Taiwan captured four gold medals and five special awards in the just-concluded International Earth Science Olympiad, making it the top winner at this year’s event.
The four contestants won four golds in addition to winning five special awards — Best Cooperation Team, Best Presentation Team, Best Performance in Astronomy, Best Performance in Atmosphere/Hydrosphere and Best Performance in Geosphere.
Hosted in Taiwan for the first time, the annual event is aimed at enhancing young students’ interest in and understanding of the natural environment, climatic change and the relationship between humans and nature.
The event, held from last Monday through yesterday, drew senior high school students from 15 countries, with the UK and Italy joining the competition for the first time. The number of participating countries was also the largest.
Taiwan, one of the event’s founding countries, has secured top ranking in the competition since its inception in 2007.
Lin Pei-lien (林沛練), head of National Central University’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences, who served as the team’s key instructor, said the contest helped awaken students’ interest in nature and the relationship between humans and the environment.
One of the special features of this year’s event was field activities, Lin said, adding that the previous two contests only focused on indoor competition.
Contestants traveled to the 921 Earthquake Museum in Nantou County for a field survey.
Gold medal winner Hsieh Tsung-lin (謝宗霖) said he came to understand how little he knew about the Earth only after attending pre-contest training courses that began in May.
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