14-year-old Calgarian a winner at 2026 Science Without Borders Challenge

[2026]

CTV News Calgary featured 14-year-old Olivia Shin, who won first place in the 11–14 age category of the Living Oceans Foundation’s 2026 Science Without Borders® Challenge. The story highlights Olivia’s charcoal artwork, The Giant and the Invisible: A Story of Ocean Recycling, and how this year’s nearly 900 participants from 65 countries used art to explore the hidden world of microscopic marine life.

CTV News
By Damien Wood
May 15, 2026

A Calgary youth’s charcoal art piece about microscopic marine life has received a top honour at an international competition.

Olivia Shin placed first among artists between 11 and 14 years old in the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation’s 2026 Science Without Borders Challenge.

The 14-year-old took charcoal to recycled cardboard to create her piece, titled The Giant and the Invisible: A Story of Ocean Recycling.

According to the foundation, she depicted the “decomposition of a blue whale carcass by microscopic marine organisms.

Her art highlights the microscopic marine organisms’ role in “recycling nutrients and sustaining deep-sea ecosystems for decades after a whale fall reaches the ocean floor.”

Announcing the 15th Annual Science Without Borders® Challenge: Navigate with Care

Every day, fishing boats, ferries, sailboats, kayaks, research vessels, cargo ships, whales, sea turtles, dolphins, seabirds, and countless other marine animals share the same waters. While people rely on the ocean for transportation, recreation, research, fishing, and exploration, it is also home to some of the most diverse and important ecosystems on Earth.

That simple but powerful idea is the inspiration behind the 15th Annual Science Without Borders® Challenge.

2025-2026 B.A.M. Student Voices

Throughout the Bahamas Awareness of Mangroves (B.A.M.) and Jamaica Awareness of Mangroves in Nature (J.A.M.I.N.) programs, we evaluate each phase of the mangrove education and restoration process to better understand how students are learning, growing, and connecting with their coastal environments.

Before the programs begin, students share what they already know about mangroves and how they feel about them. As the program progresses, we continue to gather feedback to see how their knowledge evolves from identifying mangrove species and understanding food webs to recognizing the role mangroves play in coastal protection and climate change mitigation.

But the surveys go beyond science content.

We also ask students…

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