UOIT helps secondary school students shine on international stage

The University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Faculty of Science members played a significant role in helping four young Canadian students make their mark last month at the 2010 International Biology Olympiad (IBO) in Changwon, South Korea.

The secondary school students are members of the Canadian Biology Olympiad (CBO) Team Canada, who represented the country at the IBO. Selected by a competitive process from hundreds of students across Canada (all are from Greater Toronto Area this year), they prepared themselves for the IBO by studying for five days in the Faculty of Science's state-of-the-art laboratories as part of the CBO Training Camp. This marked the third consecutive July that the Faculty of Science has hosted the camp. Several additional secondary school students from across Canada also attended the camp this year.

"UOIT is pleased to host the annual Training Camp for the Canadian team to prepare them for the IBO," said Dr. William Smith, dean, Faculty of Science. "It is a wonderful example of the partnerships with our community that we consider to be an important part of UOIT's mission."

The UOIT faculty, staff and student mentors were led by Dr. Sylvie Bardin, senior laboratory instructor, Biology, and included lab technicians Girija Dhekney and Anita Nutikka, Applied Bioscience graduate students Zacharias Pandelides and Monique Robichaud, along with undergraduate research student Lauren Dares. Also participating in the training camp at UOIT were Susan Chow, technician/demonstrator, Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario and Dr. Larry Peterson, professor emeritus, University of Guelph.

On some of the days, students spent up to 14 hours learning theory, conducting lab experiments and studying examples of biodiversity outside near the campus. UOIT; Amgen, a human therapeutics company based in Mississauga, Ontario; and the Univeristy of British Columbia's Department of Botany and Zoology contributed to the costs of sending the team to South Korea.

At the IBO, the emerging scientists competed against students from 59 other countries in a wide range of theoretical exams (such as calculating the biodiversity of a region from an aerial photograph) and experimental tests in labs, such as the dissection of a spider. Their dedication and hard work paid off with Run Ze Cao of Martingrove Collegiate Institute in Etobicoke Ontario, finishing the Olympiad with the remarkable ranking of second in the world (out of 233 competitors), followed by Melody Guan of the University of Toronto Schools, who placed seventh.

Organizers hope the Olympiad will inspire students to consider university studies in biology and careers in science.

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