2021 Science Without Borders® Challenge Finalists: 15-19 year old students
The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation is pleased to announce the finalists in our 2021 Science Without Borders® Challenge! This international student art contest engages students in important ocean issues through art. For this year’s competition, students were asked to illustrate one or more of the benefits mangroves provide to people, other organisms, or the environment.
Entries to the Science Without Borders® Challenge are judged in two categories based on age. Here are the finalists selected from the older group of applicants, students 15-19 years old:
"The Heart of the Mangrove Forests" by Catherine Chen, Age 15, New Jersey, United States of America
Artist's Statement: Mangrove forests are an overlooked ecosystem, its plain exterior not as attention-grabbing as sandy beaches or colorful coral reefs. However, they are essential to protecting the land around them and the life that inhabits the area. Many animals also call mangrove forests their breeding and nursery grounds, creating a habitat churning with life. In my artwork, I connected the way mangrove forests protect the flora and fauna that exists inside it to how our ribs protect our heart. In my painting, the ribs are the trees of the mangrove forest while the heart is composed of animals that make up the life force of the ecological community. Different creatures weave in between the branches, representing the biological diversity of this unique ecosystem. Both our body and mangrove forests are adapted to survive in difficult conditions in order to protect what is most important, the life that lives within.
