close

Waynesburg ACS Chapter receives national recognition

By Luke Campbell, For The Greene County Messenger 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – For the fifth time in six years, and for the fourth consecutive year, the Waynesburg University’s American Chemical Society (ACS) student chapter was awarded the “Outstanding Chapter Award” from the American Chemical Society.

After receiving more than 400 student chapter annual activity reports from across the globe, only 44 were lauded with the “Outstanding” mark, which was based on the chapter’s activities conducted during the 2012-13 academic year.

Under the direction of Dr. Robert LaCount, professor emeritus of chemistry at Waynesburg University, and Dr. Evonne Baldauff, assistant professor of chemistry and chair of the Department of Chemistry, the student chapter focusses on several things on campus and within the community.

Some of these things that have recently been done by the students include: Hosting monthly homeschool labs for the Greene County Homeschool Association, hosting the Haunted Lab that is open to the campus and community and judging science fairs and a new coffee lab in which they brought in a professional barista. They also participate in National Chemistry Week by volunteering at ChemFest, an annual celebration at the Carnegie Science Center.

“It’s not easy to get (the recognition),” Baldauff said. “You have to be a really active chapter by promoting chemistry within and outside the chapter whether it be on campus or in the community.”The ACS student chapter primarily consists of chemistry and forensic science students, but is open to any student at Waynesburg University.

“If you really like to blow things up, then you are more than welcome to join,” Baldauff said.She believes that continuously winning this award could draw more interest from high school students on the science programs that Waynesburg has to offer.

“When I meet with prospective students I always tell them about ACS and how it’s an award winning chapter,” Baldauff said. “I really try to get a feel if they would be interested in this level of involvement. It is a good recruiting strategy for students that are coming in and know that are already motivated and interested in chemistry, and they want to put that to use.”

Baldauff admits that working with these students are what makes coming in to work everyday so special.

“They are the best part of my job,” she said. “Coming in and working with the ACS students, and doing all these activities.

It really gives you an avenue to know the students better when you are doing campus and community outreach.”

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today