Getting in the lab and working hard is only half the fun. Learning to effectively communicate research results to the larger scientific community and general public is also very important. One of the best ways Wabash students develop these skills is by participating in poster symposia at both the local and national level. This week, nearly eleven students submitted their abstracts for the 233rd American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting & Exposition. This conference is the “Big Show” for chemists! This year’s spring meeting will be held during the week of March 25-29, in Chicago. The spring ACS meeting typically draws over 12,000 chemists from across the globe. Nearly 7,000 presentations are anticipated during the abstract submittal process, grouped into various symposia that highlight important research advances in a variety of fields ranging from biochemistry to nanotechnology.

In order to gear up for this big event, the chemistry students have been sharing their results with students and faculty, both here at Wabash and beyond. Near the beginning of this semester, the Chemistry Club co-sponsored a poster symposium in Hays Hall to spotlight the work that was accomplished during the summer research internship program on campus. Also, Wabash students that completed research off campus were invited to participate and share their experiences with students considering summer research at prestigious locations such as Cornell, the National Institutes of Health, or the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Most recently, the Chemistry Club organized a trip for students to present at the 7th Annual Indiana Local Section (ACS) Poster Symposium at Earlham College. Wabash had a great showing, with the largest number of posters presented at the symposium! Posters focused on everything from porous silicon research to virus-induced gene silencing. The students celebrated their successful presentations on the way back to Wabash by making a pit stop at BD's Mongolian Barbeque in Indianapolis. All of this hard work will pay off this spring when the group heads to Chicago to present at the ACS National Meeting!