Budding biologists - help needed to get to international competition in Armenia

Brilliant news from the 33rd International Biology Olympiad was held in Yerevan, Armenia The NZ team competed against the top four students from 68 different countries in two extremely challenging theory exams and a range of practical tasks from determining the activity of alcohol dehydrogenase, to assessing plant vulnerability to climate change, bioinformatics, and the biosystematics of Armenian freshwater fishes.

Sarah Ellis and Jacob Miller won Bronze medals and Janet Guo and Richard Li won Silver. This is a huge achievement for our team and a tribute to their dedicated study for over 18 months and the support of their teachers, whānau, the NZIBO committee and our university partners. It is also a testament to all of you who supported us when government support was not available, donating through Givealittle, purchasing raffle tickets, and attending fundraisers. Without this support the team could not have competed. We can’t thank our supporters, large and small, enough.

In addition to competing on the world stage, the team has explored Rome, Vatican City, and Yerevan, one of the ancient cities of the world Europe, and learnt Armenian dancing. The chance to meet students from around the globe, share their enthusiasm for Biology, form professional networks in Science, and laugh across language boundaries has been life-changing. The team was led by Dr Angela Sharples (Murupara Area School) and Ms Michelle Isbister (Hauraki Plains Area School) and they are both so proud of this team. Dr Sharples said “They represented New Zealand at the highest level of academic endeavour for secondary school students in the world and rose to the occasion to bring home the medals. It reflects their hard work, perseverance, and sheer biological brilliance”.