Eric Palmer

Pomona College BA
University of Pittsburgh Ph.D Candidate

Eric debated for two and a half years at Howland High School in Ohio. He was top speaker at the Tournament of Champions and won or participated in final rounds at Berkeley, Emory, Blake, Omaha Westside, the Southwest Round Robin, and the Chesapeake Bay Round Robin. Eric cleared to elimination rounds two years in a row at the TOC, reaching octafinals his junior year and quarterfinals his senior year.

As a coach, his students have won Greenhill, the Greenhill Round Robin, Berkeley (twice), Bronx, the Montgomery Bell Academy Round Robin, the Victory Briefs Tournament (twice), Stanford (twice), Valley (three times), Iowa Caucus, Dowling, Harker (three times), the Harker Round Robin, and College Prep School (twice). His students have also had final round finishes at Saint Mark's and Emory (twice) and finished in the top six at NFL Nationals. Eric's students have cleared at the Tournament of Champions eleven times. In 2006, he coached the TOC champion, and his students were one ballot from closing out the tournament, with the other student finishing in semifinals. He coached a finalist at the tournament in 2009. In 2008 and 2010 he coached top speakers at the TOC, and coached semifinalists in 2008 and 2011.

Eric is currently a doctoral student in philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh. His research interests include philosophy of mind, ethics, and Kant.

Beth Palmer

Kent State University BS, MA

Since its inception, Beth Palmer has led the administrative dimensions of NSD directing student supervision, providing oversight in residential life affairs, and ensuring that the operational and logistical aspects of the camp run smoothly. In addition to playing a central role in the preparatory work that goes into the camp each year, during the operating period of NSD Beth serves as the primary director for matters related to student life and event operations. Beth adds to the NSD staff over thirty years of experience in both private and public sector work in education as an instructor, consultant, and administrator. She has also taught courses in communication at Kent State University and courses concerning educational theory and the relationship between language and cognition at Youngstown State University.

Jonathon Bowyer

Yale University BA '15

Jonathan debated for four years for Scarsdale High School in New York. He qualified for the Tournament of Champions during both his Junior and Senior years, amassing a total of 5 bids over the course of his debate career. He is a former state champion as well as a winner of the NSD camp tournament. Finally, he also advanced to elimination rounds at numerous national tournaments, including Bronx, Glenbrooks, Greenhill, and Yale.

Ross Brown

Dartmouth College BA ‘14

Ross debated at Valley High School for the last four years. He qualified three times to the Tournament of Champions, advancing to elimination rounds each year he attended. Ross made it to octafinals of the TOC both his sophomore and junior years, and he took 2nd place his senior year. Over his debate career, Ross amassed 14 bids. He won Iowa Caucus and finished 2nd at Apple Valley, Berkeley, Dowling, and Blake. He advanced to late elimination rounds at nearly every other national circuit he attended, including the Glenbrooks, Stanford, Westside, and Emory. Ross was second speaker at both the Glenbrooks and Blake. Although he never attended, Ross was invited to the MBA Round Robin both his junior and senior years. Ross also won the Iowa State LD championship three times.

Chris Catterton

University of Chicago BA '12

Chris debated for four years at Analy High School in Sebastopol, California. Before debating on the national circuit, Chris specialized in Parli debate, where he placed in the top five at the California State tournament two years in a row. During his senior year, he won the Harker Invitational and the Voices Round Robin and was in finals of the Harker Round Robin and Meadows tournament. Chris captured four bids and ended his career by clearing at the TOC. As a coach at Lake Highland (2009), Torrey Pines, & Mountain View (2010), his students have reached semis or better at Valley, The Minneapple, The Crestian, CPS, Stanford, Berkeley, the Iowa RR, & NDCA. Chris also helps coach at his former highschool, where his students have reached the semifinals of the California State Tournament. Chris is a Political Science major at the University of Chicago, with a focus in International Relations.

Charles Chy

NYU BA '15

Despite being self-coached, Charles managed to clear at Columbia, Lexington, Newark, HenHud, Yale, Monticello, Emory, and achieved a winning record at the Tournament of Champions. As a first-year out, he coached a debater to 9 bids, Quarterfinals of TOC, and second-place at NDCA. He will reluctantly attend NYU at some point.

