The Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) Affiliate Student Chapter (Chem Club) has been performing community outreach and promoting professional development of our members. Our community outreach includes our recent partnership with PLU’s Center for Community Engagement and Service to provide science experiences for local 5th grade students visiting our campus through hands-on demos. We have also hosted annual celebrations of Mole Day Eve and Desserts & Demos. Mole Day Eve was aimed at encouraging interest in chemistry within the larger PLU community, while our Desserts & Demos event was planned during a visitation weekend for prospective students. At both events, we provided chemis-treats (such as the periodic table of brownies) and our Chem Club organized hand-on experiments for our guests.<br/><br/>In addition to community outreach, we have organized professional development events for our members. Last spring, PLU Chem Club members toured a crime lab and a wastewater treatment plant that were led by professional chemists who worked at each facility. In fall, we worked with the PLU faculty and the Puget Sound Section of the ACS who co-hosted the 2016 Pauling Symposium. We encouraged PLU student attendance and organized student volunteers to support the event. Club members were treated to a student-focused talk by the Pauling Medal awardee, Dr. Timothy M. Swager. One of our goals has been to host more Green Chemistry events. We’ve held an Earth Day meeting at which we learned about alternative fuels and played with solar and hydrogen cars, and we also designed a scavenger hunt focused on the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry. We are careful to balance all our hard work with social events like movie nights, games nights, and our annual Chemistree decoration event. Overall, our club is catalyzed for success.

Creating a triple bond: Linking PLU students with professional development, community outreach, and green chemistry

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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