Recipients - American Chemical Society

Midland Local Section

Anne-Catherine Bedard

Anne-Catherine Bedard has led the Diversity and Inclusion Committee since 2020, transforming it into a major outreach initiative for Midland ACS. She secured significant grants and organized impactful events like Trivia in the Park and A Day in the Life, engaging the public and promoting diversity in chemistry. Her social media campaigns, featuring local scientists, have reached thousands. Collaborations with local companies and NOBCChE, including the Bettye Washington Greene Award, further enhance public appreciation for chemistry. These efforts earned Midland ACS the Best Overall Local Section Minority Affairs Committee ChemLuminary award in 2022 and 2024.

Brazil International Chapter

Maria da Conceicao Ferreira de Oliveira

Prof. Maria Oliveira was pivotal in establishing the first ACS Student Chapter in Northeast Brazil at the Federal University of Ceará (UFC). As a volunteer, she inspires Chemistry students, fostering event organization, fundraising, and collaboration. She organizes external visits to highlight the societal role of chemists and connects with academic advisors across Latin America. Under her leadership, the ACS Student Chapter UFC was recognized as Outstanding by the American Chemical Society. She is the chair elected of the ACS Brazil Chapter and will become the chair in January 2025.

Brazosport Local Section

Yolanda Daza

Yolanda Daza has been a cornerstone of our local section, contributing significantly to outreach initiatives. She played a crucial role in events like Girls in STEM, First Robotics, and ACS outreach programs, while also engaging the Hispanic community through ACS/Dow’s ERG HLN. Additionally, she served as the webmaster and Secretary, ensuring the smooth operation of the section's activities. Her multifaceted contributions, including managing elections and maintaining the website, have been crucial in keeping the section functioning effectively. Her dedication and creativity have made a lasting impact, making her a deserving candidate for the Brazosport ACS Volunteer of the Year award.

California Local Section

Mariana Alves

During the past year, Mariana has taken the lead in presenting chemistry shows at our school events, while also assisting at other outreach events. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and she is handling all the logistics and safety aspects of these chemistry shows. I relied on her leadership while I was out of town this past spring, when she took the lead for the Cal ACS team at North Bay Science Discovery Day. Our members have expressed their confidence in her by electing her to a Councilor position starting in 2025, and she is also serving on the organizing committee for the 2025 Western Regional Meeting.

Central Arkansas Local Section

Sara Hubbard

Dr. Sara Hubbard coordinates and attends events with the Museum of Discovery and other groups across Arkansas. She coordinated NCW 2024 and the Local Section portion of Tinkerfest 2024 and assisted in the development and completion of Conversations with Chemists Meetings. Dr. Hubbard also assisted in the development of the Southwest Regional Meetings and provides information regarding how the local section can participate.

Central Texas Local Section

Kelly Lancaster

Kelly Lancaster has been an effective and engaging leader for our section's biannual public outreach events for CCEW and NCW, and she has led a highly successful Central Texas program to engage K12 students and families in the CCEW illustrated poem contest.

Dayton Local Section

Melinda Greer

Dr. Melinda Greer has been organizing National Chemistry Week outreach events for over 7 years for the Dayton Local Section. She works with local organizations, including the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery and Centerville Library, to provide spaces for local K-12 children to learn about STEM through the lens of the National Chemistry Week theme. This year, children learned about deep space photography and medical imaging as a part of Picture Perfect Chemistry. Dr. Greer is critical in facilitating these outreach experiences, helping to inspire the next generation of STEM professionals in the Dayton, Ohio, community.

Erie Local Section

Christine Ann Saber

Dr. Christine Saber has done an amazing job organizing the Erie ACS Chemistry Olympiad at the local level using her previous experience serving as one of the USNCO National mentors. This past November, her wonderful talk hosted by the local section further raised the visibility of the program and made the process more transparent for schools and volunteers considering joining the program. Additionally, in her role as section secretary, she helps connect individuals to other volunteer opportunities and activities throughout the Section. She is an incredible asset to our community.

Georgia Local Section

Ram Sabnis

Ram Sabnis has been an integral part of the Georgia Local Section’s outreach for several years, impacting over 1,000 students and teachers. As our local coordinator of the Chemistry Olympiad, Ram dedicates countless hours annually to ensure students can participate in the competition. This includes innumerable communications, organizing the in-person examinations, and solving logistical challenges. This is particularly noteworthy as Ram has helped to navigate a changing landscape among post-COVID changes to the competition. Additionally, Ram actively participates in other outreach events, fostering broader engagement in chemistry.