Pat Donovan

University of Texas, Austin BEng '14

Pat is the coach of the 2011 National Forensic League (NFL) Champion. He competed in Lincoln-Douglas debate for Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Illinois. He qualified twice to the National Tournament of Champions, where he was Top Speaker and a quarterfinalist his senior year, and holds two National Debate Coaches Association championship titles. In addition to consistent success on the national circuit, Pat excelled locally, winning the 2009 Illinois state championship. Currently, Pat is an engineering student at the University of Texas at Austin and competes in Policy debate. As a debate coach at Northland Christian School, his students have qualified to the Tournament of Champions and won numerous awards at major national tournaments, including championships at the Glenbrooks and Victory Briefs Tournament.

Matt Fisher

Northwestern University BA

Matt recently graduated from Northwestern and, along with his partner Stephanie Spies, won the 2011 National Debate Tournament, the most prestigious college debate tournament.

Matt has a prodigious list of accomplishments, including championing the Harvard debate tournament (where he was also Top Speaker). Matt's junior season was spectacular as well, reaching the finals at the NDT and 2nd place for the 2010 Copeland Award, which is awarded to the best regular season team. He was also the champion of the Gonzaga, Wake Forest and both halves of the Berkeley Swing. In addition, he reached the finals at Texas where he was Top Speaker. He was a semifinalist at the 2009 NDT, and was the 2009 Copeland award winner. Matt has reached elimination rounds at the NDT as a Freshman, Sophomore and Junior. He is a TOC champion, TOC top speaker, and NFL champion for Glenbrook North High School. He has previously taught at the Northwestern Debate Institute, and at the Berkeley Summer Institute.

Karlyn Gorski

University of Chicago BA '14

Karlyn debated for five years at Perkiomen Valley High School. She competed at the TOC three times, and was the first debater from her school to qualify. Additionally, Karlyn competed at NCFL Nationals for four years; she was the 2009 NCFL Champion and the 2010 Runner-Up. She was also the champion of the University of Pennsylvania Round Robin, a finalist at Lexington, and a semifinalist at Blake, Harvard, Hendrick Hudson (Bump), and Princeton. Karlyn competed in many round robins including Greenhill, Bronx, Vassar, and Harvard, and was the top speaker at Princeton and NCFL Nationals. During her senior year, Karlyn broke at every TOC-qualifying tournament she attended.

Derek Green

Rice University BA
Northwestern University Ph.D Candidate

Derek Green participated in LD for three years at Lakeville Senior HS (MN), and coached or consulted the activity for a number of years at for his alma mater, Lakeville South HS (MN), and at Cinco Ranch HS (Katy, TX). As a debater, he reached elimination rounds at numerous major national circuit tournaments, reached the quarterfinals at the Minnesota state tournament, and qualified for the 2004 Tournament of Champions. As a coach/consultant, he has helped debaters qualify for elimination rounds at numerous major national circuit tournaments. Derek has a BA (Philosophy [with honors], History), summa cum laude from Rice University in Houston Texas. He is currently pursuing a PhD in philosophy at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

Perry Green

Harvard University BA '14

Perry debated locally and nationally for four years at Walt Whitman High School, during which he earned a total of 8 bids. His junior year he won Manchester, was a semifinalist at Wake Forrest, bid at Harvard, and had a winning record at the TOC. His senior year he broke at the TOC, Greenhill, and Blake, and was the champion of Emory and Harvard, and Bronx. He is entering his sophomore year at Harvard, and is an assistant coach for Scarsdale High School.

Wade Houston

University of Alabama BA '12

Wade Houston coached a close out of the 2011 Tournament of Champions. This was only the second close out of the TOC in its history. He debated for three years at Oak Mountain High School in Birmingham, Alabama. During his two years on the national circuit, he collected a total of eight bids to the Tournament of Champions, qualifying both his junior and senior years. Over the course of his career, Wade won Emory and Vestavia and was in quarterfinals of the Tournament of Champions, finals of the Greenhill round robin, semifinals of Glenbrooks and Apple Valley, and late outrounds of numerous other tournaments including Greenhill and Valley. Wade also placed among the top five speakers at Glenbrooks and Stanford and was invited to the MBA round robin. In addition to his success on the national circuit, Wade reached the finals of the Alabama state tournament his junior year. Wade's students have won Emory and St. Mark's, reached finals at the Glenbrooks, and cleared at the Tournament of Champions.

