Dr. J-Lo: Admiration and gratitude for a friend and mentor

Four times in the past seven months I have given presentations on science outreach: Rochester Local Section of the American Chemical Society, Pacifichem, the Materials Research Society and the American Chemical Society Publications webinar. In each of these presentations I told the story of how I got started with my science outreach in my own community of Cape Cod. This is story of being connected to my Northeastern Local Section of the American Chemical Society (NESACS) National Chemistry Week Coordinator who became my friend and science outreach mentor. I met Christine Jawork-Lopes at the October 2010 meeting of NESACS. The guest lecturer that evening was Al Hazari, who became another inspiration for me. I'd gone to the meeting that night to ask the Chair to sign my science café funding proposal for International Year of Chemistry mini grants. My proposal was well received and I committed to organizing not just one but four science cafes during the International Year of Chemistry 2011! I'm easily convinced and up for a challenge-it's just my personality. Christine or Chris as we call her at NESACS, gave me some materials to get me started for a small-scale hands-on activity I was planning to do at a local after school program at the Cape Cod YMCA the following week. This is what sparked our friendship and subsequent mentorship. Once I found out that her students at Emmanuel College call her 'Dr. J-Lo' I did, too.

I attended Dr. J-Lo's National Chemistry Week (NCW) 'prep day' at the Museum of Science Boston in 2011. Not only was it awesome to use their labs, who doesn't love to see what's 'behind the curtain', but I
was impressed by her level of dedication and attention to detail-having the volunteers run all the experiments in advance to avoid any issues at the NCW event.

 The 'aha moment' for me was Hanover Day in 2011. Dr. J-Lo had booked a table at this annual civic event held on a field where local vendors and the like, showed their wares. At our ACS tables, we showed chemistry! It was an unexpected and delightfully received experience and it made me realize that you can do science outreach any where. All you need is a tote bag of materials, a table and a table cloth!

 

Kids making their own hand-sanitizer-replicated from the NCW
Boston event at the Cape Cod Science Café Healthy Kids event
Materials and inspiration provided by Dr. J-Lo. Photo by Randy
Weintraub.

In 2011, Dr. J-Lo and her team at the Museum of Science Boston and the Boston Children's Museum, developed chemistry activities related to kids health that won NESACS a Chemluminary award (awarded in 2012 for the 2011 activity) for the 'Most Creative National Chemistry Week Celebration Using the Theme'. See the cover of the NESACS Nucleus (right) and read the article here: http://www.nesacs.org/pub_nucleus/2012/Oct2012.pdf

T-Shirt design by Dr. J-Lo's daughter, Cassie in 2015

 

In 2012, Dr. J-Lo asked me to come take photos at NCW. The theme was Nanotechnology and her show-stopper was a Carbon Nanotube model. She joked that if I couldn't get this photographable moment into Chemical and Engineering News then we'd never get anything into it! Ours was a sure winner and we made it into the highly competitive NCW roundup (see left).

A truly pivotal moment in my science outreach was participation in the American Association of the Advancement of Science Family Science Days in 2013. I'd obtained an Innovative Project Grant on behalf of the ACS Division of Small Chemical Businesses to conduct an Entrepreneurial Career Workshop. Encouraged by a fellow ACS colleague, George Ruger, to reserve an outreach table at the event, I obliged. Dr. J-Lo connected me up with her contacts at the Museum of Science, who provided materials and personnel and this combination coupled with my father's colleagues from Suffolk University allowed us to forge a formidable relationship with the Boy Scouts. This is what led to our Chemluminary award winning 'Wicked Cool Autumn Welcome' with the Cape & Islands Boy Scout Council of America. This successful Cape Cod NCW event was the precursor for 'STEM Journey' which will, in 2017, mark it's fourth consecutive year.



Family friends flanked by my Abby (left) and Dr. J-Lo's Cassie (right)
2011 NCW at MOS Boston

Part of my attraction towards Dr. J-Lo was that she too, is a working mom who volunteers for her professional society. Our kids are the same ages and have similar interests such as sharing in their mother's science outreach events and Girl Scouts. Additionally we found ourselves with similar hobbies, like running for instance. We met up after  we'd both run the Boston Athletic Association 10K in 2014 to take a photo and show off our '10K bling'. At the Fall National Meeting of the ACS in 2014 we  ran on Saturday morning and again at the same meeting for the ACS Younger Chemists Committee 5K.

