(April 5, 2012)

Students present at American Chemical Society meeting

SHREVEPORT, LA — Four Centenary students presented their original research during the American Chemical Society National Meeting and Exposition in San Diego, CA, March 25-29. An estimated 12,000 chemists, chemical engineers, academicians, and students attend the bi-annual event, featuring more than 7,000 presentations that highlight important research advances.

"The opportunity to present at a national meeting is a prestigious and unique one for Centenary students," said Dr. Tom Ticich, Grayson Chair of Chemistry. "It provides recognition for their research, the opportunity to share it with an international audience, and will certainly strengthen their portfolios as they look past Centenary. Centenary students are fortunate in that funds from the Student Government Association, the Provost's Office, and the American Chemical Society make such experiences possible."

Students Madeline Fechter and Charles Madden presented on the "Synthesis of Straight-Chain Bolalipids with Varying Alkyl Chain Length." The research work was done at Centenary under the direction of Dr. David Brownholland, Assistant Professor of Chemistry.

Lindsey Maurice-Walker also presented a poster on her work, "High Efficiency In-Situ Decoration of Silica Nanospheres with Water-Soluble Magnetite Particles." Her research was completed last summer at the University of New Orleans.

Senior chemistry major Corey Davis presented on "Synthesis of Arsenate Diester Internucleotide Linkages." Davis completed his work in a Harvard Medical School lab last summer. His project debunked a highly publicized but controversial study by a NASA scientist, who claimed that bacteria could incorporate arsenic in the place of phosphorous in their DNA. In light of this connection to the high-profile study, Chemical & Engineering News interviewed Davis at the conference.

"I was able to attend talks by chemists and chemistry enthusiasts from around the world, including Nobel Laureates," said Corey Davis. "It was exciting to present my poster alongside students from other great programs and see what my peers are researching."

The Centenary Chemistry Club also received an Honorable Mention Award for its programs and activities for the previous year. Faculty members in attendance included Dr. Tom Ticich, Dr. David Brownholland, and Dr. Ernest Blakeney, Jr., Sklar Chair of Chemistry.

Founded in 1876, the American Chemical Society is the world's largest scientific society with over 164,000 members. The March meeting in San Diego was the ACS's 243rd national meeting and exposition. The theme of the meeting was "Chemistry of Life."