Dr. Lauren Gray Woods is a volunteer advisor for the Appalachian State University Appalachian Chemical Society, founded in 1977. Since 2016, the Appalachian Chemical Society, under her guidance and with the assistance of fellow faculty advisors, has been involved in many outreach activities each semester.
This year, she helped plan and present a chemistry demonstration show on campus for the community, which was the local section’s most outstanding event during National Chemistry week in 2017. The demo consisted of around 20 students and 4 faculty members participating, with at least 60 people in attendance.
Since being involved with the Appalachian Chemical Club, membership has increased from 10 students to 20-35 students. The club was awarded the American Chemical Society Commendable Student Chapter Award, which is the second highest award a chapter club can receive.
The types of activities and events they have hosted in the last year include:
- The American Chemical Society (ACS) president as a speaker at the departmental annual seminar series.
- A panel with professors from different fields in chemistry and physics to discuss opportunities and answer questions for students about graduate school.
- Volunteer at outreach events such as the Appalachian STEAM Expo, the Children's Playhouse Buildfest and Google Science Street (which takes place in Lenoir, N.C.).
Next the club will host a fundraiser, pie-your-professor on March 14, 2018 which is National Pi Day.
In addition to Woods involvement with the club, in the Fall of 2017, she was the Volunteer Chair for the Southeastern Regional meeting of ACS. Since then, Woods has been named the recipient of the 2018 Outreach Volunteer of the Year Award for the Carolina-Piedmont Local Section.
In recognition of her exemplary outreach efforts, the ACS will present her with a certificate and gift during an upcoming local section event. Awardees will also be recognized in an issue of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) later this year.
In an effort to recognize the outreach efforts made by local section volunteers, the Committee of Community Activities (CCA) has established the Local Section Outreach Volunteer of the Year award program. Each local section has an opportunity to recognize one individual annually for demonstrating extraordinary outreach volunteer service within the section. Volunteers are only eligible to be recognized once every five years.
This year, ACS recognized 52 awardees. To read more about their contributions, visit: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/membership-and-networks/ls/grantsawards/local-section-outreach-volunteers.html. To learn more about the Department of Chemistry, in the College of Arts and Sciences at Appalachian, visit: www.chemistry.appstate.edu.
###
About the American Chemical Society
Founded in 1876 and chartered by the U.S. Congress, they are the world’s largest scientific society. Their mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people. Their vision is to improve people’s lives through the transforming power of chemistry.
About the Department of Chemistry
The objectives of the A.R. Smith Department of Chemistry are to prepare students in chemistry for careers in industry, government service, high school and junior college level teaching and for continuing study in chemistry and related areas at the graduate or professional school level. The department also strives to provide a basic understanding of the principles of chemistry and physical science related to all areas of scientific study and to provide the student with an appreciation for the impact of science and technology in today’s society. All majors in chemistry require a minimum of 122.
By Ellen Gwin Burnette
March 22, 2018
BOONE, N.C.
Dr. Lauren Woods Lecturer, Department of Chemistry
Dr. Lauren Woods Lecturer, Department of Chemistry