 

I am so grateful to Dr. Jo-Lo for being such an enthusiastic supporter of my science outreach efforts both on Cape Cod and for the last five years at the Cambridge Science Festival. Without her early and continued support I would not have been able to develop my outreach niche.

It was such a pleasure to see Dr. J-Lo receive the Henry A. Hill Award in October 2015. There are very few people who embody the spirit of Henry Hill in leadership, professionalism and outreach and my dear friend and mentor, Dr. J-Lo certainly do. Dr. J-Lo is a true Chemistry Ambassador. Read more about this award and the amazing Dr. J-Lo here.

 

ACS Resource Table at 2015 Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers conference November 5-6, 2015

Exhibiting at the Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers ‪#‎MAST15‬ annual conference at my ACS K-12 Resources for Educators table.

With my friend, Nancy Gifford, who is the Barnstable County Director for the Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers.

On this side of my table I'm promoting ACS chemistry ambassadors, NESACS and Cape Cod Science Cafe STEM Journey program, chemistry resources for K-12, grades 3-6 and middle school chemistry lesson plans.

Highlighting ACS resources for high school chemistry teachers including ACS Chem Clubs, ACS Science Coach Program, American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT) member benefits, NESACS Connections to Chemistry professional development, the Avery Ashdown exam and various NESACS outreach events we participate in including Cambridge Science Festival, National Chemistry Week and Chemists Celebrate Earth Day.

RESOURCE HANDOUTS

http://www.inquiryinaction.org/

http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/resources/k-8/science-activities.html

http://www.middleschoolchemistry.com

http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/policies/acs-guidelines-and-recommendations-for-teaching-high-school-chemistry.html

http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/outreach/science-coaches.html

http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/how-to-use.html

http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/students/highschool/chemistryclubs/start-a-club.html

Web sites of interest include:

http://www.acs.org/education

https://www.teachchemistry.org/content/aact/en.html

http://www.nesacs.org/section_act_main.html

http://www.capecodsciencecafe.tumblr.com

Cape Cod Point of View: SE Massachusetts STEM Expo

SE MA STEM EXPO- Cape View May 24,2012 Guest Blog Post by Dr. Jack Driscoll, PR Chair Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society


This EXPO was a success for the students and teachers who were very excited to attend a science & technology convention for young students. There were a wide range of companies and organizations who could discuss careers and provide demonstrations from marshmallow construction to blood chemistry to robotics. A STEM program that was recently added to the 8th grade curriculum of the Dennis Yarmouth school district was presented. 

For the high school students who did not attend, the National Science Foundation (NSF) offers scholarships in STEM for Associates, Bachelors, and Masters Degrees. The NSF STEM funding for MA (starting in 2003) has resulted in a 200-300% increase in high AP courses in the Boston Public Schools over the past few years. 

Cambridge Science Festival

We (NESACS) attended the SE MA EXPO as presenters to the 500+ grade 5-8 students from 23 different school systems in SE MA including 4 schools from the Cape and Islands. The EXPO was held at Bridgewater State University in Bridgewater, MA. There were 100 STEM professionals and 200 teachers at Bridgewater State University on May 24, 2012. Some photos at the EXPO are shown below: 

Our Cape companies/organizations included the following:
Cape Cod Science Café- for Communicating chemistry- to NESACS members and the public
PID Analyzers- VOC’s in soil and water
American Chemical Society (ACS)- developing interest for students in scientific careers
Jennifer Maclachlan, George Ruger, Jack Driscoll
ACS Chemistry Ambassadors- Communicating chemistry to the public  

Nova Biomedical Corp.- Demonstration of handheld blood glucose analyzers for type 1 & type 2 people with diabetes. The Nova meter requires a very small blood sample and is ideal for measuring blood glucose in children. 






Dr. Jack Driscoll and Rick Rolling. Children interested in health related fields or had relatives with diabetes were interested. The teachers were more interested than the children according to Rick.



