KIVALLIQ - Kivalliq students put in a strong showing at the Canadawide Science Fair in Truro, N. S., earlier this month.

Mary Lou Angidlik of Rankin Inlet earned $500 for her project on traditional Arctic plant medicine at the national science fair.

Representing the Kivalliq at the event were Mary Lou Angidlik from Maani Ulujuk high school (MUI) in Rankin Inlet, Douglas Aggark from Victor Sammurtok school in Chesterfield Inlet and Teal Kreuger from Jonah Amitnaaq school in Baker Lake.

Adriana Kusugak from MUI and Jim Kreuger from Kivalliq School Operations in Baker were the adult delegates to the event.

The students picked up four awards at the fair.

Angidlik earned $500 for capturing the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada award for her project on Arctic plant medicine.

The project determined which traditional Arctic plants used to make medicine work best to stop bacteria growth.

Teas from various Arctic plants were put into agar plates to see if they stopped the growth of bacteria.

Teal captured a PetroCanada Peer Innovation award bronze medal ($200), a $300 Engineering award from the Youth Science Foundation of Canada and a bronze medal ($1,000) entrance scholarship to the University of Western Ontario.

His project (Solving the Stink Pipe Problem - Part 2) is an innovative solution to the Northern problem of frozen stink pipes.

Teal developed a thermoelectric prototype, which he installed in his home.

After calibration, the prototype kept the sewage tank vent clear and his home free of sewage gas.

The innovation has commercial potential for buildings in Nunavut and other northern locales.

Aggark's project on Climate Change: Nunavut's Impact, looked at the amount of greenhouse gases Nunavut is producing due to its complete dependence on fossil fuels.

Nunavut imports 93-million litres of fuel annually to keep its communities functioning, making Nunavummiut the highest per capita producers of greenhouse gases.

The science fair marked the first time Aggark travelled further south than northern Manitoba and he enjoyed his time in Nova Scotia.

Aggark said he was impressed by many of the projects he saw at the Canada-wide Science Fair.

He was also impressed by some of the tour sites.

"There were lots of cool, neat projects everywhere," said Aggark.

"I really enjoyed the bus tours, especially the one to the Coal Mine Museum in Springhill.

"The museum showed me it's scary underground."