A Tribute to the Ocean’s Keystone Species:

Announcing the Winners of the 2025 Science Without Borders® Challenge

ANNAPOLIS, MD — The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 Science Without Borders® Challenge, an international student art contest that promotes ocean conservation. This year’s theme, Marine Keystone Species, invited students to create artwork highlighting species that play a critical role in maintaining the structure and health of ocean ecosystems.

Open to primary and secondary school students 11–19 years old, the competition received an overwhelming response this year. Over 1,300 young artists from 75 countries submitted artwork—each piece a unique interpretation of a marine keystone species, from sea otters and mangroves to corals and sharks. These species may not always be the most numerous or well-known, but they have an outsized impact on their environment. Their presence helps maintain biodiversity, balance food webs, and support ecosystem resilience. If a keystone species is removed, the entire ecosystem could shift dramatically or collapse. Through their art, students explored these complex ecological relationships and made a compelling case for ocean conservation.

Artwork in the competition was judged in two categories based on age. The winning entries are not only beautiful pieces of artwork—they are a tribute to the animals that keep our ocean ecosystems in balance.

In the 15–19 age group, the first-place winner of the 2025 Science Without Borders® Challenge is Hyungjun Chin, with his enchanting piece, “The Keeper.” An 18-year-old student from the Republic of Korea, Hyungjun’s artwork depicts a sea otter eating sea urchins in a vibrant kelp forest, highlighting the otter’s role in protecting the kelp from overgrazing.

“Winning the Science Without Borders Challenge® means a lot to me,” said Hyungjun. “It feels incredibly rewarding to have my artwork recognized on an international level, especially when it’s about a topic I care deeply about—the environment. I wanted my artwork to show how every species has a role and how protecting even one can save many.”

Second place in the 15–19 category went to Kimin Kim of the Republic of Korea for her artwork, “Bridge Between Waters and Worlds.” Her piece highlights the importance of mangrove trees as habitat for species both above and below the waterline, and their role in purifying the water for nearby seagrass meadows.

Daniel Yu from Hackensack, New Jersey, claimed third place with “The Sea’s Yggdrasil,” a striking portrayal of mangroves as ecosystem engineers—stabilizing coastlines, preventing erosion, and filtering pollutants from the water to support surrounding marine life.

In the 11–14 age group, Gia Kim, age 12, from Los Angeles, California, earned first place for “Melting Grounds,” her powerful painting of krill—tiny but vital creatures that form the heart of the food web in the Arctic and Antarctic. Her artwork illustrates how the loss of such species, due to threats like climate change and ocean acidification, could lead to ecological collapse.

“I hope this piece raises awareness about our damaged ocean and what could happen if we continue to harm it,” said Gia. “This is our planet, and we can make a change, starting with our warming ocean.”

Second place in the 11–14 age group went to Kate Wang from Canada for “Seagrass Savior,” which illustrates how the large appetites of tiger sharks help protect fragile seagrass ecosystems.

Third place was awarded to Annie Douglas from The Bahamas for “The Beauty of Coral Reef,” celebrating reef-building corals. Although coral reefs cover less than 1% of the ocean floor, they support roughly 25% of all marine species, including over 4,000 kinds of fish.

Each of the winners will receive scholarships of up to $500 from the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation to celebrate their achievements and help them pursue their interests in art and ocean conservation.

Now in its 13th year, the Science Without Borders® Challenge continues to engage students in important ocean science and conservation topics through art. The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation created the competition to educate students around the world about the need to preserve our oceans and inspire the next generation of ocean advocates.

“The goal of this contest has always been to educate students about the ocean through art,” said Amy Heemsoth, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Education at the Foundation. “This year’s theme helped them understand how essential certain species are to the health of marine ecosystems. Their artwork serves as a powerful reminder of our responsibility to protect our oceans for future generations.”

The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation extends its heartfelt congratulations to all the winners and participants of the 2025 Science Without Borders® Challenge, and thanks them for using their creativity and passion to inspire positive change for our oceans.

For more information:
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About the Organizations:

About the Science Without Borders® Challenge:
The Science Without Borders® Challenge is an international student art contest run by the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation to engage students in marine conservation through art. The annual competition welcomes entries from all primary and secondary school students 11–19 years old. Scholarships of up to $500 are awarded to the winning entries. Students and teachers interested in next year’s competition can learn more and apply at:
www.livingoceansfoundation.org/SWBchallenge

About the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation:
The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation is a nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the health of the world’s oceans. Through science, outreach, and education, the Foundation works to conserve coral reefs and other tropical marine ecosystems, enhance ocean literacy, and inspire conservation action. Learn more at www.livingoceansfoundation.org

Let the Ground Keep the Falling Rainwater 

A recent science article utilizing multiple indirect data sources and models estimates that the world’s soil moisture water loss from 1979 to 2016 is 3,941 cubic kilometers. This is an enormous amount of water. Lake Huron holds 3,500 cubic kilometers, while Lake Michigan holds 4,918 cubic kilometers.

Unless you are a soil microbe, springtail, worm, or robin foraging for worms, soil moisture likely isn’t at the top of your list of concerns, even if you are very worried about climate change. The distinction between dirt and soil is that soil is alive and can retain moisture.  The difference between flour and bread is life; yeast consumes flour, creating bread. 

The bread of my youth, Wonder Bread, once claimed to build bodies eight ways (protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Niacin, and energy). They upped that figure in 1971 to 12 ways, at which time the Federal Trade Commission made them scale back their promises.

Soil also builds bodies (fungi, microbes, mites, tardigrades, and all) with nutrients prepared for consumption by bacteria and energy supplied by plants, which photosynthesize carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates. A plant repairs itself when cut or chewed, producing more plant fiber and carbohydrates pushed out of roots as exudate to nourish fungi and the soil.

