United States Wins 4 Gold Medals in Singapore at the International Biology Olympiad

July 19, 2012 - PRLog -- McLean, VA - The Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) announces Team USA was awarded four gold medals at the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) held in Singapore.  Team USA, comprised of four U.S. high school students, joined 234 of the world’s best young talent that participated in the competition.  

The United States Gold Medalists Awarded at IBO 2012:
•   Nikhil Buduma, Bellarmine College Preparatory, San Jose, CA
•   Lei Ding, The Charter School of Wilmington, DE
•   Jing Liu, Mission San Jose High School, Fremont, CA
•   Kevin Ma, East Brunswick High School, East Brunswick, NJ

At the IBO, students are evaluated on their theoretical knowledge of the biological sciences and their practical lab skills.  U.S. team members Lei Ding (DE) and Jing Liu (CA) placed second and third places in the world, respectively. “Practice, practice, practice! Before you come, definitely practice the practical skills,” said Lei Ding, 2nd Individual Gold Medalist at the International Biology Olympiad.

“The Center is proud of the success of Team USA and their superior academic performance which honors the United States,” said Joann DiGennaro, President of the Center for Excellence in Education. “These are academic athletes and future leaders of our nation whose hard work and dedication to the study of biology can meet the challenges in health for future generations.”

The scholars were accompanied by Ms. Kathy Frame, Director USABO, Center for Excellence in Education and Dr. Clark Gedney, Director, Bio Media Center for Instructional Computing, Purdue University.  All were flown to Singapore courtesy of Korean Air, the official airline of the USA Biology Olympiad.  

Team USA is comprised of the top four scoring students out of twenty finalists that participated at the USA Biology Olympiad National Finals (USABO) held at Purdue University.  In 2012, nearly 10,500 students participated in the USABO Open Exam sponsored by CEE and Purdue.

Kathy Frame received the honor of being elected by her fellow jurors of the 2012 International Biology Olympiad in Singapore to be one of six members of the Subgroup of Switzerland’s Host Committee for the 2013 IBO in Bern, Switzerland. The Subgroup will work in cooperation with Switzerland to review the practical and the theoretical examinations that have been developed, focusing on the quality of the questions in terms of scientific correctness and conceptual formulation. They will additionally check the marking allocation plus rationale for marks and the balance of topics of the theoretical examination according to the IBO Guide.  

CEE is proud to declare that every U.S. team member has medaled in the International Biology Competition since 2003, bringing home 31 gold, seven silver, and two bronze medals.