Rooted Carbon Founder Nathanael Buschhaus Travels to Ottawa as Ingenious+ National Finalist

A few months ago, I found myself walking through Rideau Hall in Ottawa, representing Rooted Carbon as national finalist in the Rideau Hall Foundation's 2026 Ingenious+ competition.

Ingenious+ recognizes young people who are developing practical solutions to challenges facing their communities and beyond. This year, 17 youth from across Canada were named national finalists and national winners, representing innovations in climate technology, healthcare, accessibility, entrepreneurship, and community impact.

The experience stretched over several days. We spent a full day at the University of Ottawa's Innova Centre, taking part in mentorship sessions, networking with other finalists, and learning from entrepreneurs, researchers, and industry leaders. On our final day, we travelled to Rideau Hall for the Governor General's Innovation Awards ceremony, where Canada's culture of innovation was celebrated alongside the next generation of innovators.

One comment from the week has stayed with me. Teresa Marques, President and CEO of the Rideau Hall Foundation, described the finalists as reflecting "the creativity, care, and determination" that young people are bringing to the challenges facing their communities. Sitting in a room filled with students tackling everything from medical diagnostics to accessibility, environmental stewardship, and artificial intelligence, it was hard not to agree.

Representing Rooted Carbon in that room was both exciting and humbling.

What started as a simple question—could measuring the carbon stored in a tree be as easy as taking a photo?—has grown into something much bigger. Rooted Carbon is building AI-powered tools that transform an ordinary smartphone image into meaningful estimates of tree species, biomass, and carbon storage. Our goal is to make environmental data more accessible for landowners, farmers, municipalities, researchers, and anyone interested in understanding the impact of the trees around them.

Climate science often feels out of reach. Measuring forests has traditionally required specialized equipment, technical expertise, or time-consuming field surveys. By combining artificial intelligence, computer vision, and environmental science, we're working to make that process faster, more affordable, and accessible to far more people.

Looking back, the recognition itself was meaningful, but the conversations were what left the biggest impression. Every finalist had started with a problem they wanted to solve. Different ideas, different backgrounds, but the same willingness to build something that could make a difference.

That trip to Ottawa reminded me that innovation doesn't happen only in research labs or large companies. Sometimes it starts with curiosity, a laptop, and a willingness to keep improving an idea.

Rooted Carbon still has a long road ahead, but being recognized by the Rideau Hall Foundation as a 2026 Ingenious+ National Finalist was an encouraging milestone—and one that motivates us to keep building.

Until next time,

Nathanael Buschhaus