Alyssa VanPelt-Cathcart, Staff Writer
Over the last few years since the pandemic, many clubs have dropped in membership as fewer students were enrolling. This can be true for most SUNY schools, and perhaps on the national level as well. But many students have been working to revive the Chemistry Club. With the help from three sophomore students, Kayla VanPelt-Cathcart and Adrianna Koch, and Dr. Migues the Chemistry Club is making a comeback.
Kayla VanPelt-Cathcart, a Biochemistry major, is the current president of the Chemistry Club who’s very passionate about the mission and abilities her club has to offer the school.So far, the club has lived up to her hopes as they have hosted two different experiments. “I wanted a club that could be a source of enjoyment to de-stress from the everyday grind of schoolwork,” said VanPelt-Cathcart.
Their first experiment involved making ice cream using nitrogen gas. The second experiment led by Dr. Migues were called the “Screaming Gummy Bear Experiment” where they melt potassium chlorate. Once it is in a liquid state, they add the gummy bear to the tube and you wait for it to light on fire while it rapidly decomposes.
Adrianna Koch, a Business Administration major, is the current treasurer of the Chemistry Club. Koch joined because she has been friends and roommates with VanPelt since their freshman year. Through VanPelt’s encouragement, Koch agreed to join to be supportive to her friend. Koch hopes to continue to have fun and learn more about chemistry during her time with the club.
Dr. Angela Migues, the current Assistant Professor for the Chemistry Department, researches computational chemistry to probe elements of chemical and biological systems that are inaccessible to experiment. Her research interests include material science, catalysis, protein-DNA interactions, protein structure and function, as well as method development to study such systems. Dr. Migues has a plethora of experience. Additionally, as she led the gummy bear experiment, she did an excellent job example of the process for even non-science majors to understand.
“This is not a club that demands you have certain grades or be good at any sciences, all you need is a desire and curiosity for Chemical reactions and exploring how vast the utilization of chemistry is,” said VanPelt. “Forget the stress of your past chemistry classes and try to keep up in class and stay on track for homework, your mission is to have fun here.” So, not a science major? That’s okay! Come visit to see cool experiments! The Chemistry Club meets every Monday in the Physical Science building.
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