Category Archives: Announcements

Call for Volunteers for the Awards Committee

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The Orlando Section is currently in search of individuals willing to contribute to the Awards Committee. Annually, our section grants awards exceeding a total of $3,000 to honor the outstanding contributions of chemists and chemistry students within our local community.

The committee’s commitment involves a brief initial Zoom meeting, followed by asynchronous evaluation of nomination letters during the week of November 4-10. If this opportunity piques your interest, kindly send a brief statement of your intent to the Awards Chair no later than September 29, 2023: Dr. Laura Sessions lsessions@valenciacollege.edu.

Travel Awards

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In 2023, the Orlando Section awarded $1600 for five students to travel to on the following scientific meetings: the spring and fall ACS National Meetings in Indianapolis and San Francisco and the 99th Florida Annual Meeting and Exposition (FAME) conference in Plam Harbor.

Angelo Cinque, an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Nicole Lapyrouse’s group at UCF, attended the Fall 2023 National Meeting. He is evaluating the efficacy of the integration of an adaptive learning system, Mastery Paths, in a CHM 2045C classroom. The research team aims to code qualitative data to understand students’ perceptions and attitudes towards Mastery Path and look at relationships between students’ course performance and their use of the platform. He presented his research and discussed with participants from around the country studying similar topics. He enjoyed listening to other presenters including presentations expanding beyond his research topic. He writes, ‘Overall, it was an unforgettable experience and an important milestone in my academic journey. Thank you so much for the opportunity to go to Fall ACS.’.

The Orlando Section no longer accepts applications for travel awards for 2023. Please check back in 2024 for new opportunities for your students: https://orlandoacs.org/2023-student-travel-awards/

About Student Travel Awards: The Orlando Section of the American Chemical Society offers travel awards to students who are in need of financial supplement for their conference participations. Click here for more information about the awards and how to apply.

    Orlando Section wins at the 25th Annual ChemLuminary Awards

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    Dr. Duy Le (UCF), Orlando Section webmaster, and Dr. Laura Sessions (Valencia College), Orlando Section Alternate Councilor are pictured with Mary K. Carroll, ACS President-Elect (right) and Dr. Lori Stepan, Chair of Committee on Community Activities (CCA) (left).

    The Orlando Section received the ChemLuminary Award for Outstanding Community Involvement in National Chemistry Week at the ACS Fall 2023 Meeting in San Francisco. National Chemistry Week celebrates the importance of chemistry in everyday life. On October 22, 2022, about 400 attendees were able to participate in experiments related to the theme: Fabulous Fibers, The Chemistry of Fabrics.  The Orlando Section offered ten safe and exciting activities for attendees at our partner institution, the Orlando Science Center. This event was organized by Dr. Denisia Popolan-Vaida, assistant professor in the chemistry department at UCF, and supported by volunteers, faculty and students, from UCF, FIT, and Valencia College. The Orlando Section extends its appreciation to all the volunteers who made the event possible.

    Edwin Davidson Barahona (Dr. Santra’s lab, UCF) and Kathleen Lugo-Charriez (Dr. Saitta’s group, UCF), celebrate after the award ceremony with Dr. Duy Le (UCF), Orlando Section webmaster, and Dr. Laura Sessions (Valencia College), Orlando Section Alternate Councilor.

    Edwin shared that volunteering for the National Chemistry week ‘was a very enriching community engagement experience. I always enjoy any opportunity to share about chemistry and science with a diverse audience. This event allowed me to combine both of my passions and provide meaningful learning experiences to kids and young adults. Sharing chemistry knowledge with the participants and observing their sparked curiosity gave me a deeper appreciation of the importance of science. The collective teamwork done by the Orlando section and group of volunteers was incredible, and showcased the greater impact we can achieve working together to generate a positive and safe environment to foster scientific interest in the future generations.’

    You can see pictures from the event here: https://orlandoacs.org/2022-national-chemistry-weeks-event-the-chemistry-of-fabrics/

    Look for us at the Orlando Science Center again for National Chemistry Week celebrations in October 2023. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Denisia.Popolan-Vaida@ucf.edu.

    Orlando Sections Travel Awards – Summer 2023

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    Travel awards from the Orlando Section of the ACS assisted two students in Dr. Denisia Popolan-Vaida’s research group at University of Central Florida to attend the 99th Florida Annual Meeting and Exposition (FAME) conference from June 1 – 3, 2023. Arden Floyd and Alec DeCecco received $150 each.

