Activities and Outreach

Pfizer Travel Award winners:

The Committee on Minority Affairs is proud to announce the first ten winners of the Pfizer Travel Award for Spring 2022. Five undergraduate and five graduate students are receiving $2,000 each to attend the Spring 2022 meeting in San Diego, CA, and will present their research poster during the Office of DEIR Reception Honoring NOBCChE’s 50th Anniversary on Sunday, March 20th at 5:00 – 7:00pm PT at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, Aqua Salon D.

This award is part of Pfizer’s two-year pledge of $100,000 in educational support for graduate and undergraduate students that are historically underrepresented in STEM. To be eligible, students must identify with one or more of the following groups:

From an underrepresented racial or ethnic group (including, but not limited to Black, Hispanic, Latino, and Indigenous students),
Have a physical and or cognitive disability, and/or
Identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community

Students are selected based on their academic and research achievements, the potential benefit that attendance of this conference can have on their career, and interest and engagement in the chemistry and broader STEM enterprise.

Betty Greene Washington Symposium

Sunday, March 20th 8:00am – 5:00pm PT ­– HYBRID Betty E. Washington-Greene symposium (Hilton San Diego Bayfront Sapphire M/N). See below for the symposium line-up.

• Introductory Remarks, Reni Joseph, 8:00 – 8:10am
• Dr. Bettye Washington-Greene – A Pioneer in Industrial Colloidal Science, Venessa Jansma, 8:10 – 8:40am
• Gold nanoparticle-embedded peptoid nanosheets: A new class of solution-based two-dimensional plasmonic materials, Ellen Robertson, 8:40 – 9:10am
• From Colloidal Science to Nanotechnology: A Personal Journey, Guangzhao Mao, 9:10 – 9:40am
• Break, 9:40 – 9:55am
• Structuring aqueous media via surfactant-polymer association, Paschalis Alexandridis, 9:55 – 10:25am
• Light scattering at Wayne State University 60 years after Bettye Washington Greene: Establishing design-rules for preparation of multicomponent metal chalcogenide nanostructures by sol-gel routes, Stephanie Brock, 10:25 – 10:55am
• New Approaches to Understanding and Designing Complex Fluid Interfaces using Liquid Crystalline Oils, Nick Abbott, 10:55 – 11:25am
• Lunch
• Particles at interfaces towards functional materials, Joelle Frechette, 2:00 – 2:30pm
• Pickering liquid crystal emulsions: New approaches to design droplet-based sensors for the detection of amphiphilic analytes, Claribel Acevedo, 2:30 – 3:00pm
• Complex diffusion behavior in micelles carrying hydrophobic solutes, Stephanie Dungan, 3:00 – 3:30pm
• Break, 3:30 – 3:45pm
• Liquid nanofabrication of functional multiphasic soft matter by capillary binding and interfacial templating, Orlin Velev, 3:45pm – 4:15pm
• Crisis and Opportunity: Inclusion and Diversity at Dow, Alveda Williams, 4:15 – 4:45pm
• Concluding remarks, Reni Joseph, 4:45 – 5:00pm

We have the following symposiums planned for the Fall 2021, Atlanta meeting:

• Reimagining Diversity and Equity in honor of Robert Lichter
• Celebrating Underrepresented Chemists in Analytical Chemistry (co-sponsor Analytical Division)

Standing out & succeeding: Our experiences as diverse chemists
Presented by CMA and ACS Education
Date & Time: Sunday Aug 16, 5-6 pm Pacific
Location: Zoom meeting, pre-registration is required. Register here for this live event.
Join this panel discussion with award-winning chemists from a variety of backgrounds as they share their challenges and successes navigating the field.

