Third year high school l student Benjamín Cofré, from Colegio San Agustín in Concepción, has won the main award at the fourth Antarctic School Fair.

A group of students from Colegio Puerto Varas and Colegio San Agustín schools created the team “Antarctic Impact”, and worked together on a project entitled “New Threat in the Southern Ocean: a Study on Microplastics in Antarctic Zooplankton.”

With regard to the project’s aim, Benjamín explained: “We suggest determining the presence or otherwise of microplastic contamination (plastic fibers smaller than 5 millimeters) in the Antarctic zooplankton by taking samples in the waters of Maxwell Bay of the Antarctic Peninsula.” Then he added: “Microplastic contamination in the oceans is a matter of concern for the global scientific community, since it negatively affects the basis of trophic webs, such as the organisms that make up zooplankton. This is considered a topic of interest and a potential risk in the Antarctica, but the lack of scientific evidence prevents those in charge from taking measures for its protection.”

The project also involved the participation of Benjamín’s teacher Verónica Torrejón and of Puerto Varas third year high school student Matias Stockle along with his teacher Katherine Téllez.

As a prize, the team was awarded a trip to Antarctica, where they will take part in a scientific expedition with specialists from the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH) for 3-5 days, depending on the weather.

At the Millennium Institute of Oceanography (IMO), the team received guidance from assistant researcher Dr. Pamela Hidalgo, Master’s in Oceanography student Pamela Fierro, and marine biologist and member of IMO’s Outreach team Belén Franco. Benjamín is grateful for the advice received at IMO. “They opened their doors and guided us along the path we had to follow before winning this prize. We are grateful for their unconditional support. In Chile; a lot of young people have great ideas and the desire to do research that could lead to both scientific and social changes, but there aren’t enough institutions supporting them. IMO is definitely one of those rare organizations,” he said.

This team of IMO researchers and students has also had impressive results in previous years. This is the second time a group of high school students supported by Dr. Pamela Aguayo and her team has been awarded the first place at the Antarctic School Fair and gets to visit the White Continent.