Partner with ACS Local Sections to Grow Your Student Chapter

by Carolyn Beans

Last fall, Oliver Paszkowski had an idea. As a biochemistry and chemical biotechnology major at East Stroudsburg University (ESU) in Pennsylvania, he had recently won a student award for best organic chemistry essay from the Lehigh Valley ACS Local Section. The section’s monthly meeting was coming up and Paszkowski wanted to attend to find out more about what the group offered. But the meeting was at another university an hour away. Maybe, he thought, I could find other chem club members who want to carpool.

Paszkowski found a handful of takers. And today, one or two vehicle-loads full of ESU Chemistry and Biochemistry Club members pull up to every Lehigh Valley ACS Local Section meeting. “It’s been an amazing resource for connecting us with other groups within the area—both student and professional groups,” says Paszkowski, now a rising fourth-year student, and president of his institution’s student chapter.

ACS local sections (and their non-US counterparts, ACS international science chapters) are local groups of chemical professionals who support a shared interest in science, outreach, career development, and networking—like an ACS student chapter for professionals. But don’t let the term “professionals” intimidate you. These local sections welcome students too, especially those ready to jump in and help with the wide range of programs these sections offer, like guest speaker lectures, webinars, community outreach, social events, and career workshops. 

Connecting with your local section could help you and your student chapter tap into all of these opportunities without your having to plan a single event yourselves. And when you do plan your own events, your local section may just be there to support you, too.

Getting started: Make the connection

There are 185 local ACS sections across the US. Finding those closest to you is as easy as typing your zip code into the ACS Local Section Lookup form. “Look at your local section’s website and find their newsletter because that always has a list of what events are coming up,” recommends Paszkowski. Many sections also post upcoming activities on social media. Paszkowski also suggests asking your chem professors which local sections and events might be a good fit for your club, since they are likely members of a local section themselves.

Once you identify an event that interests you, make plans to go and maybe even bring your club members along. Carpooling to local section events is “really low hanging fruit” for ACS student chapters, says Steven Boyer, an inorganic chemist at ESU and past chair of the Lehigh Valley ACS Local Section. “If they can piggyback off of things that are already being organized, it is less work for them to organize it.”

Maybe your local section’s monthly meeting will include a lecture on an emerging chemistry field. By attending as a group, that talk becomes an event for your club too. When putting together your club budget, you may even be able to request money from your school to cover travel and meal costs for these meetings, says Boyer.

Paszkowski thinks that attending local section meetings may have contributed to his club’s ability to attract new members and increase in size. “We can say that the ESU chem club goes to events where professionals talk,” he says.  

Local sections even host some events specifically for students. Last October, as part of ACS’s National Chemistry Week (NCW), the Lehigh Valley Local Section hosted a student night where attendees ate free pizza while listening to Crystal Chu, a chemistry professor at Lehigh University, talk about her research on developing bioinspired fibrous materials for medicine.

Last November, the section again welcomed students for a Career Night. About 10 industry professionals set up tables at Pennsylvania State University, Lehigh Valley, to meet with 25 students curious to learn about their companies. “I was able to talk with many different people who could explain more about what they do than a job description,” says Ryan Gunia, then an ESU chemistry major in his final year. “I also was able to show how passionate I am about chemistry with the different companies and explain my work ethic.” One conversation with a representative from the company dsm-Firmenich turned into an internship offer. The internship then led to a full-time job in quality assurance.

Even if your student chapter is too far away to make the trek to local section events, you can still connect virtually. “Many local sections host virtual events and online seminars that are open to all members of the ACS,” says Ping Furlan, a chemistry professor at the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York, and chair of the New York ACS Local Section. “If you're interested in getting more involved with a local section, don't hesitate to reach out to their leadership team. They may be able to provide you with more information about upcoming events, projects, or volunteer opportunities that you can contribute to remotely.”

Giving back

To get the most out of local section events, step up and volunteer. You’ll build your network through direct interactions with local professionals. And you can also gain valuable science communication and event planning skills. Not sure how you could be useful? Just email a member of the local section’s leadership team. “If I get an email asking, ‘Can I be helpful to your event?’ then I certainly say yes,” says Furlan.

In 2021, the New York ACS Local Section moved its NCW celebration online because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of this 4-hour community outreach event, nine student chapters shared short videos of chemistry demos showcasing the 2021 NCW theme, “Fast or Slow—Chemistry Makes It Go!” Students from the US Merchant Marine Academy, for example, conducted experiments illustrating the slow chemical process that causes ships to rust (and how to prevent it!), as well as the fast chemical combustions that generate the signal flares used by merchant marines. Students bring their passion, creativity, and energy to these events, says Furlan, long-time cochair of the New York ACS NCW committee. “Their contribution is fundamental.”