    Arden Floyd gave a poster presentation on her research titled “Cloud Condensation Nuclei Activity of Fresh and Aged Maleic Acid Aerosol Particles”. She gained new perspective on her work thanks to the insightful questions of the FAME attendees. She was introduced to exciting fields of chemistry by the excellent and diverse presentations she attended and was able to forge new friendships and professional connections with like-minded chemists from across the state of Florida. She is a chemistry major at the University of Central Florida who will be graduating in Spring 2024. She looks forward to next year’s 100th anniversary of FAME.

    Alec DeCecco, a Ph.D. student at the University of Central Florida, has just completed his first year of study on combustion research. He writes that his experience at ACS FAME was fantastic. He shared his research with others and received really interesting questions that lead to great conversations. Attending presentations gave him insight into some of the cutting-edge research going on in the field of chemistry and he was able to learn a lot. He found the conference attendees to be very friendly and had a lot of fun meeting people and hearing about their research. He gives his thanks to the section for granting him the travel award that made this whole experience possible.

    Congratulations and good work, Arden and Alec!

    About Student Travel Awards: The Orlando Section of the American Chemical Society offers travel awards to students who are in need of financial supplement for their conference participations. Click here for more information about the awards and how to apply.

    2023 Summer Social Invitation

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    The Orlando Section of the American Chemical Society is pleased to honor our 50-, 60-, and 70-year ACS members and present the Salutes to Excellence award to our partner, the Orlando Science Center. Additionally, Patrick Walsh and Chris Spence from Covanta will give a short talk on a Sustainable Systems Solution for Solid Waste.

    Saturday July 8th, 2023
    11:30AM to 2:00PM
    Macaroni Grill (12148 S Apopka Vineland Rd, Orlando, FL 32836)

    MENU
    Appetizers
    Bruschetta Calamari, Caesar Salad
    Entrée choice of
    Fettuccine Alfredo w/Chicken, Spaghetti w/Meatballs, Chicken Parmesan, Pasta Milano, or Truffle Mac & Cheese
    Dessert
    Vanilla Ice Cream
    Beverages
    Soda, Iced Tea, Lemonade
    Cash bar is available

    The cost will be $25/person. Since the Orlando Section covers part of the meal, tax, and gratuity, the Section will pay the bill with a single check. Please be prepared to pay at the door by check or cash—unfortunately, we cannot accept credit cards. Reservation can be made by July 6, 2023 – online at https://forms.gle/THwRVyRT9gTaBnV7A.

    Sustainable Systems Solution for Solid Waste
    Patrick Walsh, Area Asset Manager, and Chris Spence, Facility Manager
    Covanta
    Waste-to-energy (WTE) is the conversion of non-recyclable waste to electricity. It has been touted as both good and bad for the environment – good for decreasing waste levels and bad for the creation of pollutants in the incineration process. According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, WTE has grown from one plant in 1982 to 11 facilities in 2022, giving Florida one of the highest levels of WTE processing nationwide. Last year, Florida Senate Bill 1764 was passed to encourage more.

    Come learn more about WTE from the experts at Covanta and enjoy a luncheon with fellow chemists.
    We look forward to seeing you all there!

    Download this flyer

    2023 CCEW Illustrated Poem Contest: The Results

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    Among many other activities for the 2023 Chemists Celebrate Earth Week (CCEW), the Orlando Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) hosted the 2023 CCEW Illustrated Poem Contest for K-12 students in Central Florida. This year, the theme of the contest is “The Curious Chemistry of Amazing Algae”.

    Winner of Grade 3-5 category, by M. P. from Harmony Community School (Osceola County)

    Thanks to members of counties’ school boards and the teachers who brought the contest to students’ attention, the contest received many entries from multiple schools.

    Results of the local contest

    K-2 Category
    No Winner

    Grade 3-5 Category
    Winner: M. P.
    Harmony Community School (Osceola County)

    Grade 6-8 Category
    Winner: E. D.
    Sanford Middle School (Seminole County)

    Winner of Grade 6-8 Category, by E. D. from Sanford Middle School (Seminole County)

    Grade 9-12 Category
    No Winner

    The winner of each category will receive a certificate and a monetary award of $50. The teacher who guided the winner of each category will receive a school supply funding of $100.

    The winner of each category also advances to the national 2023 CCEW Illustrated Poem Contest. The full results of the national contest can be found at ACS website. If you have any comments or questions regarding the local contest, please contact the local section’s coordinator of the contest (Dr. Duy Le, submission@orlandoacs.org).

    Orlando Students Present at Spring ACS National Meeting

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    Travel awards from the Orlando Section of the ACS assisted two Ph.D. candidates at University of Central Florida to attend the spring 2023 ACS Meeting held in Indianapolis from March 26-30. Lorianne Shultz and Jacob T Bryant received $500 each.

