Finland Rakes in Medals from Earth Science Olympics
Although the fine performances of Finnish athletes at this summer’s Olympics in Paris were not quite enough to bring home medals, the Finnish national team in the Earth Science Olympiad 2024 in Beijing managed to snag many ‒ a total of seven medals.
The 17th International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO) was held in Beijing, China on 8–16 August 2024. IESO is an educational event organised by the International Geoscience Education Organisation (IGEO) for secondary level pupils worldwide. The main task of IESO is to promote the visibility of earth sciences and, in particular, to increase the interest of young people in earth sciences globally. It is one of the twelve International Science Olympiads.
The sub-theme that emerged this year was the growing concern of the international geoscientific community about the number of experts in the field in the future, especially as many of the challenges that humanity is facing require competence in earth sciences. The tasks put together by the competition hosts highlighted the role of earth sciences in research on the consequences of climate change, the circulation of raw materials essential for life and clean energy, among other things.
The Beijing Olympiads attracted many young people from Europe (e.g. Norway, Estonia, Germany, Austria, Romania, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal), Asia (e.g. Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, South Korea, India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Bangladesh), Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) and the United States. This year, 132 upper secondary school students and 110 mentors from 33 countries participated. Four upper secondary school students and two mentors participated from Finland.
Coaching for the competition
In June 2024, a coaching camp for the IESO 2024 Olympiad was organised for the Finnish national team at the University of Helsinki, at the Lammi Biological Station. The one-week training camp offered teaching in geology to the 16 upper secondary school students who had achieved the best results in the national examinations.
During the camp, the participants learned about the creation of the universe, the circulation of elements, endogenous and exogenous processes, plate tectonics, minerals and rocks, fossils, hydrogeology and the development of the Earth’s climate. The national team camp also included lectures on the evolution of life and marine geology. The camp also helped the participants prepare in groups for two Olympiad tasks: Earth System Project and International Team Field Investigation.
Earth System Project examines a local or regional phenomenon in the country hosting the Olympiad. Competitors discuss the different aspects of the topic, such as its origin, related processes, interactions (e.g. lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere) and its impacts on the biosphere, including humans. The results and observations are shared as poster presentations.
International Team Field Investigation is a research task that focuses on a specific phenomenon related to one of Earth’s systems on a field site. The teams get basic information about the site, conduct field studies, collect observations and take photos. After field work, the teams supplement their data with internet searches, form hypotheses and apply scientific reasoning, proceeding from observations to conclusions while utilising geological principles and external information. The teams share their results as a 12-minute presentation followed by a short discussion.
During the national team camp’s field research day, the participants got familiar with the geological sites in the Salpausselkä ridges, made observations and took measurements. This year, the camp’s field sites included Pirunpesä in Tiirismaa, the kettle hole in Sairakkala, the Kellola spring in the groundwater area of Ilola-Kukkolanharju, and an esker near Kirkkomäki in Kärkölä.
Many Cs ‒ clammy weather, competitions, camaraderie, and culture in China
In China, the national team was given demanding tasks to complete in the field, in the laboratory and on the computer. IESO differs from many other Science Olympiads in that the research projects are carried out in international teams. Therefore, countries do not compete against each other for superiority, but success is based on teamwork. The Earth Science Olympiad also includes individual competitions in which competitors solve tasks in the field and take a written exam.
In the humid Chinese summer, field work in particular put the competitors to the test, but luckily the hosts made sure their guests were well hydrated. The competition sites, which were located in the vicinity of the Beijing metropolitan area, provided a great and versatile platter of geology formations of different ages, from sediment rocks to loess sites.
Considering that many countries coach their teams for several months, Finland’s success in the Olympiad was excellent: the national team received a total of three silver medals and four bronze medals. The individual competitions resulted in one silver and one bronze.
After the competition, the competitors and mentors got the chance to experience Chinese culture in the Old Town of Beijing and the Olympic Park, in tea houses and on the Great Wall of China. In addition to the medals, the best souvenirs were surely the memorable moments, new friends and a budding interest for the world of earth sciences.
Trees and their shadows
Although there is concern about whether there will be enough earth science experts in the future, it was great to see the enthusiasm that young people from all around the world showed for earth sciences in the Beijing Olympiad. Let us hope that this enthusiasm will stick and spread more widely.
In Finland, the situation looks relatively good right now, as the number of applicants who want to study earth sciences and geology is constantly increasing, unlike elsewhere in the world. The increase in interest is a very positive sign, and an increasing number of upper secondary schools also participate in the semi-finals for the Earth Science Olympiad. The majority of young people who have participated in coaching camps consider earth sciences as a potential future field of their studies. The Geological Society of Finland has actively promoted the visibility of earth sciences and established an education committee in 2018 to support the accessibility of geological data. The committee includes representatives from universities, GTK, the Geology Committee, Geoparks and geography teachers in upper secondary schools.
It was inspiring to see the enthusiasm of the young people who participated in this year’s coaching camp in our field. In other words, there is hope, but we must not slow down our efforts to make earth sciences more visible. There is a need for it now and in the future, both in Finland and in the world.
While travelling in countries where millennia-long human activity has left its scars in the terrain, concern about how we will leave lands and seas for future generations is great. Perhaps the old Chinese proverb “When the tree falls, the shadow flies” describes this very concern. And probably, those two old trees, described in one Finnish song, which “somewhere under the ground, have all along woven their roots together”, would no longer exist either.
The team was coached by Anna Saukko from Åbo Akademi University, Minja Seitsamo-Ryynänen, Mia Kotilainen, Juha Saarinen, Seija Kultti and David Whipp from the University of Helsinki, and Aarno Kotilainen from the Geological Survey of Finland.
Acknowledgements
The Geological Society of Finland coordinates IESO activities under the leadership of Minja Seitsamo-Ryynänen. The funding for the activities comes from the K.H. Renlund Foundation, for which we are extremely thankful.
Writers
Aarno Kotilainen, Research Professor
Environmental Solutions, Geological Survey of Finland GTK
Mia Kotilainen, University Teacher
Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki
