International Earth Science Olympiad

In November 2004 in Seoul, representatives from ten countries gathered to discuss the curriculum and the format of IESO.

23 presentations were made and the IESO Advisory Committee was established with members including Chairperson Moo Young Song, Hendra Amijaya, Roberto Greco, Ken-ichiro Hisada, Thomas Lorillard Tailer, Chang Chun-Yen, Miguel Cano, Shankar Rajasekharaiah, and Chan-Jong Kim.

Its aim was to promote global Earth science education and international cooperation in mitigating anthropogenic harm to the environment.

In 2010, 19 countries arrived in Yogyakarta, Indonesia to compete at the Fourth IESO,[3] and the International Team Competition focus on sustainability and the use of underground water.

The IESO consisted of six activities: the Data Mining Test (DMT), the National Team Field Investigation (NTFI), the Earth Systems Project (ESP), Mission to Mars, the Earth Systems Pledge, and IESO Art and Science.

Countries like China and Australia administer exams that progressively increase in difficulty for the purposes of team selection.

It is named after Mary Anning who was a female fossil collector and paleontologist and made significant contributions to the foundations of paleontology.