The USESO Training Camp is a week-long residential program for U.S. high school students that occurs annually in late June.
This program is the only path through which students are selected to represent the United States at the International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO).
Students selected to participate in this program take part in:
At the conclusion of the program, we announce the 8 students selected for the U.S. Earth Science Team at the IESO occurring later in the summer. Additional details can be found below and on the Programs > Calendar page.
All Training Camp participants must be:
Students do not need to have a U.S. Passport to participate in USESO programs or the IESO.
Participants for the Training Camp are chosen from students achieving outstanding scores on an exam of general Earth science (past exams are available for practice).
The link to register for the next Open Exam will be posted on our home page.
Up to 40 qualifying students from the National Open Exam may attend the Training Camp. Students are expected to come with a solid foundation in Earth science in order to be well-prepared for camp activities. Throughout the program, students will:
Further, students are given daily exams to assess knowledge and skills. Upon conclusion of camp, scores will be considered along with the team investigations to select the members of the U.S. Earth Science Team.
Each year, the top four qualifying students from the Training Camp are selected for the U.S. Earth Science Team (international team).Â
In most years, up to four additional guest students may travel with the team. While guests cannot qualify for individual medals, they may participate and earn awards in international team events where students from up to ten countries collaborate on projects examining real-world issues. The USESO recognizes the importance of the IESO international team events for representing global work essential in the field of earth science.
USESO has attended the international event since the first IESO in 2007. Past USESO students have achieved numerous gold and silver medals in the individual competition, the best practical exam, and more international team awards than any other country.