SUU Presents at American Chemical Society's National Meeting

Published: October 18, 2019 | Author: Kierstin Pitcher-Holloway | Read Time: 2 minutes

Chemistry Students at ACSAs part of ongoing research opportunities, five Southern Utah University chemistry students recently presented at the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) national meeting. Held in San Diego, students traveled with chemistry professors Dr. Chris Monson and Dr. Nathan Werner to the convention. With the reputation of being a premier chemistry venue for presenting research, the SUU chemistry program makes it a priority to attend. 

“Depending upon the meeting, there is somewhere between ten and twenty thousand chemists who all get together and have oral presentations and poster presentations,” said Dr. Monson. “It’s basically people exchanging what they’ve done in research to let everybody know: here is some of the latest and greatest stuff.” 

Working with Dr. Monson, students Mariah Clayson and Madison Evans presented a poster on a more cost-effective device for sensing oxygen in low oxygen environments. And student Ruth Hunter presented on a new technique that could prove useful in the medical field and make drug testing easier. 

“It’s the best chemistry conference and the biggest, in that it has the most people there,” said Dr. Monson. “You walk by and you’re like hey that person won a Nobel prize, and that person won a Nobel prize.” 

Dr. Werner worked with students Garett Ruesch and Sydney Rowley. They presented research on new ways to make a class of molecules that are important in the preparation of pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Werner believes such experiences can be life-changing for students. These opportunities are beneficial for undergraduate students as they interact and meet with accomplished chemists and build a sense of community. The students were also able to explore options for graduate schools and job opportunities in the field. 

“The ACS conference was a wonderful experience,” said Evans. “Not only was I able to present my own research with my research group, but I was able to see many research projects from students across the nation.”  

“The ACS conference was a great experience where we were able to network and hear about the latest research in chemistry,” said Clayson. 

SUU offers four bachelor’s degrees in chemistry including a forensic emphasis, health care emphasis, professional emphasis, and teacher education emphasis. Students study and research in modern, fully-mediated wireless classrooms and laboratory facilities that are equipped with a full range of laboratory instruments. Dedicated faculty do everything they can to help their students succeed in whichever direction they choose to take. 


Tags: Chemistry

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