The FIU Chemical Society participated in an ACS Program in a Box event to celebrate Mole Day. As part of National Chemistry Week outreach, we held demonstrations at Frost Museum and Fort Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science. Our demonstrations used cabbage juice, vinegar, baking soda, apples and lemon juice because we wanted our chemistry to be “green” during the celebrations. At the University’s student engagement fair, we used a “puking pumpkin” demo to get people in the “Halloween” spirit and also used this as a springboard to explain the role of catalysts and enzymes to college freshmen and high school students. Our organization believes it is important to assist our peers in their professional development. In Fall 2018, we collaborated with Graduate Students Organization and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Florida International University (FIU) to host a Graduate School Symposium, in which professors from several different Universities and current graduate students discussed the advantages and challenges of attending graduate school in Chemistry (and Biochemistry), expectations for admission and how to choose a school and advisor. In the Spring 2019 semester we will collaborate with the College of Arts, Sciences and Education (CASE) at FIU to host a Careers in STEM event focusing on pursuing careers in chemistry and other STEM areas. Through the University Experience Program (UEP), we provide local high school students with the “college experience” by bringing them on campus and exposing them to college level classes, labs and other activities. We strive to use various social events to raise awareness and interest in green chemistry and chemistry in general. In the future, we are hoping to expand our outreach to elementary, middle and high schools, and forge new collaborations to offer more professional development and practical skills related to chemistry.

Using chemistry for community engagement and professional development

2019 Spring National Meeting

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