Written by Elizabeth Rauer

Students from New Zealand and India win international art competition

The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation is proud to announce the winners of the 2016 Science Without Borders® Challenge, an international student art competition that highlights important ocean conservation issues. The theme for this year’s challenge was ‘Fishing Under the Radar’ and focused on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation received a record number of entries for this year’s competition; students from 18 different countries submitted over 160 original pieces of art for the 2016 Science Without Borders® Challenge.

‘We were delighted with the overwhelming number and quality of the entries we received,’ says Amy Heemsoth, Director of Education at the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation. She says the best part of the competition is that ‘students did not just create beautiful pieces of art, they learned about how illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing impacts our marine resources and the people who depend upon them.’

Winning Entries

Without further ado, the winners of this year’s Science without Borders® Challenge are:

High School

First Place: What Goes On Your Plate by Ruofei Rao, Age 17, New Zealand
First Place: What Goes On Your Plate by Ruofei Rao, Age 17, New Zealand

 

Second Place: Bled Out Depths by Stephanie Tian, Age 16, United States of America
Second Place: Bled Out Depths by Stephanie Tian, Age 16, United States of America

 

Third Place: Hurting Nature is Hurting Us As Well by Yeon Soo Park, Age 16, South Korea
Third Place: Hurting Nature is Hurting Us As Well by Yeon Soo Park, Age 16, South Korea

Middle School

First Place: Fishing Disaster by Supratik Das, Age 14, India
First Place: Fishing Disaster by Supratik Das, Age 14, India

 

Second Place: Grief by Alexandra Jin, Age 14, Canada
Second Place: Grief by Alexandra Jin, Age 14, Canada

 

Third Place: We Protect Our Oceans Resource by Dharunigsa Naguleshwaran, Age 11, Sri Lanka
Third Place: We Protect Our Oceans Resource by Dharunigsa Naguleshwaran, Age 11, Sri Lanka

 

‘Through the Science Without Borders® Challenge the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation aims to educate and inspire students to become stewards of our marine environment,’ says Captain Philip Renaud, Executive Director of the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation.

Ruofei Rao, a student at Epsom Girls Grammar School in Auckland, New Zealand and first place high school winner, speaks passionately about her participation in the Challenge saying, ‘I learned so much about IUU fishing that I wasn’t aware of prior to this competition…I will strive to continue promoting ocean awareness through my ideas and artwork.’

Take a few moments to enjoy more of the great artwork submitted. Here are some of our finalists:

High School Finalists

 

Middle School Finalists