‘Everything we are is about chemistry’

CSUB welcomes high school students for Chemistry Day

By California State University, Bakersfield

October 30^th, 2023

Chemistry makes up every part of the world around us, which means the opportunities are limitless for future chemists ready to dive deep into the discipline.

To share that excitement with the next generation of scientists, California State University, Bakersfield’s School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering welcomed around 200 high school students to campus for Chemistry Day on October 20.

Part of the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) National Chemistry Week, the campus event kicked off with a welcome from Dr. Andrea Medina, NSME’s Director of Grants and Outreach, and a warm-up activity from Associate Professor of Theatre Dr. Amy Ressler before launching into presentations from chemist and NSME Associate Dean Dr. Karlo Lopez, Chemistry Professor Dr. Danielle Solano and ACS president Dr. Judy Giordan.

“This was a fantastic event to introduce high school students to the world of chemistry,” Dr. Lopez said after the event. “My hope is that they were able to see beyond the traditional careers of doctor or pharmacist and see that chemistry is a broad field. We often refer to chemistry as ‘the central science’ because it really touches everything, and its impacts are remarkable.”

The theme of this year’s National Chemistry week was “the healing power of chemistry.” Speaking to the crowd via Zoom, Dr. Giordan told students about the ACS’ Heroes of Chemistry Awards, many of which were awarded to chemists working on treatments for illnesses like Hepatitis C, HIV and cystic fibrosis this year.

“Every single one of you there, if this is what you want, can absolutely be a hero of chemistry, and that chemistry hero doesn’t have to be in medicinal chemistry,” she told the crowd. “It can be in everything you do, because everything we touch, everything we are is about chemistry.”

Dr. Lopez, who noted that many of the students’ chemistry teachers were once CSUB students themselves, spoke about his experience working on cancer research at St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. There and on campus at CSUB, he has worked with lysyl oxidase, a versatile protein and cancer target. He also shared the ways chemistry interacts with other sciences.

“Chemistry is not an isolated discipline,” Dr. Lopez told the students. “It is something that integrates multiple areas. One of the things that has drastically changed since the turn of the century is that before, we used to have chemists and physicists and biologists — we don’t have that anymore. We cross so many disciplines that I’m a chemist who dabbles in biochemistry who uses physics.”

Dr. Solano shared about CSUB’s chemistry and biochemistry programs and the possible career paths students could pursue after earning their degrees, such as food science, forensic science and even pyrotechnics.

North High School sophomore Dennis Rodgers wants to be a pediatrician when he’s older, and he’s considering the schools and degrees that could help him reach that goal.

“It was cool,” Rodgers said of the event, noting he particularly liked hearing about Dr. Lopez’s research. “I like the science of chemistry. You get to go in-depth in what makes the world around us. Not many other professions really dive deep like that.”

Damion Smith, a junior at Independence High School who came to Chemistry Day with the school’s Energy Academy, said what he likes most about chemistry is learning about things on a molecular level.

“I thought it was fascinating,” he said of the day’s presentations. “I enjoyed learning about the processes chemists go through and learning about the collaboration between chemistry and biology and how they all blend.”

Mathew Bradbury, a chemistry teacher at North High, brought students from his honors class. He and colleague Jouselin Martin, a biology teacher at the school, are hoping to establish the school’s first chemistry club and get students excited about the subject. They also hoped the visit to campus sparked students’ interest in college.

“Being a low-income school, a lot of our students don’t get the experiences that a lot of other students have,” Bradbury said. “Bringing them here gets them the experience of seeing a college.”

Dr. Lopez hopes Chemistry Day sparked students’ curiosity in chemistry and related STEM fields.

“This generation will be the ones that use chemistry and other tools to make advances in the treatment of cancer and other diseases, they will come up with the innovations that will turn the tide on climate change, and they will be the ones that will return to space beyond the confines of an orbit around our planet,” he said. “If this event helped plant a seed that will lead them to an exciting and meaningful career in chemistry or the sciences, I consider this event a success.”