Greater Houston Local Section

Kiresha Johnson

Kiresha Johnson has been the Greater Houston section’s CCEW coordinator for the past 6 years. Every year since 2018, except the two Covid years of 2020 and 2021, this amazing volunteer organizes an exhibition booth at the Green Mountain Energy Earth Day at Discovery Green in Downtown Houston to educate the public about Chemistry with kids’ activities designed around the year’s CCEW theme and goodie bags for the kids with ACS CCEW merchandise. We are able to make quite an impact, thanks to her efforts, with several hundred visitors to the ACS-GHS booth every year.

Green Mountain Local Section

Christin Monroe

Christin has served as the Green Mountain Section's Chemist Celebrate Earth Week Coordinator for the last two years. In collaboration with the Landmark College Marketing Department, she created several YouTube videos to celebrate NCW and CCEW. Christin is always eager to participate in outreach events, and at our annual NCW event, she both volunteered and coordinated the largest group of volunteers. In other outreach activities, she continues to promote an understanding of the challenges and technological barriers faced by chemists with both physical and hidden disabilities.

Hawaii Local Section

Domonkos Feher

Domonkos served as the coordinator of the ACS Hawaii section for the National Chemistry Week event. He successfully organized approximately 8 to 10 booths showcasing various chemistry activities at the Windward Shopping Center, attracting the attention and participation of around 200 visitors.

Indiana Local Section

Alexandra Tamerius

Dr. Alex Tamerius is passionate about educating young scientists about the joy of chemistry through inclusivity and diversity. Her efforts inspire thousands of individuals in the Indianapolis area to embrace the exciting world of science. Not only does she go above and beyond for her students, but she also embraces the Franciscan values of her university when supporting her community.

Lehigh Valley Local Section

Sherri Young

Dr. Sherri Young of Muhlenberg College has been a great resource for the Lehigh Valley local section over the past decade. Last year alone, Dr. Young planned and led at least two major initiatives: a career-focused event in collaboration with the Muhlenberg College chemistry club and Women in STEM club, featuring ACS President Dr. Dorothy Phillips, and an annual memorial event honoring the late Dr. Ned Heindel of Lehigh University, complete with an award for excellence in chemistry. Her innovative approaches and consistent participation have set a high standard for outreach, inspiring others and significantly advancing the section's mission.

Malaysia International Chapter

Hasrinah Hasbullah

Dr. Hasrinah Hasbullah has been instrumental in ACS Malaysia Chapter's outreach programs for over a decade. She has planned and participated in chemistry festivals, science days, and virtual educational events, impacting hundreds of students and teachers. Her creative initiatives, such as “Fun Science with Water” and “Lab-To-Home Chemistry Festivals,” foster a love for STEM through hands-on learning and interactive experiments. Her dedication to outreach has significantly enhanced science education accessibility, inspiring future scientists and strengthening community engagement with chemistry.

New York Local Section

Paris Svoronos

Dr. Paris Svoronos chaired the 2024 Sterrett Environmental Symposium on "Microplastics, Microproblems?", organizing a hybrid event with experts addressing microplastics’ impact, detection, and solutions. The free event engaged 140 in-person and online attendees from across the U.S. – from New Mexico, Mississippi, California, Illinois to upstate New York, promoting environmental sustainability. Dr. Svoronos revitalized the symposium in 2021, transitioning it to Zoom during the pandemic, reaching 75+ viewers. Now an annual hybrid event, it fosters cross-disciplinary collaboration on environmental challenges. Dr. Svoronos also contributed to National Chemistry Week outreach, bringing experiments and students to promote chemistry and engage the community.

Nigeria International Chapter

Thompson Izuagie

Dr. Thomas Izuagie has been involved in outreach for ACS Nigeria since 2019. This year, he conducted the ACS Chemistry Festival for kids, students, and communities in Sokoto, Nigeria. He also conducted outreaches in two local schools in Nigeria. In July, he facilitated a Panel discussion session for students: Boosting your post-graduation employability in the chemical sciences. He was also a member of the planning Committee for the last ACS Africa Regional Conference on Green and Sustainable Chemistry held in Lagos, Nigeria. He was equally the Chapter Coordinator for the last ACS NCW and participated in organizing the Chapter’s CCEW.

