EBHS grad brings home gold from Bio Olympiad

BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK - One of the township's own is a gold medal winner from this year's International Biology Olympiad, held in Canada.

Mark Shteyn, who graduated from East Brunswick High School in June and is on his way to Massachusetts Institute of Technology this fall, was among the four U.S. gold medal winners at this year's Olympiad, which involved students from 49 countries. Shteyn and Team USA took first place in the competition, held at the University of Saskatchewan University, in Saskatoon, Canada.

Though he won as part of Team USA, the competition was more of an individual competition, Shteyn said. Over the course of several grueling days, contestants were judged through both practical and theoretical exams. The country with the highest-ranking students was named the winner.

Part of the competition involved four 90-minute labs on four subjects - plants, animals, biochemistry and genetics. The labs were of varying degrees of difficulty, Shteyn said, and had multiple parts. One of the crucial aspects was simply time management.

The practical exams took six hours, he said.

The other part of the competition was the theoretical section, made up of two parts and lasting four and a half hours.

Shteyn, who said he will likely major in bioengineering or biochemistry, said the tests were meant to really "stratify" the students, who represent the best each county has to offer.

The U.S. team had the highest combined score of any during the competition, which, according to a press release from the sponsoring Center for Excellence in Education, is "the world's premiere biology competition." The nonprofit center, based in Virginia, nurtures young scholars to pursue careers of excellence and leadership in science and technology.

"We are extremely proud of our U.S. students," said Joann DiGennaro, president of the Center for Excellence in Education.

Shteyn said the competition was fun, and though the location was not the best, it hardly mattered.

"It's not the place, it's the people," he said.

Aside from the competition itself, the best part of the Olympiad was meeting the people on other teams, he said.

"These are the people who are our future leaders in biology," Shteyn said.

This was Shteyn's first time qualifying for the international competition. He had previously reached the national level of competition as a 10th-grader.

The first step in reaching the international level, he said, was taking an open exam along with about 10,000 other U.S. teens. The top 500 to 600 scores allow students to proceed to the semifinal round. The top 20 from there go on to the nationals. The national round was held in June, and was pretty much a camp for practice, Shteyn said. Half the work was labs, the other half theoretical studies.

"The camp is a mechanism to establish as a four-person team," he said. "We do a lot of work there."

Distinguished lecturers are brought in, and at the end of the week and a half of camp, students take exams to prepare them for the international event.

Shteyn said a lot of preparation is needed for the events, and he spent every day since graduation studying.

"It's not easy to force yourself to study when everyone else is out partying," he said.