SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - An 11-year-old student spent a day working with his dad at Yellowknife's seismic station to develop a project, showcased at the Territorial Heritage Fair on May 14 at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre.

Garett Ashlie, 11, with seismometer in hand, stands in front of his project on Yellowknife's seismic station. The project was on display at the Territorial Heritage Fair Showcase at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre on May 14. - Tim Edwards/NNSL photos

Garett Ashlie had a display set up with pictures of him running tests in the stations lab and posing in the station's all terrain vehicles. His father, Ross Ashlie, works at the station as a seismic technologist.

"My dad got me interested (in seismography) when he started working there a year ago," said Garett, a Grade 5 student at NJ Macpherson.

He had a seismometer on display as well, which he estimated to weigh about 30 pounds.

The original seismic station was built in 1962 and now it is one of Canada's premier seismic research institutes, according to Garett.

It reads vibrations from events that happen around the globe - things like earthquakes, tsunamis, and nuclear explosions.

Garett said Yellowknife is a perfect spot for such a station for three main reasons - it is a small town, it's not near an ocean, and it is on stable bedrock.

There are also two air filters at the station which detect radioactive particles in the air.

Throughout the presentation he gave to Yellowknifer - which was quite detailed - Garett never had to check his notes or consult his display. He knew the facts by heart.

His father said the project was Garett's idea, as he's always shown a big interest in his father's job.

"He's a sponge when it comes to information and facts," said Ross.

"He'll ask you questions to death and then he retains it very well."

Ross said he sometimes takes Garett to the station on holidays, and occasionally on weekends if he needs to go out and work on anything. He said Garett is usually mostly interested in the station's all-terrain vehicles.

Ross said he was impressed with his son's work on the project.

"I was pretty proud of him," said Ross.