• Moderated by Ann Kimble-Hill
• Featuring: Marie Little Fawn Agan, Luis A Colón, Robert M Hoyte, Marilyn Mackiewicz

Diversity in Chemistry Career Panel: Making the Transition from Academia to Industry/How Chemical Technical Professionals Contribute to the Chemical Enterprise from Bench to Market
Location: Broadcast; ACS virtual meeting registration is required to attend this broadcast
Date & Time: Monday, Aug 17 10:00 AM Pacific
Duration: 1 hour
Content:

• Making the transition from academia to industry, Jenea Adams
• How to find your first career opportunity in the industry?, Danielle Augustine
• Essential role of mentorship for supporting the next generation of young and diverse scientists, Luigi Jhon Alvarado
• Transitioning into Atomwise, an AI for drug discovery startup, Terrance E. O’Brien

This may also be of interest to people interested in diversity topics:
Case for Diversity & Inclusion
Leland (Lee) T. Jourdan
Chief Diversity Officer at Chevron Corporation
Live event: Thursday, August 20, 7:00 AM – 8:00 AM PDT
ACS virtual meeting registration is required to attend this live event

***ACS Spring 2020 Meeting Canceled Due to COVID-19 Pandemic***

Monday March 23: Symposium and CMA Luncheon
“Reimagining Diversity & Equity in honor of Robert Lichter” (Presidential Symposium, co-sponsored by PROF, SCHB)
includes morning talks discussing Bob Lichter’s work and his impact on ACS, chemistry, education, diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as afternoon talks showcasing successful programs that continue this vision.

• A biological self-assembly: Predesigned metallacycles and metallacages via coordination
• Robert Lichter: Boss, mentor, colleague, and friend
• Building the next generation of scientists
• My 33 years with Bob Lichter and his influence on diversity and inclusiveness in multiple organizations
• Robert Lichter: Champion of chemistry, communication, and caring
• Mentoring, research, and diversity: Transformative strategy for undergraduate STEM education
• CMA Luncheon, featuring ACS President-Elect Luis Echegoyen as keynote
• COACh: Making the most of all talents in science and engineering
• Broadening, tracking and sustaining undergraduate research programs to advance diversity equity in the STEM workforce: Pretty darn good idea for a Hispanic serving institution
• Managing complex diversity and climate change in a chemistry department
• Slow road to equity
• Measuring the professional climate within chemistry departments
• Training to optimize and build culturally aware research mentoring relationships

Tuesday March 24, Workshops, in partnership with PROF, CPT, and SOCED:
Career Launch and Acceleration for Minority Graduate Students & Postdocs, facilitated by COACh
Incorporating Expectations and Communication into Mentoring Relationships to Promote Equity & Inclusion, facilitated by the National Mentoring Research Network (NRMN)

Also….
Cosponsoring
YCC: Mental Health & Graduate School (March 23)
CHED: Smart Materials (March 24)

August 25
CMA is co-sponsoring a symposium with the Environmental Chemistry (ENVR) technical division entitled “Water, Health, and Environmental Justice in Marginalized Communities”.
Location: Room 28E, San Diego Convention Center
Date & Time: Sunday, Aug 25 8:00 AM
Duration: 4 hours

August 26
CMA Luncheon, featuring Dr. Luisa Whittaker-Brooks, Assistant Professor, University of Utah. Whittaker-Brooks, a materials chemist, who is featured among in C&EN’s 2019 Talented Twelve for her work in sustainable power, exploring a variety of materials to bolster electronic devices, including solar cells and batteries. Dr. Whittaker-Brooks will speak on “Addressing the disparity between being a non-traditional student and the guidelines imposed by contemporary research in STEM.”
Location: Indigo Ballroom AE, Hilton San Diego Bayfront
Date & Time: Monday, Aug 26 11:15 AM
Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes

August 27
CMA is co-sponsoring a symposium with the Environmental Chemistry (ENVR) technical division entitled “Water, Health, and Environmental Justice in Marginalized Communities”
Location: Exhibit Hall B, San Diego Convention Center
Date & Time: Tuesday, Aug 27 5:00 PM
Duration: 2 hours

Aug. 27th
CMA is co-sponsoring a symposium with the Computers in Chemistry (COMP) technical division entitled “Elucidating Reaction Mechanisms with Computational and Experimental Chemistry”
Location: Aqua Salon C, Hilton San Diego Bayfront
Date & Time: Tuesday, Aug 27 1:00 PM
Duration: 3 hours 45 minutes