20 Questions with Nicholas Flowers
Nicholas Flowers, an exceptional 17-year-old from Hopedale, was recently announced as one of five young people from across the country to be awarded a $25,000 scholarship as a STEAM Horizon Award winner.
The award, presented by Ingenium, is for a student who will be studying one of the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) disciplines in the fall. Flowers is planning on attending Memorial University’s Grenfell campus to study Environmental Sciences and then returning to coastal Labrador to work on things like renewable energy and sustainability in Nunatsiavut.
Flowers took part in Students on Ice in 2019, an annual arctic expedition that helps connect students with the issues at play in the north and also co-presented at the 21st Inuit Studies Conference about archaeology experiences he had in Hopedale.
He said he’s always had an interest in the sciences and the arts, with his Inuit heritage helping shape the latter. Flowers says his grandmother always taught him the importance of sewing and traditional Inuit crafts and he and his sisters have held workshops on the techniques and importance of craftwork to their heritage, with plans for more in the future.
"That’s the glorious thing about STEAM, it’s not only about sciences. Technology is so important but it’s also about crafts and the arts. STEAM touches on a variety of topics and not only will it help me in the sciences but help promote Inuit culture," Flowers said.