Josh Olexa explains his poster to a judge, a former president of the American Chemical Society
St. Mary’s College of Maryland chemistry students Joshua Olexa ’13 and Greg Trieger ’13 won third and fifth place respectively at the American Chemistry Society’s Speak Simply Undergraduate Research Poster Contest. The contest took place this past April at the 245th American Chemical Society National Convention in New Orleans.
The Speak Simply Poster Contest was sponsored by the ACS Chemistry Ambassadors Program, which encourages chemistry discussion between scientists and non-scientists and aims to improve awareness and public appreciation for the central role of chemistry in everyday life. Speak Simply contestants are asked to discuss their chemistry research projects with judges “simply, but compellingly.” To do so, contestants must eliminate chemistry jargon and consider the overarching importance of their research to the non-scientific community.
The ACS National Convention is attended by tens of thousands of chemists and chemical engineers. The undergraduate poster session represents several hundred of the top undergraduate chemists in the country. More information about ACS Chemistry Ambassadors can be found here.