Daniel Imas

Rice University BS '15

Daniel debated for four years at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland. He qualified to the Tournament of Champions twice, amassing 9 career bids thus far. As a junior, he won Columbia, earned a bid at Big Bronx, and finished with a winning record at TOC. As a senior, Daniel has won Blake and Valley, reached quarterfinals of Big Bronx, and appeared in late outrounds of Greenhill, Big Bronx, Apple Valley, Glenbrooks, and VBT. He earned speaker awards at Greenhill, Valley, Big Bronx, Glenbrooks, and Blake. Outside of debate, Daniel interns at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and plays piano.

Matt Kawahara

Shimer College BA '14

Matt Kawahara competed for Valley High School for 4 years on the local and national circuit and now coaches at New Trier HS in Winnetka, IL. He is a former state champion and qualified to the Tournament of Champions three times, and to the NFL National tournament twice. He has won speaker awards or advanced to elimination rounds at many major national tournaments, including Apple Valley, Glenbrooks, Berkeley, Emory, VBT, Blake, Iowa Caucus and the Omaha Westside Warrior. He was a finalist at the Berkeley and Glenbrooks tournaments. He advanced to the runoff round at the 2010 Tournament of Champions.

Nathan Lintz

Olin College BA '15

Nathan debated for four years at Needham High School and qualified to the Tournament of Champions his final year. During his senior year Nathan got to the bid round at Hendrick Hudson, Apple Valley, and VBT as well as finals at Scarsdale and Harvard. He also won the Lexington round robin and cleared at almost every bid tournament he attended including Yale, Bronx, and Sunvitation. Nathan was also a quarterfinalist at the Tournament of Champions however, his crowning achievement was closing out the Massachusetts state debate tournament his junior year.

Jeff Liu

Auburn BEng '15

Jeff Liu debated for four years at Oak Mountain High School and the Indian Springs School in Birmingham, AL. Over his career, he earned nine bids to the Tournament of Champions—winning Emory, reaching semis of Greenhill and twice reaching quarterfinals at the Glenbrooks. Jeff placed among the top ten speakers at Emory (1st), Greenhill (3rd), St. Mark's (4th), the Glenbrooks (5th), and the TOC (9th). Jeff also placed 5th at the Montgomery Bell Academy Round Robin and was a quarterfinalist at the TOC. In addition to his individual success, Jeff co-founded and captains the Indian Springs debate team.

Larry Liu

Auburn BEng '15

Larry Liu debated for four years at Oak Mountain High School and the Indian Springs School in Birmingham, AL. Larry was the co-founder and captain of the Indian Springs debate team. Over his career, Larry won Woodward Novice Nationals and St. Mark's, reached the final round of the Glenbrooks, placed third at the Greenhill Round Robin, and was a quarterfinalist at Emory. Larry has been a top ten speaker at the Glenbrooks (7th), Greenhill (5th), Emory (5th), and the Tournament of Champions (5th). He was twice invited to the Montgomery Bell Academy Round Robin and cleared to octafinals at the TOC as a junior.

Anna Lyons

Tufts BA '15

Anna has debated on the local and national circuits for the last five years at Valley High School. She qualified to the Tournament of Champions and NFL National tournament twice. In addition to placing 6th at Nationals as a junior and 3rd as a senior, she won the Iowa Caucus, Omaha Westside, Dowling Round Robin, and Iowa State debate tournaments. She has advanced to elimination rounds of numerous national tournaments including: the Glenbrooks, Apple Valley, Stanford, Greenhill, and Blake. In addition to debate, she also participates in Mock Trial where her team has placed 7th in the state and is a National AP Scholar with Distinction.

Emily Massey

Yale University BA '14

Emily debated for four years at Walt Whitman High School in Maryland, where she is currently an assistant coach. She qualified twice to the TOC. During her senior year, Emily was top speaker and a semifinalist at Greenhill, closed out finals of Bronx, won third place at the MBA Round Robin, and broke at each of the seven TOC-bid tournaments she attended.

Dave McGinnis

Macalester College BA
St. Cloud State University MS

Dave graduated from Apple Valley High School in 1993, where he was a state champion in speech and a national qualifier in Lincoln-Douglas debate. He co-founded the Macalester College Mock Trial team, winning JV Nationals and placing third at the American Mock Trial Association Grand Nationals in 1996. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in English literature, and holds a Master's Degree in Education Curriculum and Instruction.

