I was born in WenZhou, a small town of the ZheJiang
province in China. I was interested in science since
elementary school in China. My science teacher showed us a
very interesting experiment. She used a magnifying glass
and demonstrated to us how to use sunlight to ignite and
light up a piece of paper. I was amazed at how this worked
and decided to become a scientist when I grow up.

I attended John Bowne High School in Flushing, Queens.
That is the only high school in New York City that has farm!
During this time, I took both Biology and Chemistry and did
very well in both subjects. While I was in my senior year,
my school recommended me to a summer program at the
Southampton campus of Long Island University. There, I
received a Certificate of Excellence for Marine Science
research for the year 2000. Through this project, I learned
about the value of the lifecycle and the vast resources of
the ocean.

I love science and enjoy analyzing anything related to
biology. Also, I have a very strong math background as
well. I am currently studying biology and would like to
pursue my career path in this subject matter in the future
as well.

- Yixi (Artosho) Chen