2021 Virtual New Jersey Chemistry Olympians Tackle COVID Vaccines, Chemical Pollution

This summer, the 2021 Virtual New Jersey Chemistry Olympics (vNJCO) once again became the grounds for a fierce two weeks of competition between young chemists from high schools around the state. By the end, more than 130 attendees joined the competition’s award ceremony live — tuning in from England to California to hear long-time NJCO supporter and CSLA Dean Kevin Belfield give his customary welcome address and celebrate Olympic teams that participated in events following NJCO’s 2021 theme, “Chemistry and Current Events”. 

The second-ever vNJCO followed 34 years of in-person NJCO events hosted by NJIT’s College of Science and Liberal Arts (CSLA) in conjunction with the North Jersey Section of the American Chemical Society (NJACS). 

“Students who choose to participate in the vNJCO are already tasked with creating their own answer to a complicated science problem,” said Jason Anesini, a 2021 vNJCO judge and past NJCO participant currently pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry at Harvard. “This year’s contestants no doubt faced those challenges, but with the additional difficulties presented by COVID-19. I was impressed, both as a judge and former competitor, how creative the students were in developing novel and intuitive solutions to these collaborative barriers to meet, and surpass, my and other judges' expectations.”

Olympians took part in everything from student research events exploring COVID-19 vaccines and the cost to bring them to market, to building websites that help educate the public about CRISPR gene editing technology. Students from 14 different high schools across New Jersey competed this year across eight competition categories, vying for gold, silver and bronze medals from judges.

“I was interested in the vaccine research event because, at the time, I was looking to get vaccinated and wanted to understand more about the vaccines and the development process,” said Jillian Gerber, a senior whose team at Pascack Hills High School won the research event’s silver medal honors. “At first, our team struggled to find primary resources since the vaccines were just coming out when we began. But by the end, we really knew the topic very well and even included solid content about what misconceptions are out there, as well as the difference between nations with very different levels of affluence.”

“We had a group chat going during the awards ceremony and we were preparing ourselves for the good possibility that we wouldn’t win,” said Gerber’s teammate, Aastha Shukla. “When our other team member Anna Kostoreva announced in our chat that we took the silver medal, we were ecstatic.”

The 2021 vNJCO also featured an all-new debate portion of the competition where teams argued whether man-made PFAS chemicals should be banned at the state level.

“The 2021 New Jersey Chemistry Olympics was an incredible experience! The debate event in particular made me realize how addressing global issues in science requires a multifaceted and collaborative approach,” said Diya Nair, a junior with first-time vNJCO participants, Woodbridge’s Academy for Allied Health and Biomedical Science, which took bronze medals in the debate. “It was fascinating to hear the differing perspectives of fellow students … I was encouraged to think big, critically, and articulate with confidence. 

"It was also very interesting to learn additional information about the topic from our judge, who provided insight into his professional work with PFAS. I am inspired to continue pursuing research and public speaking in the biomedical field for a sustainable future."

Like last year, a significant obstacle for this year’s vNJCO competitors remained COVID restrictions, which varied greatly depending on each high school’s district. Some coaches were able to meet in-person with their teams on a weekly basis while some districts were 100% virtual with no in-person meetings allowed. Schools had as few as three, and as many as 25 students participating. As a result, gold, silver and bronze medals were given for each event, but in fairness to teams that could not fully participate, no overall winner of the competition’s traditional grand prize — the Platinum Crucible — was named. 

Kathleen Gilbert, director of this year's vNJCO event along with NJIT Chemistry and Environmental Science Department colleague Miriam Gulotta noted, "We would like to thank the many people who gave of their time — first and foremost, high school students and their teachers who devoted many hours to their projects and trusted us to deliver an exceptional event in one of the most non-traditional years ever for students engaging in STEM. We look forward to seeing more students and schools in person in 2022!"

For more on the 2021 vNJCO, visit: https://www.njchemistryolympics.com/.

High schools interested in the 2022 New Jersey Chemistry Olympics should visit njchemistryolympics.com for more information, or email Dr. Miriam Gulotta.