Help wanted: Regina science fair in need of judges

Some of the nation's smartest young science minds will converge on Regina in May, but what's desperately needed now are some bright adults to critique their work.

You can be a mentor and a bit of a cheerleader.- Mark Brigham, U of R biology professor

Hundreds of students will gather at the University of Regina for the Canada-Wide Science Fair.

But the fair still needs judges.

"These are some of the best and brightest kids across the country and realistically, some of the projects that they are going to be doing are at a master's [degree] level. So we need people with good qualifications," said Mark Brigham, a biology professor at the U of R.

"A young person from Nunavut last year looked at how much heat was generated by burning various types of wood there was a project last year that ended up being published in a scientific journal."

Meet peers, young scientists

Right now, the science fair has about 200 judges lined up, but another 150 or so are still needed to evaluate all the projects. Brigham said they need people with science and engineering degrees who are ready to devote an entire day to the science fair.

"You get to meet kids who are passionately keen about science, who've done really cool projects, who are keen to talk to you about those projects, and you can be a mentor and a bit of a cheerleader."

If that'snot incentive enough, Brigham added it will also be a chance to "meet some other cool people from the community with a science background" and network a little.

Brigham saidanyone who is interested in helping out should go the Canada-Wide Science Fair websitefor more details.