Also in 1996, Dave founded the Highland Park (MN) speech and debate team, which he coached for nine years. In 2005, Dave moved to California and coached the Lynbrook High School debate team. Currently, Dave is the head debate coach at Valley High School in West Des Moines, Iowa.

Dave's students have reached the highest levels of debate success. Dave has qualified students to the TOC every year since 2000. He has coached students to the Top 10 at NFL nationals three times in eight years. His students have reached late elimination rounds at every major national tournament, including final round appearances at: Berkeley, Yale, Valley, Emory, and the Minnesota and California state debate tournaments, and tournament championships at: Apple Valley, Stanford, Cedar Rapids Washington, Omaha Westside, the Iowa state debate tournament, St. Mark's, and the 2007 TOC. Dave also coached a finalist at the 2010 TOC.

Jenn Miller Melin

Adelphi BA

Jenn debated for 4 years at Grapevine and Colleyville Heritage High Schools. While a student, she qualified for the Texas Forensic Association (TFA) State Tournament 3 years in a row, NFL nationals, and the TOC. She was invited to the Greenhill and Southwest Round Robins, earning runner up at the latter. Jenn was frequently in outrounds of major national tournaments, and she was the champion of the Vestavia Hills TOC Qualifier in 2004.

As a coach, she has coached students from Grapevine, Colleyville, Marcus, Southlake, Westlake, and Hockaday. Her students have earned many honors including outround performances at TFA State, the TOC, and NFL Nationals. Jenn has also served as a camp instructor at the Capitol Debate Institute and the UNT Mean Green Debate Workshops. In addition, she worked as a curriculum director and instructor at the University of Texas National Institute of Forensics.

Chris Miller

Northern Iowa BA '14

Chris Miller is one of the administrative managers for NSD. He debated for four years at Valley High School in West Des Moines, Iowa. Chris participated in Congressional Debate for the majority of his high school career. In Congress, he advanced to elimination rounds at St. Marx, Omaha Westside, and the NFL National Tournament. Chris also attended the TOC in Congress his senior year. His senior year, Chris began participating in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. He cleared at Blake, Omaha Westside, and Berkeley as an LDer. This past year, Chris coached a junior to the Congress TOC, and he is currently studying economics at the University of Northern Iowa.

Daniel Moerner

Pomona College BA '13

Daniel Moerner debated for four years at Los Altos High School in California. He won Valley, the Victory Briefs Tournament, Stanford (twice), Berkeley, the Vassar Round Robin, the Harker Round Robin, and the Voices Round Robin. As a junior, he was a semifinalist and top speaker at the TOC. As a senior, he was the TOC finalist. His students have won the Victory Briefs Tournament and the NDCA Championships. He is currently studying philosophy at Pomona College and coaching the Mountain View-Los Altos debate team.

Rebar Niemi

Rebar Niemi is the head coach at Bainbridge High School in Bainbridge Island, WA. As a competitor he was champion of the Federal Way tournament, Washington State Forensic Association tournament, and Meadows School tournament. He reached semifinals of the Victory Briefs Tournament and competed in the round of 16 at the Tournament of Champions. A first year coach, his students have cleared to elimination rounds at the Valley Mid-America Cup, St. Mark's Heart of Texas, Whitman College, the University of Puget Sound, and the Cal Invitational, as well as the final round of the Washington State Forensic Association tournament. He graduated from Mt. Vernon high school in 2008 and is currently Director of Communications for TARL, a Seattle-based curatorial collective.

Ari Parker

University of Illinois BA

Ari directs the Walt Whitman Speech & Debate Team, one of the largest programs in the country. This year, his students championed Blake, Big Bronx, Greenhill, MBA and co-championed the Valley Mid-America Cup. In addition, his students took second at Emory and Apple Valley. He previously coached and debated, aeons ago, at Glenbrook North.

Ari graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. When he's not coaching debate, he helps run a major D.C.-area test prep company.

Stephen Renzi

Drake University BA

Stephen is returning to NSD for his fifth year, where he has long served as a manager of the camp. He is a policy debate coach at Valley High School in Iowa. He earned a BA from Drake Univeristy in Law and Society. Over the past eight years his students have qualified to TOC, NFL Nationals, won Iowa Caucus, Dowling Paradigm and debated in elimination rounds at Emory, the Glenbrooks, MBA, Berkeley and Blake and this past season placed 2nd at the St Marks Round Robin. Stephen earned a BA in Law and Society from Drake University and he currently works at Brooks Brothers.

