Bay students look to future

Forty talented school students - including three Bay youngsters - will be tasked to find answers and recommendations to some of New Zealand's future problems around climate change, having been selected to attend Powering Potential in Wellington from December 12 - 15.

Organised by the Royal Society of New Zealand and supported by Freemasons New Zealand, Powering Potential will bring many of the most promising science students together to work out how to solve challenging issues facing the country. They will be supported and guided by scientists and mentors.

The students will work in teams of four over three days on a question that has been submitted by a science organisation and will research, investigate and collaborate to provide recommendations.

"The students will need to think outside the square and use their creative capabilities to find solutions. At the end of the three days each team will present its findings at a special presentation," says Andrew Cleland, chief executive of the Royal Society.

Dr Cleland says the topic of climate change has been a focus of the Royal Society during 2016, following the release of two major reports on the implications of and mitigation options for climate change earlier in the year, and the students would no doubt come up with some novel ideas.

To be selected for Powering Potential, each student was required to submit an in-depth application and video, which focused on their own science strengths or outlined how they have contributed to an area of science in their school or community. T

From this region, Hana Drysdale, Year 12 and Brianna Otto, Year 12, from Napier Girls' High School will compete together with David Rawnsley, a Year 13 student from Napier Boys' High School.