Tag: Outreach

Back on Campus – 2022 SAIL Chemistry Camp!

Posted on by Leah O'Brien

From August 1st – 5th, the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry welcomed local high school students participating in the UO’s Summer Academy to Inspire Learning as they put on their goggles for our annual SAIL Chemistry Camp, a hands-on chemistry lab experience sponsored and designed by the Cook Lab.

Camp leaders Amanda Cook and 4th-year graduate student Alison Chang – along with numerous volunteers – assisted campers as they conducted experiments exploring the chemistry of photography, sunscreen and spectroscopy, catalysts and oxygen, paper nanotechnology, and then wrapped up the week by making ice cream with liquid nitrogen. Be sure to check out our photos!

SAIL is a University of Oregon program led by volunteer faculty and aimed at increasing students’ enrollment and success in college. SAIL invites eligible 8th through 12th grade students to attend free, annual academic summer camps until they graduate from high school.

SAIL Chemistry Camp Solves their Case with Science!

Posted on by Leah O'Brien

SAIL Chemistry Camp Photo Collage

This year’s Summer Academy to Inspire Learning (SAIL) Chemistry Camp was the fifth annual hands-on chemistry lab hosted by the UO Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. Organized and lead by grad students Lisa Eytel (Chemistry) and Dana Reuter (Geological Sciences), the camp offered hands-on chemistry lab experience for students from local high schools. Eytel and Reuter are outreach co-chairs for the UO chapter of Women in Graduate Sciences, which has provided leadership for the SAIL Chemistry camp since it got its start in 2014.

From July 23-27, student participants in this year’s forensics-themed camp got to use laboratory skills to tackle a “crime” and identify the culprit in a murder-mystery scenario.

A special appearance by UO President Michael Schill started the week off with a bang (literally!) and then SAIL campers got down to work. From Tuesday through Thursday they collected evidence from the crime scene and analyzed fingerprints, blood drops, fiber and an unidentified powder. On Friday, they presented their evidence and brought the culprits to justice. Check out the photos and videos on our SAIL Chemistry website!

Thank you! to all the additional volunteers who helped make 2018’s SAIL Chemistry Camp a huge success: Brylee Collins, Alicia DeLouize, Allison Dona, Tai Donor, Annie Gilbert, Shweta Gupta, Mason Leo, Checkers Marshall, John Morehouse, Holly Rittenberry, and Lucy Walsh – as well as SAIL staffers Katie Brooks and Robin Nagy, and faculty advisor Darren Johnson!

 

 

 

 

First UO SAIL Chemistry Camp – It’s a Wrap!

Posted on by Leah O'Brien

Thanks to the efforts of grad student organizers Kara Nell and Blake Tresca, UO Chemistry and Biochemistry welcomed participants in the UO Summer Academy to Inspire Learning (SAIL) program to its first-ever Chemistry camp last week.

Students conduct an ink analysis experiment in the laboratory during the Chemistry SAIL camp.
Students conduct an ink analysis experiment in the laboratory during the Chemistry SAIL camp.

A group of seventeen students from area high schools got hands-on experience each day in the laboratory, conducting experiments such as ink analysis, making their own bio-diesel, and synthesizing pigments.  In addition, the campers participated in a variety of activities designed to inspire and prepare them for their college careers.

Additional thanks to all the volunteers and presenters that contributed their time and expertise: Prof. Darren Johnson, grad students Kurtis Fairley, Lisa Eytel, Anna Oliveri, Rachel Smith, Bryan Nell, Michaela Burke, undergrads Brittaney White, Leif Winstead, Tori Smith and volunteer EmmyLou Nell!