Thiruvananthapuram native Siddharth to represent India in International Earth Science Olympiad

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In proud news for Thiruvananthapuram, 16-year-old Siddharth Kumar Gopal is readying to represent India in the International Earth Science Olympiad. Siddharth, a Malayali, is the only South Indian student in the competition where four other students come from North India.

Siddharth and his team will participate in the competition in China as ambassadors of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

More than 200 children from 50 countries will participate. The selection for the Olympiad was in January. Under the leadership of the Geological Society of India, 13,000 students in the country went through a test related to geology. Out of this, 20 selected students were given three months of training and were also made to undergo competitions at Shillong. The training was related to the geography of Meghalaya. Siddharth topped during all competitions including finding the texture of rocks and soil.

Before heading to China, the participants will be made to go through a mentorship camp in Chennai. It will consist of a written exam and a field test. Siddharth was the school topper with 99.2 per cent marks in the ICSE 10th class examination from St. Thomas Residential School. He is currently in Bengaluru studying in 11th standard.

Unlike many students of his age, Siddharth's favourite pastime was to observe small and big things happening around him. He won the Prime Minister Rashtriya Bal Award in 2020. He represented India in the International Junior Astronomy Olympiad held in Greece last year and won the silver medal. Siddharth’s family comes from Kaithamukku in Thiruvananthapuram.

Siddharth’s father is Dr Kumar Gopal and his mother is Vandana Rajendran. Sister Bhuvana (5th class student)