Volunteer Voices: Joseph Houck chats about the chemistry olympiad

Joseph Houck has been teaching in the chemistry department at Pennsylvania State University since 2016. “I have always liked teaching and working with students,” he says, “I like how creative I can be while teaching.”

From 2019 until 2023, as a college mentor for the US National Chemistry Olympiad, Houck helped prepare the US team for the International Chemistry Olympiad. He recently spoke to Nina Notman about the mentor’s role in this global chemistry competition for high school students. This interview was edited for length and clarity.

What does being a mentor for the US chemistry olympiad team involve?

We plan and run a 2-week study camp that takes place at the University of Maryland in June, where we train and select high school students to represent the US at the International Chemistry Olympiad. We also travel with the students to the international competition in July. There are four mentors, a mix of high school teachers and college teachers.

What is involved in running the study camp?

The 20 top-performing students from the US National Chemistry Olympiad national exam attend the camp, and by the end we select four students to travel to the International Chemistry Olympiad, and two alternates. Planning for the camp starts in January; mentors use the preparatory problems provided by that year’s competition organizers as a guide to develop the camp’s curriculum and laboratory training. At the camp, we chaperone the campers. We also give lectures, run about a semester’s worth of labs in 2 weeks, and invite speakers to talk about their careers and the research that they do. Mentors are responsible for the assessments during camp. We also observe how the students conduct themselves in and out of the lab—we want to send our strongest students as representatives of the US.

What do mentors do at the international competition?

We’re part of the international jury. We attend jury meetings, where the questions for the theoretical exam and the laboratory exam are voted on and approved. We then edit the English version of the papers to make sure that what’s being asked of the students is very clear. The exam authors grade the papers, but we’re involved with arbitration if we feel that our students should have earned more credit than they received. We are kept separate from the students during most of the competition because we have seen the exams. There is a reunion night at the end, where everyone gets back together, and a closing ceremony where we learn of the results and celebrate.

Why did you decide to apply to be a mentor for the olympiad team?

During graduate school, I met a former student of my research advisor who was a mentor for the US olympiad team. I thought it sounded amazing and that being a mentor hits all the things I’m interested in: it’s outreach; it’s exciting kids about science; it’s working with the brightest students; and it’s traveling internationally. I thought, ‘When I have a big-kid job, I’m going to apply for that.’

Why should others consider being a mentor for the olympiad?

There are a lot of professional development opportunities through volunteering. I get to take a deep dive into chemistry content that I don’t normally think about, and I can bring some of those pieces into my university teaching. Working with other teachers, the other mentors, has been really valuable too. And getting a high school teacher’s perspective is something that I haven’t had before. At the international competitions, I get to network with mentors from other countries and do a lot of sight-seeing. I went to Paris in 2019 and Zurich in 2023—they were both amazing. For 3 years, the international competition was conducted remotely because of COVID-19.

Have you always enjoyed supporting K–12 students?

Yes, I’ve always liked teaching younger students and exciting them about science. In high school, I had an opportunity to do community outreach with elementary school students. Then, at Juniata College, I worked with Science in Motion, sending chemicals and equipment to high schools, and one semester I traveled with their mobile educator to visit classrooms and teach labs. In graduate school, at the University of Virginia, I was part of a student club that went to local elementary schools and did experiments and demonstrations with students.

What’s next for your volunteering journey with ACS?

I’m currently an alternate counselor for the Central Pennsylvania Local Section and help coordinate that local section’s olympiad exam—local exams are the first stage of the national competition. I’ve also just become chair-elect of the ACS Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting Board and chair of the national Younger Chemists Committee. These roles help me grow my network and inform me about what opportunities there are for chemists. This helps in my chemistry advisor role at Penn State.

Nina Notman is a freelance writer based in Salisbury, England.