Recently, the Mississippi local section hosted a statewide meeting to promote collaboration among the many universities and community partners around the state. This meeting revitalized the section by bringing new faculty together and by bringing the academic sector into contact with key community partners including the Army Corps of Engineers, the Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee, the Jackson Zoological Society and the MS Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks. In an historical first for the section, the student sections from across the state were also brought together to learn and exchange best practices and new ideas.<br/><br/>As part of the theme of innovation for the meeting, Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER) partnered with the MS ACS in a first-of-its-kind symposium hosted by Belhaven University in Jackson, MS. By partnering with an organization that focuses on issues such as sustainability and international ecotourism, the MS ACS was able to provide leading-edge knowledge in this area of focus to K-12 and community college educators, community partners, undergraduate, and graduate faculty from all over the state. SENCER speakers presented ideas from their regions, and then engaged in roundtable discussions with MS ACS members, government agencies, non-government organizations, and informal science educators to increase understanding and clarity on these crucial topics.<br/><br/>As a result of the timeliness of the topics addressed in this impactful ACS/SENCER joint symposium, the reach of the learning was expanded greatly by local media coverage. To ensure an even greater success for future endeavors of this caliber, evaluations are currently being sent to each attendee. Initial feedback has been positive and will, no doubt, lead to future innovation. The successes of this meeting are notable and include establishment of a new learning network and enhanced collaborations inside the state and across the nation with the SENCER network. An important outcome of this new learning network was to make ACS more relevant to young faculty around the state by broadening their view of the world of chemistry education beyond the classroom environment. The meeting accomplished the key objective of strengthening faculty bonds across university lines while simultaneously bringing faculty into contact with outside agencies to learn how to make chemistry, and science in general, more relevant to Mississippi students.

Fostering a STEM education learning network with community benefits through cooperative partnerships

255th National Meeting (2018)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.