    Lorianne Shultz gave an oral presentation on her research in Professor Titel Jurca’s laboratory on “Probing the mechanism and structure-activity relationships in the CuOx  catalysed reduction of 4-nitrophenol”. She received some helpful feedback on her work and was grateful for the funding to get there. Lorianne told us “I am excited to continue growing my network at the ACS National Conference to hopefully establish future collaborations.”

    Jacob T. Bryant is in Professor Fernando Uribe-Romo’s laboratory. His oral presentation was on “Designing titania metal-organic framework photocatalysts using the principles of reticular chemistry”. Jacob was able to interact with several of his collaborators, initiate potential new collaborations, and help recruit candidates for the graduate program at UCF. He states that he is very appreciative of the funding provided.

    Congratulations and good work, Lori and Jacob!

    About Student Travel Awards: The Orlando Section of the American Chemical Society offers travel awards to students who are in need of financial supplement for their conference participations. Click here for more information about the awards and how to apply.

    First bulletin of the year

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    Hello Orlando Section!

    In the first bulletin of the year, we would like to bring to your attention a few pieces of important information:

    • Executive committee members: The members of the 2023 Executive Committee of the Orlando Section are:

    Chair: Nicole Lapeyrouse
    Chair elect: Stephen Smith
    Intermediate Past Chair: Denisia Popolan-Vaida
    Councilor: Darlene Slattery
    Alternate Councilor: Laura Sessions
    Treasurer: Van Quach
    Secretary: Pavithra Pathirathna

    • Executive meeting – Our local section executive meeting is scheduled on the second Saturday of each month from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM via Zoom. We would like to renew our invitation to all our members to attend the meeting. If you are interested in joining our meeting, please do not hesitate to contact us for zoom link and meeting agenda.
    • Travel awards – We would liketo remind you thatour local sectionoffers annual travel awards (up to 2 awards/meeting) for ACS student members to attend ACS local, regional, and national meetings (FAME, SERMAC, ACS National Meeting) to present their work. More details about the application procedure can be found on our website.
    • Chemists Celebrate Earth Week (CCEW): To promote the positive role that chemistry plays in the world, ACS established the Chemists Celebrate Earth Week public awareness campaign. This year, CCEW occurs on April 16–22 with the theme “The Curious Chemistry of Amazing Algae”. The Orlando Section participates in the following activities:
      • Distributing CCEW 2023 Celebrating Chemistry:  Celebrating Chemistry is designed to engage and educate children ages 9–12 (Grades 4–6) in the basic principles of chemistry. The publication is available in English and Spanish and can be found on our website. We encourage you to share the publication to anyone who may be interested.
      • 2023 Illustrated Poem Contest: The Orlando Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) is hosting an illustrated poem contest for K-12 students. Entries must be sponsored by a local school or community group for verification purposes. The contest deadline is Sunday, April 30, 2023 at 11:59 PM Eastern. The theme of this year’s contest is “The Curious Chemistry of Amazing Algae.” One winner for each category will be recognized. Winners of the Orlando Section’s Illustrated Poem Contest will advance to the National Illustrated Poem Contest for a chance to be featured on the ACS website and win prizes!We encourage you to share the Flyer with K12’s students and teachers that you may know and to spread the message via social media. Please visit our website for detailed contest rules and submission information.
      • Participating in Central Florida Earth day: We have secured our presence in Central Florida Earth day at Lake Eola (on April 22nd, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM). At this event, we will distribute merchandises, materials about the Earth Day and perform chemistry demonstrations. Dr. Titel Jurca (UCF, titel.jurca@ucf.edu) will lead this event. Please contact him if you are interested in volunteering for this event.
    • Younger Chemist Committee – The Younger Chemist Committee (YCC) of the American Chemical (ACS) Society Orlando Section is established with a mission to advocate for, develop, and support rising chemists to positively impact their careers, the ACS, and the future of chemistry. If you are interested in joining YCC ACS Orlando or learning more about our events fill out this google form: https://forms.gle/bHLRDYKunCDqsFCb7. We are also looking to integrate future board members into the organization. Currently the board member positions that we are looking to refresh in the near future are Chair and Co-Chair. The responsibilities of the chair include guiding the vision of the club, ensuring previous ideas are implemented properly, taking finial decisions and leading the board. The responsibilities of co-chair include bringing in new ideas for events, supporting the chair, helping in decision making process.

    • We are seeking volunteers: We are actively seeking volunteers to participate/lead our local section’s activities and be appointed to several committees: Earth Day outreach, National Chemistry Week, Senior Chemists, Younger Chemists, Webmaster… Contact us if you are or know someone who is interested.