North Jersey Local Section

Joseph Badillo

Joseph Badillo has been instrumental to the success of NJACS's Project SEED program, mentoring students and organizing and running our poster sessions. He's also been a superlative chair of our Organic Chemistry Topical group, running robust programming open to all chemists for multiple years.

Omaha Local Section

Nikae Perkinson

Nikae focuses her energy and passion for chemistry and outreach to promote diversity and inclusion in our profession. She co-leads the Omaha Section's WCC and was instrumental in the organization of several outreach and social events throughout the year. Her enthusiasm is invaluable for the Section's continued effort to better serve our members and promote the importance and significance of chemistry to the public.

Orange County Local Section

Allison Gotoh

For the past 20 years, Allison has single-handedly planned, organized, and executed the Annual Orange County College Awards Dinner. Every year, she contacts the department chairs and other professors at all the colleges and universities in our Section area and coaxes them to select a single chemistry student for the Award. Simultaneously, she arranges the venue and coordinates the catering, publicity, program speakers, attendee registration, award certificates, cash prizes – everything. Besides the students, their families, teachers, and others are invited to attend. The impact is widespread, focused, and deep. Allison has established a successful ACS event in Orange County.

Oregon Local Section

Jeanne Liu

Jeanne facilitated the 2024 Pauling Medal Award Symposia when another volunteer bailed out. Jeanne is the ACS-Oregon Treasurer. She stepped up to manage the symposia finances. She coordinated the purchase and delivery of the medal--actually, worked with ACS-Portland and ACS-Puget Sound to purchase several medals for future symposia. Jeanne coordinated the speakers and social events. She assisted with catering, space, schedule, and the student poster session that is part of the symposia.

Peru International Chapter

Fiorella Olivera Venturo

Fiorella Olivera led impactful STEM outreach through "Haciendo Ciencia" and the American Chemical Society (ACS), organizing virtual and in-person science workshops for children and youth. She also trained educators in STEM education and science communication. Her creative approach included engaging hands-on experiments and partnerships with schools and public entities. Fiorella’s leadership in virtual science festivals and public outreach events inspired curiosity and learning in diverse communities, making science accessible and fun. Her efforts reached a wide audience, fostering interest in STEM among children, youth, and educators across Peru.

Puget Sound Local Section

Sheri Tonn

Dr. Sheri Tonn has been a member of ACS for over 50 years, with her volunteer work beginning as an undergraduate student and continuing as an active volunteer and leader in the Puget Sound section. Her commitment has been exemplary, particularly through her outreach community activities, serving in a myriad of local section roles and being a champion for diversity, sustainability, and the environment. Sheri’s work embodies the vision and mission of ACS not only through her leadership work in the local section but also her community involvement that stems from her passion for a healthy planet for all.

Singapore International Chapter

Fun Man Fung

Fun Man Fung is a passionate volunteer via chemistry education. His YouTube channel provides free lab instruction, empowering students with limited resources. He's actively involved in national and international Chemistry Olympiads, inspiring young scientists. Through collaborations with the Singapore Ministry of Education, he's enhanced chemistry teaching and learning. His global impact is evident through talks and workshops in Asia, Europe and US. His recent edited book on the Chemistry Olympiad highlights the contributions of the US team. His dedication to fostering love for chemistry is further demonstrated by his role in the inaugural ACS Singapore Youth Challenge 2024.

Southern Arizona Local Section

Trina Shartsis

Trina Shartsis was an active participant in our local section's Strategic Planning retreat and continues to play a role in helping our local section meet its goals. She assisted the section's Women's Chemistry Group, assisted with the SARSEF Science Fair, organized a "Fun with Chemistry" event, and organized the collection of donations for EMERGE.

Western Michigan Local Section

James Krikke

Jim is very personable and enjoys interacting with families and students. He loves chemistry and has passed that passion on to thousands of local children over 20 years. He has also inspired younger chemists to do demos. He has been very active in our local section, writing the newsletters for many years and keeping our volunteers informed about outreach opportunities. Jim has held many local offices, including chair. He organized the demo part of our NCW event for a long time. Jim recently retired but is still volunteering at "Chemistry at the Mall" on October 26th this year.

Outreach Volunteer of the Year Award Recipients

2025 Global Outreach Volunteer of the Year Winner