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,