Bangladesh Team’s record-breaking performance at the 16th International Earth Science Olympiad 2023
On Sunday, 27th August, Mr. Stephen F. Ibelli, Public Affairs Counselor at the U.S. Embassy Dhaka has warmly received the Team Bangladesh who broke all the previous records of the Bangladesh Team since Bangladesh’s debut participation in 2013. This year, Team Bangladesh has secured in total 10 medals including 3 Gold Medals and 11 honorable mentions at the 16th International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO) held virtually on August 21-25, 2023. IESO is a global Olympiad for secondary school students that tests the abilities, specifically in geology, meteorology, environmental science, and terrestrial astronomy.
Bangladesh team, on their 9th appearance in the IESO since 2013, has consecutively broken their record of medal counts for the second year, winning 3 Gold, 7 Bronze (10 Medals in total), and 11 Honorable Mentions across different segments. As a team, the most exceptional achievement for Bangladesh has been to unlock their first Gold Medal in the National Team Field Investigation (NTFI), which came for a field research project on the ‘Erosional Dynamics of the Kuakata Sea Beach’. The top performers from the team are Tasnim Reza Arittra from the Presidency International School, Chattogram, Ashraful Islam Mahi from the Notre Dame College, and Ahsanur Razee from the Adamjee Cantonment College, who obtained 1 Gold and 2 Bronze Medals each.
Other members of the Bangladesh Team who won more than one medals are: Mohtasim Hafiz from the Scholarshome School and College, Saimun Shahid Liam from the Mirpur Cantonment Public School & College, Shaikh Taassuk Ahmed from the Dinajpur Zilla School, Farhana Rifat Sachi from the Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, and Anurag Das from the Govt. M. M. City College, Khulna.
Professor Kazi Matin Ahmed from the University of Dhaka and Aryan Andaleeb Azim, NEO Knowledge Team Lead and in IESO alumnus, served as Advisors and Mentors for the Bangladesh team respectively. The field projects were exclusively supervised under Himadri Sekhar and Mohammad Solaiman, respectively – both being graduates of the Geology Department of the University of Dhaka.
Bangladesh Youth Environmental Initiative (BYEI), a youth-led environmental nonprofit, has organized the National Earth Olympiad (NEO) since 2012. NEO is an education and knowledge movement that aims to mainstream Earth and environmental science education across Bangladesh. In this edition of NEO, a staggering 3500 participants registered for the preliminary round. After the divisional round, the NEO team conducted a day-long program called Green Day Training (GDT) in all 8 divisions, where they trained more than 300 divisional toppers on interconnected climate and environmental issues focusing on this year’s theme “Saving the Bengal Delta: Restoring Our Water Commons”. After the national round, Team Bangladesh is selected through camps, sessions, field visits, and exams. This year, the US Embassy in Dhaka supported this nationwide olympiad.
Mr. Stephen F. Ibelli, Public Affairs Counselor, the U.S. Embassy Dhaka, greeted and congratulated all the winners and medalists in person at the American Center and said:
“You all are the future of Bangladesh. The U.S. Embassy Dhaka is very pleased to be a part of the NEO program and support the future climate leaders for a more sustainable and climate resilient Bangladesh.”
Founder and Executive Director of BYEI Shamir Shehab said,
“For Bangladesh to become a climate-resilient nation, we would need a generation of environmental stewards who would act as practitioners, scholars and policymakers to generate knowledge and provide thought leadership. NEO is one of the programs through which BYEI has been striving to develop these stewards since its founding in 2009.”
Professor Kazi Matin Ahmed, the Co-Convenor and Advisor of the NEO 2023, said:
“It is important that our future policymakers and experts are informed of and have an understanding of the nexus between Earth Sciences and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to combat the adverse natural and anthropogenic impacts on the people and the Planet. NEO aims to do exactly that.”
To learn more about the National Earth Olympiad (NEO) 2023, please visit www.byei.org/neo2023 or write to us [email protected] or call us at 01703771366 for any additional information.
