20 High School Students to Participate in USA Biology Olympiad at Purdue University

May 29, 2012 - PRLog -- McLean, VA –The Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) is pleased to announce that 20 Finalists have been selected to attend the 10th Annual USA Biology Olympiad (USABO) National Finals from June 3-15 at Purdue University.  

The finalists were selected based on their high scores from the USABO Open and Semifinal Exams.  The Center reports that nearly 10,500 students registered nationally for the USABO.  

“Team USA Members have earned gold medals at the last five International Biology Olympiad competitions, including 2011 where Team USA achieved the coveted Number One position and Team in the World”, said Joann DiGennaro, President of the Center for Excellence in Education.  “CEE is proud to sponsor the USABO with Purdue University and to train these high school scholars in practical and theoretical biology.”

The USABO National Finalists will gather at Purdue to compete for U.S. National medals.  The top four medalists will participate July 8-15 in the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) in Singapore.  Korean Air, the official airline of the 2012 USABO, will provide tickets for Team USA and the coaches to attend the IBO, a worldwide competition involving student teams from 60 countries.

During the two weeks at Purdue, the finalists will participate in intensive theoretical and practical tutorials.  The high school students will study with leading U.S. biologists who are experts in the fields of cellular biology, microbiology, biotechnology, plant anatomy & physiology, animal anatomy & physiology, ethology, genetics & evolution, ecology, and biosystematics.  

At the conclusion of the two weeks, the students take two exams, a practical and a theoretical.  The four highest scoring students are named “Team USA 2012” and will represent this nation at the IBO.  

2012 USA Biology Olympiad National Finalists are:

California:
Daniel Bork, North Hollywood High School, North Hollywood
Nikhil Buduma, Bellarmine College Preparatory, San Jose
Bryce Hwang, Foothill High School, Pleasanton
Jing Liu, Mission San Jose High School, Fremont
Rachel Paris, Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica
Siddharth Trehan, Mira Loma High School, Sacramento
Hamilton Trinh, Mission San Jose, Fremont

Delaware:
Lei Ding, The Charter School of Wilmington, Wilmington

Hawaii:
James Ha, Punahou, Honolulu

Massachusetts:
Sitara Chapman, Framingham High School, Framingham

New Jersey:
Kevin Ma, East Brunswick High School, East Brunswick
Ray Wang, Holmdel High School, Holmdel

North Carolina:
Oliver Sun, Ardrey Kell High School, Charlotte
Tejas Sundaresan, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Durham

Texas:
David Hao, Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, Denton, TX
Dominic Yurk, R. L. Paschal High School, Fort Worth, TX

Virginia:
Owen Gray, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, Alexandria
Andrew Jiang, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, Alexandria
Min Cheol Kim, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, Alexandria
Yuqing Zhang, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, Alexandria

About the Center for Excellence in Education
The Center for Excellence in Education was founded in 1983 by the late Admiral H.G. Rickover and Joann P. DiGennaro, President of the Center. The Center's mission is 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 (RSI), the USA Biology Olympiad (USABO), and the Teacher Enrichment Program (TEP). For more information about the Center and its programs, visit CEE’s Web site, www.cee.org

Sources:     
Joann P. DiGennaro, 703-448-9062, joann@cee.org  
Kathy Frame, 571-228-0098, kframe@cee.org
Clark Gedney, 765-494-0157, cgedney@purdue.edu
 
Related websites:

Center for Excellence in Education: http://www.cee.org/
Purdue College of Science: https://www.science.purdue.edu/
Discovery Park: http://www.purdue.edu/dp/