Since his junior high days, junior Rick Li has been an avid science enthusiast. Now as one of the captains of Science Olympiad, he is currently preparing for the next level of competition at State on April 16th.

From participating as a freshman junior varsity member to joining varsity as a sophomore to finally earning the title of Varsity Captain as a junior, Li has watched the team evolve over the span of his high school career.

“I think that the core of our team has stayed pretty similar, but this year we did really well at our regional,” he said.

Typically, the top 16 performers compete at regionals, but this year, the number dropped to the top five. Their efforts payed off as they returned from regionals with second place on March 12nd, placing higher than last year’s fifth place, causing Li much excitement.

Of the two Science Olympiad teams, junior varsity and varsity, varsity will be moving on to state, where there are usually 20 events, each entered by a group of two or three people.

“One of my events, Green Generation, is an ecology-related event, so I’ve been doing that as far back as junior high,” Li said. “ I also do Cell Biology which is fairly new.”

In addition to Green Generation and Cell Biology, Li studies Astrology, along with Anatomy and Physiology, as each person typically competes in three to four events at State.

On competition day, students have the option of participating in study events where they are evaluated with a test, lab events where they conduct an experiment and building events, a more engineering-based activity.

Since the study events distribute partner tests, Li will be working with sophomore Phoebe Harmon for Anatomy and Physiology, junior Bethany Simos for Astrology, sophomore Claire Chiu for Green Generation, and Junior Anisha Reddy for Cell Biology.

According to Reddy, Li competes extremely well and rarely arrives unprepared.

“On competition days, it amazes me how calm he is,” Reddy said. “He always knows what to say [and] he’s never at a loss for words.”

Also in Li’s AP Biology class, Reddy recognizes Li’s appreciation for the subject, as he is “always on top of the latest science news.”

AP Biology not only serves as a source of interest for Li, but also assists him in expanding his knowledge on concepts he will need for the upcoming competitions.

“[I] pick up on [knowledge] in class,” Li said. “With these new competitions and new topics I add on to the knowledge based on what I have.”

Despite the multitude of scientific fields, cell biology has captured his interest due to its complexity.

“I’m always so amazed at how much is happening at that tiny scale,” Li said. “And we don’t realize that there are so many complex interactions between cells organelles at the microscopic scale.”

In contrast, Li believes it is still important to study the large-scale realm of ecology in order to improve the quality of life today.

“It’s so important that we stay environmentally conscious and better understand the world around us,” he said.

Outside of Science Olympiad, Li invests his time on a research project, teamed with senior Lucy Wang and physicist Dr. Volker Rose from the Argonne National Laboratory.

Standing out among their peers, Li and Wang were offered an opportunity to conduct research using x-ray crystallography and historic documents from Naper Settlement in order to determine the chemical composition of iron gall ink. Their conclusions will help in discovering how to preserve old, handwritten documents by trying to “understand how ink interacts with parchment,” according to Li.

Though Li understands that it will be difficult for him to solve the problem entirely at this time, he expresses immense gratitude for the experience.

“It’s given us a chance to learn more about the scientific process with some amazing equipment at Argonne’s facility for collecting data,” Li said.

Li and Wang have met with Dr. Rose to test their hypothesis at Argonne on March 16th and will continue to send updates via Skype or email.

In regards to reaching a conclusion, Li and Wang plan to finish studying and getting ready to present their results to Argonne at an international conference on May 10th.

Looking down the road to his future, Li plans to work in a STEM related career and continue pursuing his passion.