Queensland school students have won a host of major awards in a national science competition to celebrate the International Year of Plant Health.
Department of Agriculture and Fisheries’ Competition Coordinator Kerrie Rubie congratulated students from nine Queensland schools who won prizes in the Queensland Government’s annual Hermitage Schools Plant Science Competition.
More than 1800 Prep to Year 12 students from 100 schools across Australia took up the challenge to uncover why plant health is the key to the survival of life on Earth.
“The high quality of science and art entries in this year’s competition shows that the future of science and agriculture is in good hands,” Ms Rubie said.
“The students showed great interest learning about the importance of plant health in an agricultural setting.
“I commend Queensland students who shone in the 24th annual competition which promotes careers in science and agriculture.”
As part of the competition, students had to research three constraints to the plant health of a field crop in a developing country, with plant and ocean health the focus of the Art in Agriculture section.
Students from across the globe took part in a fun, citizen science adventure to open their eyes about the environment and the animals and organisms that invade plants.
The 2020 ‘Pest Invaders’ BioQuest attracted 20 teams with 3,850 sightings, 3,413 identifications and 694 species mapped, via a mobile gaming app.
The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries thanked the competition’s supporters including major sponsors the Plant Biosecurity Science Foundation, Grains Research and Development Corporation, QuestaGame and associate sponsor the University of Queensland, the Paul Johnston Memorial Trust and The Crawford Fund.
The following Queensland schools won major science and art prizes:
• Glasshouse Christian College, Sunshine Coast
• Centenary Heights State High School, Toowoomba
• Groves Christian College of Distance Education, Toowoomba
• Faith Christian School of Distance Education
• Bowen State High School
• The Scots PGC College, Warwick
• Kurwongbah State School
• St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Brisbane
• Gilhooly Homeschool, Brisbane
