IESO Award Ceremony

Four student participants in the 2009 UVM/GIV Engineering Institute held at the UVM College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (CEMS) have been selected to represent the United States at the 2009 Third International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO) in Taiwan. The students are: Hailey Burkhart from Mt. Mansfield HS, Jericho, VT; Benjamin Chapman from Ticonderoga HS, Ticonderoga, NY; Courtney Devoid from Mt. Abraham HS, Bristol, VT; and Joseph Ricci from Arlington HS, Arlington, MA. Alternates are Robin Rainwalker from Long Trail School, Dorset, VT, and Nazneen Shaikh from South Brunswick HS, Princeton, NJ.

The IESO will focus on sustainability issues such as climate change. Chaperoned by Tom and Beth Tailer, co-directors of the UVM/GIV Engineering Institute, students will fly to Taiwan for the conference which will take place September 14-22, 2009. They will work with international students to solve the world's environmental problems, do field science work, and experience the culture of Taiwan. Katie Mimms, assistant in the 2009 UVM/GIV Engineering Institute, was last year's U.S. representative from the UVM/GIV and won a bronze medal for her work.

The four students selected to participate in the IESO were part of a total of 95 high school students (in-state, out-of-state and international students) who enrolled in the 2009 UVM/GIV Engineering Institute held June 28-July 4, 2009. The purpose of the Institute is to help students gain an understanding of how research can work to solve societal problems through creative engineering. Students focus on how technology impacts humans, do hands-on engineering projects, participate in tours and engage in presentations by professors, computer scientists and mathematicians.