Biodiversity Around the World: A Concern for Colombian Students

EarthzineSGS 2017, St. George's School

Jardin, Colombia. Image Credit: Pedro Szekely

For a sixth year, senior students at St. George’s School in Bogotá, Colombia, have researched Societal Benefit Areas and created posters and texts (in English and Spanish ) to highlight using satellite images to better understand challenges on Earth.
For the 2016-2017 school year, 77 high-school students worked in 12 teams, focused on biodiversity. Students reached out to experts around the world and received significant support from scientists who were eager to share their knowledge and support future research interests.
Colombia is listed as one of the world’s “megadiverse” countries. According to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Colombia, a medium-sized country of nearly 48 million people, has close to 10 percent of the planet’s biodiversity, including 314 types of ecosystems with rich and varying ecological, climatic, biological and ecosystem elements.
With an early awareness of biodiversity in their country, students are eager to explore species and regions in other parts of the world, as evidenced by the diversity of animals and geographical areas that are included in the four selected projects for this year.
IEEE Earthzine enjoys promoting the use of Earth observation technology and resources with high schools around the world to facilitate similar student research projects.
Melting Sea Ice Sheets
Deforestation
Phytoplankton
Biodiversity
Nelson Robby, a high school Physics teacher at St. George’s School since 2001, is passionate about getting students to reach beyond the classroom to connect with real scientists and current issues in Colombia and internationally. He recently led a group of students to work together on creating, testing and launching their own working nanosatellite called the Luminous 1 supported by expert engineers in the design and creation of the satellite. Nelson has a Master’s in Education. (nelson.robby@sgs.edu.co)
Anne Dye, the Cambridge International Coordinator at St. George’s School since 2015, and previous Head of the English Department, is eager to create projects that give students opportunities to use English in academic settings outside of school. She has a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction. (anne.dye@sgs.edu.co)