RWU Chemistry Students Catalyze Science Education

The Roger Williams University Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society (SA-ACS) chapter was recognized with an Outstanding Award for their work to deepen community scientific literacy

By Anna Cohen
Students from SA-ACS

Sometimes chemistry looks like flasks of fluorescent green liquid and sometimes it looks like 60 local girl scouts developing their confidence. The RWU Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society (SA-ACS) made both of these experiences happen during the 2018-2019 school year, along with many other education and outreach initiatives. 

The RWU SA-ACS chapter works to promote scientific literacy in the local community. On top of weekly meetings, projects include on-campus chemistry demonstrations and programs with local elementary and high school students. The chapter provides study sessions, encourages research, offers professional development opportunities and hosts fun social activities. 

“These events bring the students a sense of accomplishment, camaraderie, and community,” said 2018-2019 SA-ACS President Hiba Wakidi. 

Regularly occurring on-campus meetings and science demonstrations give RWU students the opportunity to get involved. To kick off the 2018-2019 year, SA-ACS members extracted fluorescein from highlighters using methanol at their first chapter meeting. They chose this exciting demonstration to attract interest and involve new members.
The results of the fluorescein extraction demonstration included highly fluorescent concentrated solutions.

The SA-ACS club reported, “This was a great demonstration to recruit members during our first meetings of the semester.”
In November of 2018, SA-ACS members collaborated with RWU’s Engineers without Borders club and Stephen O’Shea, Professor of Chemistry and SA-ACS faculty advisor, to volunteer at Colt Andrews Elementary School in Bristol, R.I. Working with the Colt Andrews PTO, the students hosted a science night for students and their families.

Pictured is a demonstration on the effect of temperature on different materials using liquid nitrogen.

“I always enjoyed our outreach activities with younger students in the area. It provided an outlet for RWU students to share their enthusiasm for science and encourage the next generation of young scientists,” said Meagan Hackey, 2017-2018 SA-ACS President.
SA-ACS students returned to Colt Andrews Elementary school in April of 2019, this time in collaboration with RWU’s Future Teachers of America, to judge science fair projects. The RWU students used a rubric and talked individually with each elementary student to choose the winners of the fair.
In February of 2019, SA-ACS partnered with RWU’s Engineers without Borders and the Society of Women Engineers clubs to run a Girl Scout workshop. RWU students led demonstrations on science and engineering and allowed the girls to perform some of the demonstrations.
To celebrate 150 years of the periodic table, SA-ACS participated in the Program-in-a-Box on “The Evolving session for general chemistry students. Periodic Table and Its Incredible Elements” offered in February of 2019. The ACS hosts two live “Program-in-a-Box” virtual broadcasts each year for student chapters. These sessions include speakers and activities, bringing together hundreds of student chapters worldwide.

“We enjoyed interacting with chapters across the country and the world through the live-chat,” reported SA-ACS.
As part of science and mathematics career week, The Science Alliance Club [a combination of SA-ACS and American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology chapters] worked with Marine and Natural Science faculty members, the Pre-Health club, the Marine Science Club, and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics to invite six successful alumni to provide career advice to current students at the “Gagliardi Panel: Beyond the Sciences.” Students attended a panel discussion and had the opportunity to network with the alumni over dinner.

“Our alumni networking events represent fantastic opportunities for graduating seniors to connect with recent alumni to learn from their experiences in the workforce. Students have found internships and jobs through these connections and alumni really enjoy the opportunity to stay connected with the student chapter,” reported SA-ACS.
“This year, all our chapter members performing research were able to present their projects at different conferences,” SA-ACS reported. Here, SA-ACS member Matt L. presents his research at the 17th Annual Symposium on Sustainability and the Environment.

Presenting these projects at different venues [the ACS national conference in Orlando, the ACS regional conference in Providence, the 17th Annual Symposium on Sustainability and the Environment at Bridgewater University and the Marine Aquaculture Conference of North America in Las Vegas] helped expose the quality of research conducted at our university,” said 2018-2019 SA-ACS President Hiba Wakidi. “The RWU ACS chapter strongly encourages research.”
Wakidi received the Rhode Island Section of the American Chemical Society Award at the R.I. ACS chapter meeting. At this meeting, students were able to network over dinner with students and faculty from other Rhode Island universities.
In March of 2019, eight RWU SA-ACS student chapter members presented their research at the ACS national meeting in Orlando, F.L. Students presented individual research and took advantage of the excellent networking opportunity, connecting with high level researchers in the field.
RWU SA-ACS members [left to right] Matt, Sara, Hannah, Colby, Deanna, Hiba, Scott, and Lyndsay present their chapter poster at the ACS National Meeting in Orlando, F.L. Their poster, entitled, “Enhancing Scientific Literacy in Our Community,” detailed the outreach and education efforts of the club. The RWU chapter was recently awarded an Outstanding Award from ACS for their education and outreach initiatives.

“We have been very successful in past years but the student efforts have been rewarded for their continued activities and outreach within RWU and the local community,” said O’Shea.

The combination of social and professional opportunities makes this club a memorable and meaningful experience. Students network with like-minded peers as well as industry professionals, making lifelong connections. 

“I met some of my best friends at RWU through SA-ACS and it is so fun to see them continuing their work in graduate programs and companies across the country,” said Meagan Hackey, 2017-2018 SA-ACS President. “I remain an ACS member today as a result of my experience as a student affiliate and their national network provides innumerable support to students in the sciences. I rely on their resources and databases daily in graduate school.”

The American Chemical Society (ACS) Committee on Education recognized the efforts of the 2018-2019 RWU chapter with their highest honor: the Outstanding Award.  Awarded to only 57 out of over 1,000 chapters, this honor recognizes the RWU chapter’s exceptional work. 

“The award represents a culmination of efforts from students and faculty members who work hard planning events, reaching out to the local community, and securing multiple funding sources to make all this work happen,” said Wakidi. 

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