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For many at the USA Biolympiad National Finals at Harvard University this summer, it was their first time using a pipette, including Stanford Online High School student Neil Shaw.
The rising junior, 16, who attends the Redwood City-based online independent school, was one of 20 students who took part in the competition from June 21 to July 2 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. During the 10 days, Shaw and other participants stayed in Harvard’s dorms. They took biology lessons, did lab work and went on field trips, including to the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. The trip concluded with a practical exam to determine who would move on to the international contest.
“Like 99% of people there, I hadn’t even touched a pipette,” said Shaw, who lives in Pearland, Texas. “So, being able to learn and do a variety of different procedures, like PCR, Western blot, gel electrophoresis, but also more advanced procedures that I doubt anyone who’s 16 would be able to do, and it’s just such a great opportunity to learn and fine tune those skills. … I’m definitely confident that I will use all of those skills in any future research that I do.”
The Center for Excellence in Education, CEE, runs the USA Biolympiad with a mission of helping students develop laboratory skills and biological reasoning to prepare them for careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, STEM.
“My favorite part was the bird watching for the ecology and ethology day,” he said. “We went to Cambridge Commons and identified various bird sounds with an app … then after that, we used all of that data to do some statistical analysis in R (a programming language) about this borough’s data in various environments, like you know, the Charles River, which is more natural as compared to the more urbanness of Cambridge Commons.”
Shaw joined Stanford Online, which was founded in 2006 and serves grades 7-12, as a seventh grader. He heard about the school through a family friend. He also attends Davidson Academy Online.
“It’s more skill-based rather than age-based,” he said. “So essentially, you can get into classes based on how much you know instead of just what grade you’re in.”
For example, he took a data science course at Stanford Online last school year, which sparked his interest in statistics and R.
“Next year I’m taking… advanced topics in biological research, which again it’s such a unique course that you might find in some colleges, but in high school that’s such a great opportunity,” said Shaw, who hopes to pursue a career as a neurologist, neuroscientist or neurosurgeon down the line.
He took online exams to qualify for the competition and was surprised when he was selected.
Four students will represent the United States at the International Biology Olympiad in Vilnius, Lithuania, from July 12-19, according to a CEE press release. Students from 78 countries are taking part in the international competition.
“CEE’s USA Biolympiad program encourages excellence in biology education and challenges students and their teachers to reach the gold standard in science,” said CEE President Joann DiGennaro in a prepared statement.
For more on the competitions, go to cee.org/programs/usa-biolympiad.
