Four of the nation's best and brightest high school students will represent the U.S. at the 34th annual International Chemistry Olympiad in Groningen, the Netherlands, July 5–14. Competing against teams from more than 50 other countries will be Daniel Cissell of Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati; Timothy Davenport and Helen H. Shi, both of the Oklahoma School of Science & Math in Oklahoma City; and Colin Whittaker of Wayland High School in Massachusetts.

Two mentors--Neal Sumerlin, a professor of chemistry at Lynchburg College in Virginia, and Jane Nagurney, a high school teacher at Scranton Preparatory School in Pennsylvania--will accompany the team; a third, Todd Trout of Lancaster County Day School, Pennsylvania, will not accompany the team this year but will take over Nagurney's role next year. Two student alternates were also selected: William Lin of Williamsville East High School in East Amherst, N.Y., and Melinda Ross of the Oklahoma School of Science & Math.

Twenty students vied for a spot on the team, which is principally sponsored by the American Chemical Society, at a study camp held June 2–16 at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. Nearly 10,000 students competed for the chance to attend the camp, during which students take part in college-level lectures, exercises, lab work, and exams.

All four team members have just completed high school. Cissell, Davenport, and Whittaker will attend MIT in the fall, while Shi will head to Stanford University. Three of the four plan to major in chemistry or chemical engineering.

ALL-STARS Shi (from left), Whittaker, Davenport, and Cissell will represent the U.S. at this year's International Chemistry Olympiad.
PHOTO BY MADELEINE JACOBS

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