    Best wishes,

    Dr. Nicole Lapeyrouse
    Chair of the Orlando Section of the ACS
    On behalf of the Orlando Section executive committee


    2023 CCEW Illustrated Poem Contest: The Curious Chemistry of Amazing Algae

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    The Orlando Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) is hosting an illustrated poem contest for students in Kindergarten through 12th grade. Entries must be sponsored by a local school or community group for verification purposes.

    Contest_Deadline:Sunday, April 30, 2023 at 11:59 PM Eastern
    Local Prizes: One winner will be awarded ($50) for each of the flowing categories:
    Grades K-2     Grades 3-5     Grades 6-8     Grades 9-12
    The teacher who guided the winner will receive a small funding ($100) for classroom supplies.
    Local Contact:Duy Le (submission@orlandoacs.org)
    Submission:Illustrated poem and submission form must be submitted to https://forms.gle/XVLtvkiqLtbGHfB79
    or emailed to submission@orlandoacs.org

    Winners of the Orlando Section’s Illustrated Poem Contest will advance to the National Illustrated Poem Contest for a chance to be featured on the ACS website and to win prizes!

    How to participate:

    Write and illustrate a poem using the CCEW theme, “The Curious Chemistry of Amazing Algae.” Your poem must be no more than 40 words and in the following styles to be considered:

    HAIKU  –  LIMERICK  –  ODE  –  ABC POEM  –  FREE VERSE  –  END RHYME  –  BLANK VERSE

    Possible topics related to the theme include:

    • Seaweed
    • Micro- or macro-algae
    • Photosynthesis
    • Bioluminescent algae
    • Algae as food & habitat for animals
    • Consumer products from algae
    • Oxygen from algae
    • Biofuels from algae

    Entries will be judged based upon:

    • Artistic Merit – use of color, quality of drawing, design & layout
    • Poem Message – fun, motivational, inspiring about yearly theme
    • Originality Creativity – unique, clever and/or creative design
    • Neatness – free of spelling and grammatical errors

    Contest rules:

    ·   All poems must be no more than 40 words, and in one of the following styles to be considered: Haiku, Limerick, Ode, ABC poem, Free verse, End rhyme, and Blank verse.
    ·   Entries are judged based upon relevance to and incorporation of the NCW theme, word choice and imagery, colorful artwork, adherence to poem style, originality and creativity, and overall presentation.
    ·   All entries must be original works without aid from others. Poems may be submitted by hand on an unlined sheet of paper not larger than 11” by 14” or scanned and sent via email. Illustrations may be created using crayons, watercolors, other types of paint, colored pencils, or markers. The illustration may also be electronically created by using a digital painting and drawing app on a computer, tablet, or mobile device.
    ·   The text of the poem should be easy to read and may be typed before the hand-drawn or digital illustration is added, or the poem may be written on lined paper, which is cut out and pasted onto the unlined paper with the illustration.
    ·   No clipart or unoriginal images can be used.
    ·   Only one entry per student will be accepted; all entries must include an entry form. If the illustration is created using a digital painting or drawing app, the name of the program must be included on the entry form.
    ·   Acceptance of prizes constitutes consent to use winners’ first name, and entry for editorial, advertising, and publicity purposes.

    Download submission form and this flyer.

    Examples (2022 National winners)

    2023 Student Travel Awards

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    The 2023 Travel Awards have been given out for the year. The Orlando Section ACS was able to support 5 students with travel to ACS national meetings and FAME. Please check back at the beginning of 2024 for the next application cycle.

    To encourage participation of students in local, regional, and national conferences organized by the American Chemical Society and its affiliates and to create opportunities for students to enhance their scientific experiences and networking, the Orlando Section of the American Chemical Society offers travel awards to students who are in need of financial supplement for their conference participations.

    The awards will be given to selected students who participate in the Florida Annual Meeting and Exposition (FAME), the Southeastern Regional Meeting of The American Chemical Society (SERMACS), or the ACS National Meeting & Exposition. For each conference, up to two students will receive awards of up to $150, $250, or $500, respectively.

    To apply, student applicant needs to prepare an application package (a single PDF file) that includes the following:

    • Brief introduction of applicant
    • Proof of acceptance to conference (acceptance of abstract)
    • Brief explanation of why travel award from the Orlando Section of the American Chemical Society is necessary (especially those whose research projects are federal/industrially/privately funded)
    • Contact information of advisor (The award committee will request a statement for advisor indicating appropriate use of the travel award to registration, lodging, and/or travel expenses).

    Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis up to one month before the conference, so early submission is encouraged.  Application package should be sent via email to Awards Committee Chair (Dr. Laura Sessions, lsessions@valenciacollege.edu). The committee will select awardees mainly based on applicant’s financial needs and date of application.  Novelty and impact of research project is a bonus criterion.