Stefanie Rohde

University of Pennsylvania BS '14

Stefanie debated for four years for Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland. She qualified twice to the TOC and accumulated a total of five career bids. Her senior year, she broke at every TOC-qualifying tournament she attended. Stefanie is currently studying biochemistry and biology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is on the board of Penn for Youth Debate, a community service organization that cultivates debate teams at underprivileged urban middle and high schools. She also volunteers at these schools as a debate coach.

John Scoggin

UCSD BA '12

John debated for two years for the Blake School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a competitor John earned 5 TOC bids, won the Dowling round robin, was the top seed at the UC Berkeley tournament, and advanced to the trophy round at NFL nationals. As a coach at Loyola High School in Los Angeles California, John's students have reached late elimination rounds at tournaments like Berkeley, the Glenbrooks, and Meadows.

Maddy Stein

Claremont McKenna BA 2015

Maddy debated for four years at Randolph High School in New Jersey. She qualified to the TOC her senior year and qualified to NFL nationals her junior and sophomore years. She was the co-champion of the Hendrick Hudson Tournament, a semi-finalist at the Columbia and Harvard Tournaments, a quarterfinalist at Stanford, and an octafinalist at Valley, Lexington, and Harvard. She also attended the Harvard, Vassar, and Walt Whitman round robins.

Lizzie Tao

University of Washington BA '15

Lizzie has debated for 4 years at Mercer Island High School. She competed on the Washington circuit her freshmen and sophomore years then debated competitively on the national circuit her junior and senior year. She qualified to the Tournament of Champions and the NFL National Tournament. She made it to elimination rounds of VBT, Stanford, Berkeley, Glenbrooks, and a plethora of other tournaments. She was a finalist at the prestigious University of Puget Sound and a semi-finalist at the infamous Federal Way Tournament.

At her high school Lizzie is the primary instructor of Lincoln Douglas; she teaches the debate class while also leading the after-school club. Aside from debate Lizzie is also the captain of her high school's swim team and water polo team, attaining several state titles in both. Lizzie is the Vice President of her National Honor Society and frequently organizes and participates in service projects around her community. In the future, Lizzie will pursue a bachelor's degree in journalism or comparative literature at the University of Washington.

Christian Tarsney

University of Minnesota BA
University of Maryland Ph.D Candidate

Christian debated LD for two years at St. Louis Park High School in Minnesota, graduating in 2005. As a debater, he placed 7th at NFL Nationals and finished with a winning record at the Tournament of Champions. As a coach, his students have won several major tournaments including Greenhill, Apple Valley, Blake, Stanford, the TOC, and NJFL Nationals. His focus as an instructor is on helping students develop a combination of technical abilities, academic background and argument generation skills to enable them to both engage and develop creative strategies and responses extemporaneously in their rounds. Christian is currently the head debate coach at Hopkins High School in Minnesota.

Marshall Thompson

Wheaton College BA '15

Marshall Thompson debated four years at Walt Whitman and served as captain of the LD team. He won the Greenhill Invitation, Bronx Invitational, Wake Forest invitational, Columbia invitational and the MBA round robin. Marshall also advanced to late out rounds at the Barkley Forum, the Glenbrooks and the Blake Invitational. In addition to national circuit debate Marshall has debated for four years on his local circuit and won a number of those tournaments. Marshall is also very active in his church youth group; attending Sunday school, leading and participating in local bible studies, as well as doing mission and community service projects both locally and abroad.

Sonia Vora

Georgetown BA '15

Sonia debated for four years for the fledgling Annie Wright School program in Washington state. In addition to breaking at multiple tournaments and earning bids to TOC on the national circuit her junior and senior years, she was an active participant on the Washington circuit; she appeared in finals of the Washington State Tournament, the Whitman Invitational and the Northwest Round Robin. She has also helped coach her school's debate team since her sophomore year.

Alex Zimmermann

University of Pennsylvania BA '15

Alex debated for your years at Walt Whitman High School in Maryland on both the local and national circuits. He won Columbia and Valley, was top speaker at the Glenbrooks, a finalist at Yale, a semifinalist at Berkeley, and was invited to the MBA Round Robin. Alex also received bids and participated in late outrounds at Greenhill, VBT, Emory, Alta, and the Glenbrooks, and cleared at the Tournament of Champions twice.

Alex served as a mentor for new members for three years and LD Captain his senior year.