The Results of the 2019-20 BioMedia Competition!

This year's BioMedia Meltdown Competition garnered 1500 entries through 94 workshops in schools, libraries, hospitals and other community centres.

200 entries were longlisted by the Project Lead, Daryl Stenvoll-Wells, and were put to a public audience using voting on social media. The 90 semi-finalists were then presented to seven expert judges (see more about them below) who selected this year's prize-winners!

Thank you so much to everyone who took part and supported this competition including teachers, librarians, coordinators and of course all of our student artists.

Enjoy these wonderful pieces of science-art hybrids and we'll see you again in the new academic year!

Click each image to see in full.
A complete listing of winners is outlined in the table below.

Due to GDPR reasons, we are unable to provide more than two pieces of identifying information on winning students.
Therefore we have provided the first name of the prize-winners and the school.

Our judges are a wonderful mix of professional artists and scientists who came together to pick the prize winners in each category. We are very grateful for their efforts and expertise.

Please have a read of the short bio's for each of our expert judges.

Lyn Baber is a member of the Education and Public Engagement Committee at the Linnean Society and she is also a science teacher, who, in her own words, is using education to help save planet Earth one pupil at a time. As well as her degree in Epidemiology, the study of disease, she also has a Diploma in the History of Art.

Zoë Burt is an artist, designer, educator and author with a passion for botanical colours and sustainability. As well as having her own art practise, she tutors, and designs creative events for museums, galleries and garden venues.

Katrina van Grouw is an author, artist, and ornithologist, which is someone who studies birds, with a special interest in animal anatomy and evolution. She wrote and illustrated the popular science books Unnatural Selection and The Unfeathered Bird.

Michael Holland had a 25-year career at the Chelsea Physic Garden in London, ending last year as their Head of Education. He is both a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London and of the London Environmental Educators’ Forum. His recent book 'I Ate Sunshine for Breakfast' is a colourful compendium of plants and ethnobotany aimed at children and families. Ethnobotany is the study of how plants have been used by humans over time and currently.

Avigail Ochert is an environmental educator at Kew Gardens, as well as an art educator and special needs teacher. Avigail has a passion for bringing together a love of making art and curiosity for science.

Dr. Jan Östman-Lind teaches marine biology, biology and chemistry at a secondary school in Stockholm, Sweden. Jan has degrees in Animal Physiology, which is sort of the study of how their bodies work, and Ethology, which is the study of behaviour. Jan also has a PhD in Biology with a specialty in dolphin social behaviour, and a Masters in Science Education.

And finally, Dennis Taylor is a retired Biology teacher, both a Fellow of the Linnean Society and of the Royal Society of Biology. Dennis is involved in writing Biology textbooks for A Level and in examining work for Cambridge International.