KAZAKHSTAN BROUGHT HOME SEVEN MEDALS FROM CHINA

The Kazakhstani team which was selected and trained by the Zhas Geolog (The Young Geologist) corporate foundation has won three silver and four bronze medals. The IESO 2024 closing ceremony and winners medal presentation took place at 101 Middle School Campus in Beijing, which the current leader of the PRC, Xi Jinping graduated from.

136 representatives from 35 countries, including Australia, China, Japan, the USA, Estonia, Germany, Norway, Pakistan, and others, participated in the international competition for young experts in geology, environmental science, meteorology and astronomy. The Olympiad was held in three stages: individual test, field research in an international team and the Earth System Project (ecoproject). This year’s IESO was organized by Peking University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Seismological Society of China and Beijing 101 Middle School.

And now we’ll let you know about the results of the Kazakhstani team. Ester Amrakulova, a ninth-grader at Tamos Linguistics School, won a bronze medal in individual theoretical test, and took the third place in an international team working on the Earth System Project. In addition, the young Kazakhstani won bronze medal in the International Field Research Team.

Another representative of our country, a tenth-grader from Pavlodar, Anuar Alim, won the third bronze medal for the Kazakhstani team in individual test, and a silver medal as part of an international team within the Earth System Project.
“I liked the Olympiad. I especially liked that the days of tests and competitions were alternated with cultural events. I have never participated in such international events before, and I was wondering if I could compete on equal terms with the participants from other countries. I am glad that I have achieved third place. I believe that the Chinese team and East Asian countries hit the podium at IESO 2024 for a reason. The study of Earth science is as important as the study of mathematics or chemistry in these countries.”

A ninth-grader Bekarys Tashmukhanbet from Almaty won another silver medal (also within the Earth System Project), while a tenth-grader Aitole Nurakhan won the fourth silver medal for the Kazakhstani team as a member of the International Field Research Team. In total the Kazakhstani team won seven medals at the Olympiad: three silver and four bronze.

Aigerym Sultan, the Yessenov Foundation Program Manager, attended the Olympiad as part of the delegation from Kazakhstan.“IESO 2024 provided our young geologists with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills at an international level. They were especially interested in field research which allows the participants to interact directly with geological objects. They observe rocks, conduct tests, analyze processes that influenced the formation and change of landscapes. Although there were some organizational challenges at the Olympiad, the Kazakhstani schoolchildren – the best in the field of Earth science – managed to demonstrate their knowledge, compete with high school students from other countries, work with them in a team, make friends and get acquainted with the culture and history of the host country.”

The Science and Education Foundation named after Academician Shakhmardan Yessenov, at the initiative of its founder, businessman and philanthropist Galimzhan Yessenov, has been a sponsor of the Kazakhstani team of young geologists at IESO since 2017.