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!