NESACS- Demonstration of pH for all ages- Dr. Jack Driscoll, PR Chair NESACS, ACS, PID Analyzers (R), George Ruger, MID Hudson Section ACS (L) pH meters, pH paper, Red cabbage juice

Smithers Pharma Corp- Blood Chemistry Experiments- Dr. Paul Reibach-
demonstrated testing the compatibility of blood types. Students used common household chemicals to simulate blood types. This exhibit is important for many students considering nursing careers. Students learned about the life and contributions of Dr. Charles Drew, African American physician who developed ways to process and store blood plasma in blood banks- Dr. Paul Reibach, member of NESACS  and ACS. There were many students lined up for this experiment. Jennifer noted "it didn't hurt that Paul would yell out *who wants to learn about BLOOD* to gather a quick crowd around him".


Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute-
Demonstration of force (using steel bars and levers). WHOI is one of the largest employers of scientists in the SE MA area (and 1250 scientific personnel). Woods Hole is one of four centers in a program sponsored jointly by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Woods Hole Center is a joint effort involving scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Presented by Josh Eaton, Mechanical Engineer, WHOI, Falmouth, MA


Our Cape Cod Schools included:
Barnstable grades 7 and 8
Dennis Yarmouth presenters- discussing new STEM program (2011) and cooperative water project with Russia

Provincetown grades 6-8  
Sandwich grades 5-8
Upper Cape Regional Presentation on planning careers
Other Cape Organizations
Martha's Vineyard School District Representative(s)
Cape Cod Community College- Connections in conductivity


Comments
Only one student knew what pH was. He was a 6th grader who had gone to science camp last summer. The favorite pH scale displayed the difference in pH between meats (acidic) and vegetables (basic). 
The biggest hits were the pH paper for testing water samples and the red cabbage juice (prepared by steaming red cabbage - Jennifer) indicator which for acid turns orange and for base turns purplish blue.

When an enthusiastic group of students came by, they were generally followed by an equally enthusiastic science teacher.
We were able to spark considerable new interest with the demos from our group.
We had English teachers come by and were amazed by the technology there. We said that STEM is important but so is communication. If the technology students can’t write or express themselves, they won’t be successful. We talked to math & geography teachers who were very interested in the STEM EXPO and science, so just because they don’t have a science degree doesn’t mean that they can’t be helpful teaching science with the proper training.


We plan to hold a Cape Cod Science Café with the Cape schools in our area in the late Fall.


National Chemistry Week

Last year during National Chemistry Week (Oct. 2012) we reached over 3,000 students with our four events but there were no schools from Cape Cod. We intend to change that this year.




PRESS RELEASE National Chemistry Week (Oct. 21-27 2012)
For the 25th consecutive year, the ACS National Chemistry Week event in the Boston area will be run by the Northeast Section of the ACS (NESACS). The events will be held in conjunction with the MOS, Boston Children’s Museum and Burlington High School. The 2012 celebration will be conducted during the week of Oct. 21-27, 2012, and the featured theme is “Nanotechnology!” We will have a number of demonstrations for the events based on quantum dots and properties of nano technology particles. This is a STEM event for K-12 students as well as for High School Teachers (Connections to Chemistry). In 2011, NCW, we reached  3,000 K-12 students with our three events. Dr. Bassam Shakhashiri, 2012 President of the ACS, gave talks and provided demonstrations at two of our events. We also provided workshops for 75 High School Chemistry Teachers through our Connections to Chemistry Program during NCW.
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is the world’s largest scientific society with 164,000 members. The Northeastern Section of the ACS region which consists of eastern MA (inside 495) and the state of NH has 7,500 members in academia and industry. We hold monthly meetings that are open to the public and organize, promote and/or attend Cape Cod Science Cafes, Science Cafe NH and other area Science Cafe events for our members and the general public throughout our region.


For more information on NESACS or NCW contact:
Dr. Jack Driscoll
NESACS Public Relations Chairperson
Email
T: 1 774 413 5281 x 119
Photos courtesy of Jennifer Maclachlan and George Ruger