2013 NESACS Public Relations Outreach Events: family, educators, students and business professionals

NESACS has been named a finalist in the 2014 ChemLuminary Award category at the ACS National Meeting in San Francisco August 12:

• Outstanding Continuing Public Relations Program of a Local Section

The NESACS outstanding continuing public relations program reached 25, 900 members of the general public in 2013 at 12 highly publicized outreach events using a variety of PR channels such as print news media, public television and social media to promote these events specific to families, educators-only, students-only and business professionals.

Family science outreach events: Of this number, 23, 500 were reached as a result of family science outreach programming including existing programming that we initiated contact with the organizers to be a part of, we were specifically invited to participate in and/or that we ourselves as NESACS organized for NCW or CCED events. 

1)The American Association for the Advancement of Science AAAS Family Science Days in cooperation with the ACS Division of Small Chemical Businesses at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA February 16 and 17, 2013. (3,700 attendees over two days).  


2) Science on the Street at the Museum of Natural History in Brewster, MA. NESACS was a "hands-on activity exhibitor" on March 23, 2013. This was the first in a continued annual event. We will be participating again in 2014. (500 attendees).


3) Cambridge Science Festival Science Carnival on Saturday April 13, 2013. NESACS Younger Chemists Committee staffed a table outside on the tennis courts at the Cambridge Public Library featuring the effect that acids and bases have on the body and how scientists use pH to learn about chemicals and liquids around us (15,000 attendees). 

Photo courtesy of Dr. Ranga

4) Chemists Celebrate Earth Day at the Museum of Science Boston. Original event was rescheduled from 4/21 to 4/28 due to the ongoing investigations and the potential threat to public safety due to the Boston Marathon tragedy. Event used the laboratory at the Museum of Science to conduct green chemistry and environmental chemistry experiments. With over 50 volunteers and 400 attendees. 

National Chemistry Week 3 events: Cambridge, Boston and Cape Cod

5) Museum of Science Boston Sunday October 27, 2013. 3,000 attendees. This was the 12^th annual NCW at the Museum of Science including the Phyllis A. Brauner Memorial Lecture which is a chemistry stage show delivered by Bassam Shakhashiri. 

6) Boston Children's Museum Saturday November 9, 2013. 500 attendees. Museum attendees had the opportunity to learn about and experience NCW energy-related experiments geared towards ages 4-10.

7) NESACS and the Division of Environmental Chemistry partnered with the Cape and Islands Boy Scouts Council of America to bring National Chemistry Week to Cape Cod during an existing Boy Scout annual event: The Wicked Cool Autumn Welcome which became dubbed: Wicked Cool Science Café. 400 attendees. We invited other science based entities to come and provide hands-on energy experiments. Participants included: NESACS and ENVR , Green Briar Nature Center, Cambridge Science Festival (their year round initiative is called Science on the Street), Liquid Robotics, Suffolk University, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

Educators Only Events: The Southeastern Massachusetts STEM group we connected with as a result of the NESACS IYC Cape Cod Science Café series and have, for the second consecutive year, represented NESACS at their expo. The Connections to Chemistry event is NESACS organized and has been a continuing education program for teachers for over a decade.

8) SE MASS STEM-EXPO at Bridgewater State University. 300 educators interested in STEM resources participated in this resource fair. We had an ACS/NESACS table featuring Chemistry Resources for Teachers from The American Chemical Society and programs for educators that are unique to our section such as Connections to Chemistry and High School Science Series. 

9) Connections to Chemistry

Each year in October, NESACS and the Education Committee of the Northeastern Section invite high school chemistry teachers to a program at Burlington High School (Burlington, MA) that includes choice of chemistry-based workshop and an evening lecture on a subject related to the NCW theme.35 teachers participated.

Photo by NESACS 

Photo by NESACS

Student Only Events

Using their existing model: High School Science Series, the Museum of Science Boston, led by NESACS member, David Sittenfeld, conducts hands-on activities and events related to NCW. These events are designed for a two-hour field trip experience. NESACS secures funding through the Lowell Institute to pay for busing for Massachusetts high school students. 500 students attend this annual NCW NESACS event.

10) High School Science Series during National Chemistry Week at Museum of Science Boston Tuesday October 29, 2013.  500 attending students.

Photo by Dr. J.Lo

Business Professionals-Programming aimed at aligning scientific entrepreneurs with the resources for entrepreneurs that the American Chemical Society has was achieved at the  

11) BMM Business Conference was organized by NESACS member, Mukund Chorghade and featured entrepreneurial speakers from NESACS and well as from ACS Board ofDirectors.

Here's the PR report Jack wrote about it. 

12) Northeastern University Education Summit-Part of the BMM 2013 conference featuring ACS President, Marinda Wu.