Faith Bruneau-Lepine, a grade eight student from Prairie River Junior High School, has been chosen to attend the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Edmonton.

Her project, Saving the Bees, won the gold medal in the Junior Division (grades seven and eight) at the Peace Regional Science Fair held in Peace River on Thursday, March 23. It compared the efficacy of several medicines and acids in treating honey bee hives for mites.

Faith’s study aimed to determine which treatment was most effective in order to improve results for future generations of beekeepers. She discovered that the way her family traditionally treated their hives was not the most effective, and they have since changed their treatment practice.

The Canada-Wide Science Fair is the country’s largest annual youth science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) event, bringing together the top young scientists and their projects.