What is the Fairchild Challenge?

The Fairchild Challenge is an award-winning, interdisciplinary, environmental science competition, run by Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. The challenges are designed to engage students of diverse interests, abilities, talents and backgrounds to explore the natural world. For 2020-2021, Fairchild and BGCI are collaborating on a global challenge about Unsung Plant Scientists.

The Global Challenge: Unsung Plant Scientists – Their Journey and Legacy

Plant scientists have played a critical role in breaking social barriers and influencing scientific thinking that impacts our daily lives. Throughout history to the present, they are fearless leaders who have created bold initiatives and revolutionized the field. To achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, a global community must be built on values of inclusion, diversity and equity.

This Challenge was a unique opportunity for our global participants to “see themselves” in science and identify with plant scientists who look like them.

THE CHALLENGE:

To celebrate botanists with different perspectives from diverse backgrounds, we asked students to create a trading card that showcases the life and inspiring work of a chosen botanist. 

This challenge was all about unsung plant heroes – celebrating scientists that are underrepresented globally. This could be someone from history but it could also be someone working in plant science today (in a botanic garden, at a university for example).

We wanted to tell stories about plant scientists from different countries, backgrounds, ages, communities. We wanted our stories to be diverse and inclusive and showcase the best of plant science.

The challenge was aimed at school age learners (4-18) and could be completed as an individual or as a group (up to 5 people).