2022 Science Without Borders® Challenge Finalists: 11-14 year old students
The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation is thrilled to announce the finalists in our 2022 Science Without Borders® Challenge! This international contest engages students in important ocean issues through art. This year we asked students to create a piece of art that illustrates one or more actions that governments, non-profits, park managers, and indigenous communities can take to preserve coral reefs using a ridge-to-reef approach to conservation.
We hope you will be as impressed with the submissions we received as we were. Entries to the Science Without Borders® Challenge are judged in two categories based on age. Here are the finalists selected from the younger group of applicants, students 11-14 years old:
"Clean the Reef!" by Viara Pencheva, Age 12, Bulgaria
ARTIST'S STATEMENT: The reef is a unique underwater structure that is home to hundreds of corals and thousands of different species of fish, mollusks, sea snakes, sea turtles, whales, dolphins, birds and more. Today, a number of factors threaten the survival of coral reef organisms as well as the structural integrity of the reefs themselves. Many coral reefs are plagued by predation, bleaching and the effects of various human activities. Pollution is one of the factors causing coral reef destruction. With my drawing I want to show that if we want to protect the unique coral reefs, we have to stop polluting them. We need to start taking care of them together by cleaning them of plastic bags, drink bottles, fishing nets and other waste that people throw into the ocean. But above all, we need to change our way of thinking and take care of the nature around us.
