Cash prizes for the 2009 Student Essay Competition Sustainability through Earth Observation and Engineering
By Paul Racette, posted on September 4th, 2009 in Education, Sustainability, Technology
Earthzine invites undergraduate and graduate students from around the world to submit an essay for the 2009 Student Essay Competition: Sustainability through Earth Observation and Engineering. Earthzine, an online environmental journal, is conducting a competition to encourage students to creatively examine the benefits that new technological systems in Earth observation and engineering can have on sustainability.
Students should submit essays that follow one of the two dominant themes in sustainability: social equity and environmental protection. Essays should also be related to one or more of Earthzine’s focal topics, related to the GEOSS societal benefit areas: Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate, Disasters, Ecosystems, Energy, Health, Water, or Weather. Essays should follow Earthzine‘s Writer’s Guidelines.
After initial judges’ review, Earthzine will post several essays on its webpage. The author(s) of the essay will be invited to lead a blog about their essay and to participate in blogs of competing essays. Winners will be determined based on the quality of the essay and the quality of the blog. Prizes will be given for first place ($500), second place ($250), and third place ($150).
Eligibility: Enrollment in an American or international undergraduate or graduate degree program at an accredited college or university and attending full or part-time at the time of the contest. Winners’ college or university will receive certificates of recognition.
Submission Guidelines: Queries and final essays should be sent to David Mullins, Ph.D., Associate Education Editor, at any time (dmullins@sf.edu). The deadline for the submission of essays is October 17, 2009. Blogging will occur November 15-December 15, 2009. Winners will be announced on Earthzine on December 21, 2009, which is the Winter Solstice. Check for more information on Earthzine.
16 Prior Responses to “Cash prizes for the 2009 Student Essay Competition Sustainability through Earth Observation and Engineering”
NASA Daily Image
Remnant of a Supernova
Vital clues about the devastating ends to the lives of massive stars can be found by studying the aftermath of their explosions. In its more than twelve years of science operations, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has studied many of these supernova remnants sprinkled across the galaxy. The latest example of this important investigation is Chandra's new image of the supernova remnant known as G350.1-0.3. This stellar debris field is located some 14,700 light years from the Earth toward the center of the Milky Way. Evidence from Chandra and from ESA's XMM-Newton telescope suggest that a compact object within G350.1+0.3 may be the dense core of the star that exploded. The position of this likely neutron star, seen by the arrow pointing to "neutron star" in the inset image, is well away from the center of the X-ray emission. If the supernova explosion occurred near the center of the X-ray emission then the neutron star must have received a powerful kick in the supernova explosion. Data suggest this supernova remnant, as it appears in the image, is 600 and 1,200 years old. If the estimated location of the explosion is correct, this means the neutron star has been moving at a speed of at least 3 million miles per hour since the explosion. Another intriguing aspect of G350.1-0.3 is its unusual shape. Many supernova remnants are nearly circular, but G350.1-0.3 is strikingly asymmetrical as seen in the Chandra data in this image (gold). Infrared data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (light blue) also trace the morphology found by Chandra. Astronomers think that this bizarre shape is due to stellar debris field expanding into a nearby cloud of cold molecular gas. The age of 600-1,200 years puts the explosion that created G350.1-0.3 in the same time frame as other famous supernovas that formed the Crab and SN 1006 supernova remnants. However, it is unlikely that anyone on Earth would have seen the explosion because of the obscuring gas and dust that lies along our line of sight to the remnant. These results appeared in the April 10, 2011 issue of The Astrophysical Journal. Image Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/I. Lovchinsky et al; IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Are students outside of the US allowed to enter?
Undergraduate and graduate students from around the world are encouraged to submit an essay.
are students pursuing an undergraduate course in a national university outside America permitted to take the competition?
Yes, this is an international competition. Both undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to submit an essay. We look forward to receiving yours!
Is it okay to co-author it with a fellow-student?
Aditya
Hi Aditya,
Yes, co-authored essays are welcome! Just for clarification, should the essay win any of the prizes, the money will be awareded to the first author and distributing it to co-authors will be at the first author’s discretion.
Students are welcome to submit up to three essays for this competition.
Dear Sirs,
I am a teacher of English in a high school in Egypt. Can I participate in such a contest ?
Greetings from Egypt.
Adel.
Thanks for your interest in submitting an entry! The contest is open to undergraduate and graduate students, so if you are a student in addition to being a high school teacher, you are eligible. If you are not an undergraduate or graduate student, I’m afraid you are not eligible.
Dear Sirs,
Thank you for your reply:”The contest is open to undergraduate and graduate students, so if you are a student in addition to being a high school teacher, you are eligible. If you are not an undergraduate or graduate student, I’m afraid you are not eligible.”
I need more explanation to your reply. One day, I was a student. Then, I graduated and became a teacher. So, I am no longer a student now. Plz, I need more explanation and clarification.
Thank you in advance.
Adel.
Greetings from Egypt.
Hi Adel,If you are no longer a student. You are not eligible for this contest. It is open to currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students only. Thanks for your interest.
sir,
how we have to submit the essay.is it online or by post
Hi Rahul,
Thanks for your enquiry. Essays should be submitted to the email address given near the end of the article.
Cheers,
Tim
Hi Rahul, The email address Tim mentions is dmullins@sf.edu. That will get your submission to me.
I have to agree with you on this one, it is nearly always the case.
This is very helpful for student of universities.