On Saturday April 21, 2018, UNL’s East Campus hosted the 31st Nebraska Science Olympiad Tournament sponsored by the Nebraska Academy of Science, Nebraska Association of Teachers of Science, and the Nebraska Junior Academy of Sciences.
According to their website, “Founded in 1984, Science Olympiad is one of the premier science competitions in the nation, providing rigorous, standards-based challenges to 7,800 teams in all 50 states.”
This year, forensic science was one of the featured areas and Larry Barksdale, Assistant Professor of Practice in UNL’s Forensic Science Program created the test for the 22 high school teams that participated from around the state. The test featured several forensic science topics and required competitors to complete a quantitative analysis, analyze hair and polymers, utilize chromatography/spectroscopy, and analyze other physical evidence from the crime scene including entomological, fingerprint, DNA, and other comparative evidence.
Forensic Science majors also got in on the action and UNL’s Forensic Science Club facilitated this station of the Olympiad as a community service project. The following forensic science majors were involved in monitoring and grading the test: Jenna Kacheroski, Austin Osborn, Evelyn Koch, Tegan Guenter, Hiyam Hesso, and Colin White.
For more information on the Science Olympiad, see their website: https://www.soinc.org/