Specialist in the Partnerships and Innovation Team at Rogers Communications.For more information go to sciencefairs.ca. If you have any questions or comments you can email Michael Unger at munger@sciencefairs.caFollow us on Instagram, and LinkenIn @sciencefairs, and @michaeljohnunger.
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