On January 24th, The Water Institute and the Society of the Water Institute Graduate Students (SWIGS) hosted the second edition of Bake Your Research, inviting participants to showcase their culinary creativity by baking or cooking edible masterpieces that visually represent water research at the University of Waterloo.

This year’s competition brought an even higher level of innovation and artistry, with entries surpassing expectations in both creativity and detail. The event once again highlighted the incredible talent and passion of our water research community.

A special thank you to our guest judges, Chef Richard Cramm, and Chef Mark Meinzinger, who elevated the competition by evaluating the edible creations on presentation, texture, and taste. Their expertise added a delightful Food Network-style flair to the proceedings.

Beyond the competition itself, the event served as an engaging opportunity for, networking, and social connection.

Sweet Success: Congratulations to this year’s winners -

  • First Place: Michael Power’s Power Lab, for their stunning and delicious vanilla and chocolate cake illustrating an Arctic beaver dam/stream cross-section.
  • Second Place: Maria Strack’s Wetland Soils and Greenhouse Gas Exchange Lab, for their highly detailed “Aspen” cake, which depicted the response of a northern peatland to oil sands infrastructure.
  • Third Place: James Craig’s Hydrology Research Group, for their spectacular watershed representation featuring the Raven.
Winners

 L to R Winning cakes.

Champions

The Power Lab: Brenna Mervyn and Katelyn Gao – champions of the 2025 Bake Your Research competition (R) Chef Richard Cramm, and Chef Mark Meinzinger.

We hope everyone had as much fun as we did! Check out the stunning entries below and thank you to all who participated in making this year’s competition a success!


Highlights: from the 2025 Bake Your Research competition: