A high school kid from Edmonton won HOW much?
Sometimes, you hear a story that just… makes sense, you know? Like, when the Oilers finally hoisted the Cup after all those years, or when the River Valley somehow keeps getting bigger. This one's like that, but with less Stanley Cup-induced crying and more quiet pride. An Edmonton high school student, Josh Kirsch, just landed a $100,000 scholarship for developing an app that tracks ancient trees. A hundred grand. For a pandemic project he started in Grade 6. Honestly though, this is exactly the kind of unheralded ingenuity that thrives in our particular brand of prairie stoicism. We just get on with it, quietly making the world a better, or at least more interesting, place.
### From Small Acorns
It started as a way to map the gnarly, old trees around his neighbourhood, probably somewhere southside near Mill Woods, where the urban forest really starts to feel like an actual forest. Now, his "Ancient Tree Tracker" app helps regular folks identify and appreciate these arboreal elders across the province. It's not just about finding a big tree; it's about connecting with the natural history right under our noses, something we, with our vast River Valley system – forty times the size of Central Park, if I haven’t mentioned it lately – tend to take for granted.
Here's why this is more than just a feel-good story:
* **Real Innovation:** This isn't just a school project; it’s a working app with genuine utility for naturalists, hikers, and anyone who appreciates the quiet majesty of a 200-year-old spruce. * **Edmonton Grit:** It’s a testament to that particular Edmonton spirit of just figuring things out, often in your basement or garage, because that’s just how we do things here. We don't need your approval. Never did. * **Future Impact:** A hundred thousand dollars can set a young person up for some serious academic pursuits right here in Alberta. Think of the future engineers, the environmental scientists, the next generation of Fringe Festival playwrights we’re cultivating.
So, while the rest of the world is probably still debating how cold it is here (it builds character, and I will not elaborate), one of our own is out there, quietly cataloguing the ancient sentinels of our landscape, and getting seriously rewarded for it. It reminds you that good things are always growing, even when it’s -30°C.
Darren Fedoruk, MiTL Sports Desk, Edmonton.
Catch Keith and the gang hashing out all the local oddities every morning – you can find them live at mornings.live.