In Manion Hall, room 103, freshmen, sophomores, professors, upperclassmen and researchers gathered together to discuss the benefits of participating in UCA’s research department in chemistry, from the mouths of those who were actively involved in its research department on Sept. 9.
The goal of this event was to show underclassmen the field of research, particularly in the field of Chemistry, even though the event could be used as a way to promote the benefits of scientific research at UCA.
The event was held by the UCA student chapter of the division of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
“The purpose of this event is to get young freshmen, sophomores, even juniors, interested in research,” senior chemistry major and social media officer of UCA’s ACS, Jeremiah Canady said. “What we’re going to have them do is go around the different professors who are looking for, or maybe looking in the future, for different students to do research, and then hopefully they’ll explain their research to the students, and then hopefully they’ll be interested.”
When it comes to research in the field of Chemistry, UCA has a lot to offer.
From Dr. Lei Yang, whose research focuses on CO2 activations, to senior biochemistry major Tasha Moreland, who is working on synthesizing new drugs that will approach the “neglected tropical diseases,” UCA’s research in the chemistry department focuses on a wide variety of topics.
Even though this was primarily a chemistry focused event, students who majored in all fields of science were welcome.
“This is mainly just chemistry, but I’ll say we have a lot of … biology students that are also interested in our research, or in the chemistry department’s research, and they’re more than welcome to join on if they want to.” Canady said.
This is the primary focus of the event: to bring others who are interested in the general field of science to see if they are interested in pursuing any form of research.
Freshman mathematics and biology major Via Bauer said she felt that this event could be used for that very purpose.
“It benefits the researchers by giving them a little bit more of … a diverse palette,” Bauer said.
“If you’re a Biology major interested in zoology, you might do research on … fish pathology or whatever it might be. But there might be a lab available to you for something like entomology, something that you might not … actively have thought about or considered trying, but now that you’ve heard about it, it’s pretty interesting.”
The ACS is an organization that is dedicated to promoting the field of chemistry.
It was founded in 1876 and was chartered by the United States Congress.
On their website, they state, “Our mission is to advance scientific knowledge, empower a global community, and champion scientific integrity” while also promoting the idea of “a world built on science.”
Before the event, vice president and junior biochemistry major Hailey Zornes promoted AGS’s trip to a pumpkin patch with a QR code asking if when members were most available and asked if anyone would be willing to volunteer for the Museum of Discovery’s “Tinkerfest,” an event that promotes STEM based fields to children in the state of Arkansas.
Zornes also promoted the next ACS meeting on Oct. 14 during x-period.
