Chemists Convene In New Orleans

Abstract

With its storied culinary scene, New Orleans proved a fitting place for last week’s American Chemical Society national meeting, which spotlighted food and energy chemistry. Four plenary lectures covered topics from food flavors to microalgal triglyceride oils as a new source of renewable oil for energy and food. The meeting also featured ACS’s inaugural “Communicating Chemistry” cooking competition for students highlighting New Orleans’ Cajun cuisine. Teams from the College of the Ozarks; California State University, Fresno; and Cornell University gave interactive presentations related to food chemistry in the style of popular food science television shows. The event ended in a three-way tie. Another highlight was The Kavli Foundation Innovations in Chemistry Lecture presented by Daniel G. Nocera, a professor in Harvard University’s department of chemistry and chemical biology. He described improvements to the world’s first practical artificial leaf—a simple catalyst-coated wafer of silicon—which mimics t...