Session: Successful Student Chapters:

The American Chemical Society is a student-led organization at The University of Utah driven to provide an exciting and stimulating STEM environment for the youth in our community. Our chapter has hosted multiple chemistry events with organizations around the Salt Lake area including weekly zoom science lessons performed at Primary Children’s Medical center. These chemistry demos help emphasize chemistry theories in a fun engaging manner. Due to the pandemic, in-person demos were put to a halt for the safety of our team and the students. The focus shifted to increasing our professional development by helping members learn more about research opportunities and the application process of graduate school. In order to develop the written communication skills of members, we decided to establish a quarterly chemistry newsletter which had the first issue published in late 2020. To our virtual outreach programs, we established a mentorship program with a local high school’s ChemClub, which will launch early in 2021, and are also beginning a tutoring program to help them prepare for the Chemistry Olympiad. Along with ACS, the Green chemistry Committee did a fantastic job helping the custodial team recycle gloves with the help of volunteers. With the hard work of our team and members, our passion for building a supportive community for the local youth and strengthening our environment has remained strong in spite of a pandemic.

Yexalen Barrera-Casas

Appearances