Camarillo, Calif., April 16, 2015 – CSU Channel Islands (CI)’s student affiliate of the American Chemical Society (ACS) received an award recently at the American Chemical Society National Meeting in Denver, Colorado.
The student chapter, which calls itself the “Free Radicals” is about 50-strong and prides itself on putting on events out in the county that interest kids and their parents in chemistry and other sciences.
The chapter’s advisor, CI Professor of Chemistry Philip Hampton, Ph.D., says the Free Radicals community outreach projects likely helped them earn a Student Chapter Commendable Award for the 2013-2014 academic year.
“The Science Carnival is one of the major outreach events that the club does,” Hampton said. “They were also involved in a cosmetic chemistry outreach, which is a cluster of activities designed to show the chemistry behind cosmetics.”
The Science Carnival is an annual event held at Thurgood-Marshall Elementary School in Oxnard, in which kids from Kindergarten through 8th grade and their parents explore hands-on science activities in a carnival setting.
“The Free Radicals helped gather the entire scientific community at CI to show kids how interesting science can be,” said CI senior Alina Mitina, who was president of the Free Radicals in the 2013/2014 academic year. “We showed the kids how they can go into science and not be afraid of it. We do things like freeze candy and ice cream with liquid nitrogen.”
The Free Radicals also helped interest young female students in science careers at the Brighter Horizons Math, Science and Technology Conference held at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks last March.
One of the events involved showing 5th through 9th grade students how to use chemicals to create their own perfume, bath fizzers, and chapstick.
The ACS’s Society Committee on Education considers student affiliates around the nation to receive special recognition based on their programs and activities.
Awards are classified as outstanding, commendable and honorable.
For the 2013-2014 academic year, the committee honored 44 who were outstanding, 104 commendable and 151 received honorable mentions.
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About California State University Channel Islands
CSU Channel Islands(CI) is the only four-year, public university in Ventura County and is known for its interdisciplinary, multicultural and international perspectives, and its emphasis on experiential and service learning. CI’s strong academic programs focus on business, sciences, liberal studies, teaching credentials, and innovative master’s degrees. Students benefit from individual attention, up-to-date technology, and classroom instruction augmented by outstanding faculty research. CI has been designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is committed to serving students of all backgrounds from the region and beyond. Connect with and learn more by visiting CI's Social Media.