NEACT 76th Summer Conference

Members of the NEACT Executive Committee

Mel Govindan opens the day with a warm welcome.

The NEACT 76th Summer Conference was a fun and action-packed one day event at Clark University.  The day started with a welcome from Mel Govindan, the NEACT President, for the approximately seventy participants. He enthusiastically greeted the new faces in the crowd along with many long-time members of the group.  Prof. Nancy Budwig, the Associate Provost and Dean of Research for Clark University, also welcomed us to her beautiful campus.  Clark provided us with a great location for our one-day workshop with lecture halls, classrooms, lab space, and a banquet for dinner.

Prof. Nancy Budwig from Clark University made us all feel right at home.

Mary Christian-Madden introducing Sr. Mary Virginia Orna

Sr. Mary Virginia Orna entertaining the crowd with her scientific story telling.

Our first speaker of the day was Sr. Mary Virginia Orna from the College of New Rochelle. Sr. Orna has an impressive list of publications and accomplishments in chemistry the include non-profit organizations, government service, industry, and of course teaching.  She entertained us with her unique style of story telling that blends together historical events, scientific discoveries, and the people behind the chemistry.  Her first talk was titled "Historic Mineral Pigments: Colorful Benchmarks of Ancient Civilizations".  Sr. Orna took us on a journey through time, looking through the lens of pigments.  She painted a colorful picture of how ancient civilizations around the world incorporated pigments into artwork.  The lecture had a feel of a wonderful travel log, as she shared her experiences traveling around the world to see the ancient artwork first hand.  Our group was captivated by her breadth of knowledge and deep understanding of the chemistry behind the enduring pigments from ancient artists. You can read about her study of pigments and color in her book The Chemical History of Color (a few lucky folks got to take home a signed copy of her book as a door prize!).

After our morning in the lecture hall with the whole group, we split into smaller groups for three rounds of concurrent sessions.  The offerings included technology applications in the chemistry classroom, lab activities, research talks, lab safety, and a trip to the local art museum.  The choices for the day provided topics of interest for participants from a wide range of teaching environments. I chose to attend one classroom strategy workshop, the safety talk, and one lab workshop.  Sr. Orna offered to give another talk about the "Undiscovered Elements" of the periodic table, based on her book The Lost Elements.

You can read the descriptions of the concurrent sessions on this google doc: Short Program Descriptions.

A group of teachers working together to computer simulations from Concord Consortium.

Daniel Damelin from Concord Consortium led a workshop on using modeling in the chemistry classroom

Dr. Jim Kaufman presented an excellent talk about lab safety.

Participants are experimenting with redox reactions that produce color changes with different indicators.

Dr. Mathangi Krishnamurthy from Fitchburg State University led a lab program.

The group gathered for the annual NEACT banquet, where we were treated to an Italian themed meal. We all enjoyed time to discuss the workshops from the day and to get to know our fellow chemistry teachers over a relaxed meal. At the banquet, Kathy Siok was awarded the John J. Swistak Award. This award was in recognition of Kathy's work behind the scenes for the summer conference every year, along with her many years of service to NEACT in a wide range of roles. It was a pleasure to join in thanking Kathy for all of her dedication our group.

Kathy Siok was the recipient of the John J. Swistak Award for 2015 in honor of her years of service in NEACT.

The day ended on a high note with one more talk from Sr. Orna titled "Fashion, Pharmaceuticals, Food and Fun: the Chemical History of Color". This talk was the perfect complement to the morning talk about pigments. Her creative discussion about the application of color in modern culture gave us a new perspective on the objects around us. Once again, her fluency with both the chemistry and history, punctuated by her research excursions, made this an inspiring ending to a wonderful day.

Now it's time to look ahead to next summer! The 77th NEACT Summer Conference will be going back to the usual four-day format. Plans are already in place for an exciting conference at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, Mass. The theme for the conference is "Chemistry, Naturally". Look for more information for presenters and participants on the NEACT website. Here's a link to the flier for Summer 2016. I hope to see you there!