introducing

flatten the curve

creativity against climate change & COVID-19

Deadline: May 1, 2021

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Faced with the confluence of multiple crises, our generation must step up to address the most prominent issues of our time. Two of the issues at the forefront of humanity: climate change and COVID-19. One is a long process that has been neglected right under our noses for over 30 years, and the other came suddenly but exposed long-neglected systemic flaws. For both, we must flatten the curve--of carbon emissions and of coronavirus cases.

 

Both climate change and COVID-19 are rooted in science but permeate into social, cultural, economic, and political issues. Through creating art, writing, multimedia, and more, we can deeply examine and spread awareness of these issues, their broader implications, and interconnections with other ideas, our history, and our future. This competition recognizes the most creative, insightful, and technically sophisticated works on either climate change, COVID-19, or both.

Featured judges

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Lucianne Walkowicz

Lucianne Walkowicz is an astronomer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago and the 2017-2018 Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/LOC Chair in Astrobiology. Walkowicz studies the ethics of Mars exploration, stellar magnetic activity, how stars influence a planet’s suitability as a host for alien life, and how to use advanced computing to discover unusual events in large astronomical data sets. Walkowicz is the founding director of the LSSTC Data Science Fellowship Program, an initiative to provide astronomy graduate students with training in advanced computing. Walkowicz speaks and writes regularly on topics at the intersection of science and society, which have appeared on TED.com, Slate, The Washington Post, Vox, and more.

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Walkowicz holds a BS in Physics and Astronomy from Johns Hopkins University, an MS and PhD in Astronomy from the University of Washington, and held postdoctoral fellowships at UC Berkeley and Princeton prior to joining the Adler Planetarium. They are also a TED Senior Fellow and a practicing artist, working in a variety of media, from performance to sound.

- $100

- interviewed by DropTheStem

- featured on Buzz Online class as guest speaker

- featured on STEMag website & Instagram

- turned your work into a product sold by MoonPrint. (@moonprintco​) 

(all profit donated in the winner and MoonPrint's name to Greenpeace for sustainability causes)

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- $50

- interviewed by DropTheStem

- featured on STEMag website & Instagram

- $25

- featured on STEMag website & Instagram

- $10

- featured on STEMag website & Instagram

prizes

best of show

$100(overall)

1st place

$50(each category)

2nd place

$25(each category)

3rd place

$10(each category)

honorable mention

(3/category)

- featured on STEMag website & Instagram

synthethics award

$15(special)

Best piece using concepts related to synthetic biology/genetic engineering

- $15

- featured on SynthEthics website & Instagram

- featured on STEMag website & Instagram

painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics,  design, digital art, crafts, etc.

short stories, poetry, novels, essays, articles, etc.

music, podcasts, animations, videos, programs, digital games, digital interactions, etc.

research, STEM problems, inventions--anything that doesn't quite fit another category.

painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics,  design, digital art, crafts, etc.

short stories, poetry, novels, essays, articles, etc.

music, podcasts, animations, videos, programs, digital games, digital interactions, etc.

research, STEM problems, inventions--anything that doesn't quite fit another category.

categories

 visual art 

 writing 

 multimedia 

 other 

Work that bridges seemingly distinct disciplines, blurs the boundaries of conventional expression.

creativity

Work that expresses STEM concepts or utilizes STEM tools in an interesting way.

STEM merit

technical

skill

Work that utilizes sophisticated technical skill to create something powerful and innovative.

judging criteria

  • Instagram

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