Schmid Students Present at Spring 2022 American Chemical Society Conference

Gabriela Nerhood ’22

Over ten Schmid students attended the Spring 2022 American Chemical Society Annual Conference in San Diego, CA. For many, it was their first conference experience and the students had the opportunity to present their research. Read below to hear about their conference experience.

How was your experience presenting your research?

“At first, I was very nervous, and I didn’t feel that I was ready for this next step. However, after discussing my project with a few people it came so naturally to me. I was immediately reinvigorated for my love of chemistry. Attending this conference reinforced my self confidence in this field.” – Gabriela Nerhood ’22

“Being able to present my research at the ACS conference made me think about my research and my place as a scientist. Being able to investigate a topic of importance and be able to present at ACS made me realize that what matters isn’t age or status but the research, and I think that’s very powerful.” – Morgan Grimes ’22

Morgan Grimes ’22

“I had so much fun presenting my research at the ACS conference. It was such a unique experience to present my research to professionals in the computational chemistry field who were able to provide highly informed constructive feedback on my research and were able to understand my research at a high level.

Furthermore, I was able to gain insight regarding graduate school programs and even had some individuals trying to recruit me to their programs!” – Michael Bertagna

“I really enjoyed getting to present my work, even though it was a little bit stressful. Those who came up to my poster asked super insightful questions and were very interested in learning about my research. It was also cool to talk to other scientists doing work in computational chemistry who were already familiar with a lot of the methods I was using! – Leah Zahn

What was your favorite part about the conference?

“My favorite part of the conference was being able to explore and experience “the world of science” if you will. Through scientific presentations and the exhibition hall I was able to meet the people behind the science. To actually see people that are actively participating in the community of chemistry was a great experience.” – Morgan Grimes ’22

Michael Bertagna ’22

“My favorite part about the conference was meeting so many individuals who were just as passionate about my field of research as myself. I learned so much about state of the art chemistry and was able to teach others about my specific sub-field of computational chemistry.” – Michael Bertagna

“At the ACS Expo, there was a booth where you could visualize proteins and build molecules in VR! They showed us how you could look at files that you can normally only view on a 2D screen, and interact with them in a 3D space. It was super cool to be able to grab onto different parts of a molecule, or add atoms onto it!” – Leah Zahn

“My favorite thing about the conference was having high-level conversations with chemists not in my immediate Chapman Circle. I was able to gain advice and new ways of thinking from the many different people attending the conference.” – Gabriela Nerhood ’22

Did you learn anything new or was there a key takeaway from attending the event?

“This was the first conference I’ve attended, so I was really interested in learning how the different presentations go and connecting with other students and researchers. It helped me overcome some of my imposter syndrome and feel like I have a place in academia and research!” – Leah Zahn

Leah Zahn ’22

“I learned that the chemistry world is actually very small. Many of the papers I have read were written by people who attended the conference, and it was interesting to get a sneak peek into this chemistry world. It was unlike anything I have experienced in my undergraduate life.” – Gabriela Nerhood

“I learned so many new ideas regarding chemistry, but the key takeaway I took from the event was that the field of chemistry is actually quite a small world at the graduate level. I was so surprised by how many people had heard about work done by my lab and labs we collaborate within research.” – Michael Bertagna

“I think the key takeaway that I had from the event was to keep going. There was such a range of ages attending the conference, and it made me excited to see that once a chemist, always a chemist.” – Morgan Grimes ’22