A group of three Elizabethtown College Chemistry students recently traveled to the 88th Intercollegiate Student Chemists Convention (ISCC) hosted by Muhlenberg College on March 29.
Ryan Smith ’25, Jennah Hoke ’25, and Angelina Giglio-Tos ’25 delivered oral presentations at the conference. Smith and Hoke took home honorable mention awards for their respective groups.
“After all of the work I have put into my research over the past two years, it was nice to share my work with other like-minded individuals,” Smith said. “It was an honor to receive the award, but my favorite part was being able to collaborate with other chemists and hopefully spark some creativity within them on their own projects as they did for me.”
Students presented 12-minute presentations, followed by a three-minute Q&A session, to a panel of two judges. There were six sections at the conference, with approximately 10 students in each section.
Smith was mentored by Elizabethtown College Associate Professor of Chemistry Lauren Toote, and presented his research, “Development of Nanoparticle-Based Lateral Flow Assay for Detection of Hg2+ in Drinking Water” in the Analytical Section.
Giglio-Tos, mentored by A.C. Baugher Professor of Chemistry James A. MacKay, presented her research, “Copper-Catalyzed Azide-Alkyne Cycloadditions to Prepare 1,2,3-triazoles with an Acid Cleavable Protecting Group” in the Organic I section.
Hoke, also mentored by MacKay, presented her research, “Triazole Functionalized Psuedoisocytosine PNA Nucleobase for Recognition in Double-helical RNA Through Triplex Formation” in the Organic I Section.
“I am honored to have received an honorable mention at the ISCC conference,” Hoke said. “This was a great experience to prepare me for my senior thesis defense, which I also presented to the campus community on Scholarship and Creative Arts Day (SCAD).”
MacKay, Toote and Elizabethtown College A.C. Baugher Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus Charles D. Schaeffer, Jr. also attended the conference.
About the Intercollegiate Student Chemists Convention
The Intercollegiate Student Chemists Convention (ISCC) provides the opportunity for undergraduate students from a variety of schools in the region to present their research in the field of chemistry and network with graduate schools and professionals in the chemistry field. The convention has been held since 1936 and is believed to be the oldest and longest running conference of its type in the country.
