‘We’re closing in on being one of the top 10 ACS student chapters in the country’

The Augusta University student chapter of the American Chemical Society (ACS) has won an Outstanding Chapter Award for the fourth year in a row, as well as the Green Chemistry Award for the fifth consecutive year.

AU is one of 71 “Outstanding” chapters out of 328 nationally and one of only 21 chapters to receive a Green Chemistry Award. Of those designated as “Outstanding,” only 12 also received the Green Chemistry Award, making AU’s chapter exceptional.

According to faculty adviser Brian Agee, PhD, the goal is for AU’s chapter to be one of the top 10 chapters in the nation, which requires over 100 events per year.

“We’re closing in on being one of the top 10 ACS student chapters in the country,” said Agee, a senior lecturer in the College of Science and Mathematics. “It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s rewarding at the end. We keep increasing our activity every year, and we have a lot of fun together.”

Chapters are awarded the “Outstanding” designation based on the number and quality of events and fundraisers they carry out over the course of the year.

The Green Chemistry Award requires at least three sustainable or environmentally focused events during the academic year. Events include promoting chemistry at local high schools, fundraising, on-campus chemistry lectures and demonstrations of sustainable chemistry – for example, turning milk, rather than petroleum-based substances, into plastic. The students in AU’s chapter do at least five green chemistry-focused events a year.

“It’s really nice that we’ve kept it going for so long,” said Tracy Nguyen, a fourth-year undergraduate dual majoring in chemistry and business administration and chair of Green Chemistry. “It feels great to have been a part of it.”

Outreach events are good for chemistry students who participate in them, as well as those in the event audience. Engaging in spreading the good word of chemistry promotes the development of confidence and strengthens a sense of belonging as a community.

“Typically, we try to do at least 10 events each month,” Agee said. “Most of our events are student outreach, either on campus spreading the good word of chemistry or we try to at least a couple times a semester have outreach events at nearby grade schools.”

Agee and the students will travel to the ACS conference in New Orleans in March to receive the awards.