Team USA captures 4 gold medals at International Biology Olympiad
Team USA members, from left, Shulin Ye, Rebecca Shi, Chelsea Voss and Charles Du display their national medals during a reception on Purdue's campus after being named to represent the United States at the International Biology Olympiad. (Purdue University file photo/Phillip Fiorini)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Four high school students, representing the United States and selected during a two-week national competition at Purdue University, captured gold medals at the International Biology Olympiad.
The event took place from July 10-17 in Taipei, Taiwan. All four Team USA member received gold medals and placed in the top 10 based on individual scores among the more than 200 participants at the International Biology Olympiad:
* Rebecca Shi of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South in West Windsor, N.J., won the first-place medal, receiving more individual points than the rest of the gold medal winners.
* Charles Du of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools in Chicago earned a third-place medal.
* Chelsea Voss of Cupertino High School in Cupertino, Calif., received a fourth-place medal.
* Shulin Ye of the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science in Denton, Texas, captured a seventh-place medal.
Purdue and the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE), a McLean, Va.-based nonprofit organization, jointly sponsor the U.S. qualifying event, the USA Biology Olympiad.
"The Center for Excellence in Education is incredibly proud of the success of Team USA 2011 members and their ability to honor the United States with their outstanding academic performance in this global competition," said Joann DiGennaro, president of CEE. "This is a remarkable achievement for Rebecca, Charles, Chelsea and Shulin to be named as the top biology achievers in the U.S. and in the world."
This year marked the first time that a member of Team USA had the highest individual score at the International Biology Olympiad, DiGennaro said. And for the first time since 2002, three female high school students were a part of Team USA.
Coaches Kathy Frame, director of the USA Biology Olympiad and Special Projects for CEE, and Purdue animal sciences professor Scott Mills, accompanied members of Team USA, which was part of 229 student participants from 58 countries.
"Every U.S. team member has medaled in the international competition since 2003, bringing home 23 gold, seven silver and two bronze medals," Mills said. "Purdue is honored and excited that we could play a role in helping groom these talented high school students who will become our scientific leaders of tomorrow."
Team USA was flown to Taiwan courtesy of Korean Air, the official airline of the USA Biology Olympiad.
Nearly 10,500 students participated in the 2011 USA Biology Olympiad. Team USA was selected based on their outstanding achievements as the top four students among the 20 students who qualified to participate in the National Finals at Purdue from June 5-17.
In addition to Purdue, supporters of the USA Biology Olympiad include Amedisys, Biogen Idec Foundation, Bio-Rad, Genentech, Korean Air, LabCorp, National Association of Biology Teachers, Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative, Pearson, Psychemedics Corp., Texas Instruments, Vanguard Research Inc., and Ward's Natural Science.
During their two weeks at Purdue, the students participated in intensive theoretical and practical tutorials, working with experts in the fields of cellular biology, microbiology, biotechnology, plant anatomy and physiology, animal anatomy and physiology, ethology, genetics and evolution, ecology and biosystematics.
They were taught by professors from Purdue, Bridgewater State University and Brandeis University and also toured research laboratories in Discovery Park and elsewhere on campus. Their mentors were from the University of California, San Francisco, Harvard University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
The Center for Excellence in Education, which was founded in 1983 by the late Adm. H.G. Rickover and DiGennaro, is working to nurture high school and university scholars to careers of excellence and leadership in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and to encourage collaboration between and among leaders in the global community. CEE sponsors the Research Science Institute, the USA Biology Olympiad and the National Lab Skills Initiative.
Media Contacts: Maureen Palmer, 703-448-9062 ext. 222, mpalmer@cee.org
Phillip Fiorini, 765-496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu
Sources: Joann P. DiGennaro, 703-448-9062, joann@cee.org
Kathy Frame, 571-228-0098, kframe@cee.org
Scott Mills, 765-494-4845, smills@purdue.edu
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