2023 Science Without Borders® Challenge Finalists: 15-19 year old students
The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation is delighted to announce the finalists in our 2023 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 highlights the beauty and importance of a marine species that is on the brink of extinction.
This year we received more entries than ever before. Over 1,200 entries flooded in from 67 different countries, and let us tell you, it was no easy feat to choose the finalists. 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 older group of applicants, students 15-19 years old:
"This is How it Starts" by Amy Brown, Age 17, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
ARTIST’S STATEMENT: The Banggai Cardinalfish is one of many marine species on the brink of extinction. Being removed from its habitat for the aquarium trade is one of the reasons that it’s decreased so sharply in numbers. I’ve chosen to use the child as a symbol for a new start - humankind reborn, given a second chance to heal the damage caused to sea life. As she draws, her imagination releases the fish to swim freely in their natural habitat. She doesn’t yet understand the dire implications of human actions on marine species like the one in her parent’s fish tank, which is alone in dirty water, representing the threat of extinction. However, she instinctivley knows that the exotic fish belongs in the ocean. She’s representing those that will grow up to do more than just draw its freedom, but actively work to ensure that it and other marine species can survive.
