Two bright minds from Canberra will be representing Australia in one of the toughest academic competitions in the world.
Adrian Lehane from Narrabundah College and Georgia Tonkin from Merici College have been hand-picked for the national team for the International Earth Science Olympiad.
The year 12 students will receive their Australian team blazers at Parliament House on Monday before heading into final preparations for the August competition.
Miss Tonkin said she was shocked to be offered a position on the team after several rounds of exams and an intensive summer school in January.
"I'm very honoured by it, though. It's a great opportunity. I'm very excited to be part of the team," she said.
Mr Lehane said it was pleasing to see that the hard work had paid off.
"It's good to be recognised for having put in lots of effort in summer school and for the exams as well," he said.
Usually the international Olympiads, which also include competitions in physics, chemistry, biology, informatics and mathematics, involve a trip to the host country to mingle with like-minded students from around the world.
Instead of flying the teams to Italy, the competitions will be held online, a format the students are very familiar with.
Dr Kathryn White, who is the director of Junior Science Olympiad program and a teacher at Merici College, said she participated in the chemistry Olympiad when she was a year 12 student.
"I kind of fell into the Olympiads by chance and the experience of doing that gave me the confidence to do science," Dr White said.
"The friends that I made in the competition are still friends now. It was a big influence."
Students in the Olympiad program work above and beyond what they do in their school maths and science classes.
The junior students in year 9 and 10 learn all of the year 11 and 12 maths, chemistry and biology curriculum, while the senior students are working on university-level problems.
Miss Tonkin said it opened her eyes to what earth science was about.
"It's not all about rocks, there's a lot more to it," she said.
"I had not done earth science ever, except for two weeks in year eight when everyone just sits and pokes at rocks. But it's a lot more broad than that and it's a lot more interconnected."
The field looks at how science is applied to the earth, bringing together geology, meteorology, oceanography and astronomy.
Mr Lehane said it also involved mathematics, especially in astronomy.
"It's a lot of logic that goes into it, logic and problem solving."
The students are working with their interstate teammates on a group project sampling soils for microplastics near astro turf. In the competition, they will sit some exams individually and also work with students in the Asia Pacific region on an unseen problem relating to Italian geology.
"Last year, the team did really well. So I guess it's kind of a motivation for us to try and do as good as them and live up to their standards," Miss Tonkin said.
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