Not-for-profit initiative launching state-of-the-art technology to teach young students about the ocean and climate change

SuperNOVA, a not-for-profit initiative of Dalhousie University, will deploy state-of-the-art ocean monitoring technology in Bras d'Or Lake on Oct. 4 to integrate STEM education year-round at Mi'kmawey Elementary School in Potlotek First Nation.

Ebony Demers, a program coordinator at SuperNOVA, says the buoy launch is part of a program that aims to empower youth to understand their connection to the ocean and climate change and how to see themselves and their communities fit into the global ecosystem.

"We worked really closely with Mi'kmaw Kina'matnewey which is an organization that represents and advocates for the educational interests of the communities. With them we built a program that uses this buoy to collect ocean data near the community and then we combine that western science with local indigenous knowledge," said Demers in an interview with CTV's Crystal Garrett on Friday.

There are solar panels around the side of the buoy, so it can power itself while out in the ocean, and there is a variety of sensors on the inside so it can convey information like sea surface temperature, wave height, wind speed, and barometric pressure, says Demers.

"We are hoping to continue to build out the program and have the buoys as an educational resource for communities, so not just the students at the school but the community as a whole. We are really excited to launch the second buoy and start to have a network of data across the province that can be used for not just the workshop that SuperNOVA does with the students but also have it incorporated into STEM curriculum year around," she says.

Demers said SuperNOVA has a variety of programs for children to get involved.

"We do summer camps during the summer months. If the children are between grades primary through 12 their teachers can go to out website and book a variety of different workshops that we have available to teachers throughout the year."

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