In the Building 549 auditorium, 20 student interns recently gathered to participate in the Scientific Library’s 13th annual Student Science Jeopardy Tournament, with an audience of other interns, mentors, and NCI at Frederick employees there to cheer them on.

Distributing lifesaving antibiotics to 9,000 people within 24 hours of a bioterrorism attack is among the responsibilities of the Environment, Health and Safety Directorate of the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research. With that life-or-death mission in mind, EHS ran a drill on July 19 at the NCI at Frederick in response to a simulated attack.

At the annual Spring Research Festival on Fort Detrick, they placed first in the First-in-Development Cell Biology category. At the Frederick County Science and Engineering Fair, they won the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair Award of Excellence in Computer Science and placed second in the Molecular and Cell Biology category. Yet despite these accomplishments, Alexis Adkins and Jacqueline Chung said they didn’t consider themselves “real scientists.” Maybe that’s because they lacked a science degree—or, until very recently, even a high school diploma. However, they are indisputably real scientists.

Waiting in line usually isn’t the way to prepare for a life-or-death situation, but this Friday will be an exception. NCI at Frederick will take part in an exercise that tests how quickly it could distribute antibiotics to employees, families, and visitors in response to a simulated bioterrorism anthrax attack in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Employees will be asked to go to Building 426, fill out a two-question form, briefly wait in line, and pick up the “pill bottles.” Participation is voluntary, but the Environment, Health, and Safety Directorate (EHS)—which is supervising the exercise—needs at least 50 people and is asking everyone on the NCI at Frederick campus to participate.

The second-floor conference room in Building 538 exploded into a blur of motion as children began looking for clues to help Dr. Chaos fill in the last four pieces of “the human genetic code.” With just 10 minutes to solve the puzzle, they rushed around, sifted through science-themed items, and scoured the workspace-turned-escape room for leads. Seven minutes later, they succeeded, triumphantly emerging into the hallway.