The ACS Malaysia International Chemical Sciences Chapter values student contributions so much that several years ago it turned over leadership of its flagship event, the Southeast Asia-Global Innovation Challenge (SEA-GIC), to students. Each year, a different student chapter in Malaysia hosts the competition, and student teams from universities across Southeast Asia submit “pitches”—ideas for how to use chemistry to solve whatever challenge that year’s SEA-GIC addresses. Students can also enter a digital art competition and listen to keynote speeches by professional chemists.

“Most of the work is done by the students, from the planning to the day of the event,” says chemist Mohd Sukor, a research fellow at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, the national university of Malaysia, and chair of ACS Malaysia. But ACS Malaysia members help by attending planning meetings to assist the students in pulling off a large international competition. 

“We really appreciated the help from ACS Malaysia in connecting us with other student chapters and also telling us about how to conduct the program successfully,” says Nurul Farhah, an applied chemistry major in her final year at the International Islamic University Malaysia Kuantan (IIUMK), who helped her student chapter host SEA-GIC in 2021. Because this event was during the pandemic, the chapter hosted it via Facebook Live and drew around 200 participants from countries throughout Southeast Asia. Student teams submitted short videos describing novel ways to use sustainable chemistry to reduce waste during the pandemic. The winners, a team from Aisyiyah University, Yogyakarta, in Indonesia, pitched their idea for “esterofoam,” a more sustainable alternative to Styrofoam made from a biopolymer composed of citric acid, glycerol, and starch. Many students also submitted powerful digital art pieces that reflected their feelings on the state of the pandemic.

From contacts to connections to opportunities

By helping with this and other ACS Malaysia events, the students grow their networks. Nurfatihah, a third-year applied chemistry major and the current vice president of the ACS IIUMK Student Chapter, was once nervous to approach professional chemists. Because of her interactions with ACS Malaysia, she now knows professors at other universities whom she can contact if she wants to learn more about their graduate programs, as well as professionals at companies whom she can reach out to for internship suggestions. She’s also expanding her network of fellow undergraduates. Nurfatihah and student chapter leaders from other schools have a WhatsApp group with ACS Malaysia members that they use to promote upcoming student chapter programs. “We can reach a lot of participants,” she says.

Networking potential is one reason that Paszkowski stepped up when the Lehigh Valley Local Section put out a call for student volunteers to join their strategic planning subdivision. Together with another student, Paszkowski worked with local professionals to help craft the section’s mission statement. He largely communicated with the group via Zoom meetings. But when he later saw a professor from these meetings in person at a section social hour, he felt comfortable approaching him to ask for advice on what he should look for in a graduate school.

Partnering with ACS local sections can pay off in other ways too—from scholarships and travel grants to help with student chapter events. Paszkowski won that essay competition from the Lehigh Valley ACS Local Section through what he describes as an organic chemistry triathlon. The other two “events” included a letter of recommendation from a professor and an organic chemistry exam. The overall winner received a $1,000 scholarship.

Supporting your chapter

When planning your own events, members of your local ACS section are also great candidates for guest lecturers. If we want to arrange for a speaker to cover a subject beyond what is taught at our university, we can request a lecturer from ACS Malaysia, says Nurfatihah. “The members of the Malaysia chapter come from various fields, like analytical chemistry and physical chemistry, so they tell us that they can help us in that way.” 

Your local section can also be your gateway into other ACS offerings. Many local sections, for example, include their own affiliates of ACS national committees, such as the Younger Chemists Committee, Women Chemists Committee, and Committee on Minority Affairs. They also award student grants for traveling to national and regional ACS meetings. Local sections could even help your student chapter identify and secure funding directly from ACS. ACS Malaysia, for example, helped fund IIUMK’s SEA-GIC event. But they also advised the chapter on how to develop a successful ACS grant proposal to secure additional support.

A lasting partnership

Local sections put all of this effort into supporting students because they want a lasting partnership. “The hope is that if we can get students involved when they are in college, then when they go off to companies within the local section, they will remain involved,” says Boyer. His local section is already seeing returns on their investment. Two of the professionals who volunteered to represent companies for the recent Career Night were former students of Lehigh Valley ACS members. One of these volunteer alums, Philip Elias of Evonik, will chair the local section beginning in January 2024.

As a student, you can do your part to get this partnership off to a strong start by maintaining a regular presence. Attend meetings, volunteer for events, and don’t be afraid to reach out to chapter officers and ask for a chat. If a chapter member shows interest in your research, or in an event you are planning, be sure to share regular updates. Nurul Farhah frequently approaches ACS Malaysia members through LinkedIn. She’ll DM them to ask advice on whether a job is a good fit or how to use a particular instrument. She also makes a point of commenting on their posts. “They help me,” says Nurul Farhah. “I also share what I’ve learned from my university, so we are sharing knowledge together.”

“The students are our stakeholders,” says Mohd Sukor. “Not just to become lecturers or scientists, but for the ACS. We are nurturing the future leaders.”

Mohd Sukor is proof that supporting students works. He and several other current ACS Malaysia members began their involvement as students. That’s why, as a professional, he felt ready to take on chairing the chapter at a young age. “I got all of this experience way before,” he says. “We don’t lack for leadership.”