Add water to dirt or flour, and you’ll get a sticky mess. Soil holds moisture, much like sliced bread, which will hold a liquid egg to become French Toast and still make room to soak up maple syrup. Four inches deep, healthy soil acts as a carbon sponge, holding seven inches of rainwater.

The problem with soil begins at the crust. If it becomes excessively crusty, the soil surface will not accept or retain water. We contribute to the hardening of the surface through heavy tillage, fertilizers that harm microbes, repeated fires, drainage, destruction of wetlands, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, erosion, unmanaged grazing, and all their combinations.

We’ve deprived the world’s soil and the lives within more than a Lake Huron volume of life-giving moisture, and that’s just the beginning of the troubles ahead. When the land dries, plants lose the ability to release water vapor that evaporates to cool or condense, which warms with the morning dew.  With plant evapotranspiration greatly reduced, the hundreds of horsepower per acre of solar power cycling water is re-routed to warming and baking the earth.  The rising hot air draws in more drying winds. Cumulus cloud formation ceases, except for fiercer afternoon thunderstorms. 

Raindrops unable to penetrate the soil join to form rivulets that gather speed and converge to become streams, transporting sediments that scour the land. Erosion carves, sedimentation smothers, and floodwaters rise, bringing more destruction.

A quiet trail winds through the forest, evidence of how land can absorb, hold, and slowly release water back into the ecosystem.

The clouds have silver linings because the annual rainfall amounts have not changed significantly. When it rains and water is plentiful, we need to slow it down and return it to the soil or ground, where it will be when needed during dry weather to recharge rivers. We should give the ground natural rights to retain its rainwater. Instead of stormwater, the rainwater should be channeled into the ground through rain gardens, pumps, cisterns, and French drains whenever a developer transforms vegetation and soil into constructions of cement and steel.

The loss of green vegetation and soils from the landscape resembles the emperor with no clothes.  We are so enamored with our constructions and artificial creations that we fail to see the naked truth.  For example, Boston receives an average of 43.6 inches of rain every year. The rains come in stronger bursts, yet the annual volume remains consistent.  The damage does not originate from the sky but from stormwater flooding communities.  Tidal dams are constructed to keep out the rising seas, only to prevent stormwater from the land from reaching the sea and causing more flood damage. Therefore, during the dry summer heat, it is no surprise that the land becomes so dry that forest fires ravage once wet areas, such as the red-maple swamps in Middleton – the landscape’s got no water. 

A family strolls through a winter forest, where the land remains porous, alive, and capable of holding the rain that falls upon it.

Developers profit while municipalities manage the water from off their properties at great expense to the community. Developers must be held accountable for the land’s hydrology and not be permitted to flush stormwater away to water works that most municipalities cannot afford to manage, leaving residents in low-lying areas of town standing in combined sewage overflow.

Let’s put the rainwater back into the soil to replenish life in the rhizosphere. The figure of 3,941 cubic kilometers represents a significant amount of water lost from the world’s soils. By allowing (and encouraging) rainwater to infiltrate the ground where it falls, we can reduce stormwater damage, combat climate change, and decrease sea level rise by as much as 25 percent (10 mm).  More water in the soil will result in healthier soils, enable plants to photosynthesize for more days, provide additional shade in hot weather, and make our neighborhood climate more comfortable with more life throughout the year.

A group of hikers walk a compacted winter trail through the woods — a reminder that soil, even under snow, remains part of a living, water-holding system.

Dr. Rob Moir is a nationally recognized and award-winning environmentalist. He is the president and executive director of the Ocean River Institute, a nonprofit based in Cambridge, MA, that provides expertise, services, resources, and information not readily available on a localized level to support the efforts of environmental organizations. Please visit www.oceanriver.org for more information.

References

• Seo, et al. (2025, March 27). Abrupt sea level rise and Earth’s gradual pole shift reveal permanent hydrological regime changes in the 21^st century. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adq6529

This article is written by Neil Nachbar.

Submissions will be on display at the Art League RI gallery from April 5-27; winning entries will be showcased at URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography thereafter

KINGSTON, R.I. – About 300 Rhode Island students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade entered the third biennial “Ocean View” student art competition, organized by the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO).

All submissions will be displayed at the Art League RI gallery in Pawtucket, 80 Fountain Street, Suite 107A, from April 5-27. Three winners from each of the four age divisions will be announced at a ceremony at the gallery on Thursday, April 17 at 3 p.m. 

Students were required to submit a statement of no more than 100 words on the theme, “What does ‘The Ocean State’ mean to you?’” Their two-dimensional artwork was limited to 24 inches by 36 inches. Suggested art mediums included illustration, painting, mixed media and collage, and photography.

The judges were three professional artists: Janine Wong, Laurie Kaplowitz, and Ruth Clegg, who is also the president of the board of directors of Art League RI.

Wong takes a multidisciplinary approach when creating abstract prints, weaving together elements of art, craft, design, and architecture. Kaplowitz uses the human figure to explore nature and existence. Her art has been exhibited in galleries in Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Miami, and San Francisco. Clegg’s art, which includes photography, video, printmaking, painting, and collage, has been displayed at the Providence Art Club, Bristol Museum of Art, Mystic Museum of Art, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Care New England, and the Smithsonian Graphic Art Collection.

“Art League RI is pleased to host the ‘Ocean View’ art competition with the URI Graduate School of Oceanography,” said Clegg. “We’re happy to encourage children to recognize the value of the ocean through the process of creating these works of art.”

After April 27, the 12 award-winning pieces of art will be showcased at GSO’s Ocean Science & Exploration Center. The winners will be invited to GSO for a reception on a date to be determined, where they will be presented their awards. The art will be displayed for at least a year, where they may be viewed by the public, students, staff, and faculty.