Photos and quotes from 2017

Abstract

OVERHEARD Photos and quotes from 2017 ShareShare onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail C&EN, 2017, 95 (49), pp 30–37December 18, 2017Cite this:C&EN 95, 49, 30-37Chemists were among the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets during the March for Science on April 22 in Washington, D.C. (shown), and hundreds of other cities across the U.S. and world. Organizers promoted the march as a nonpartisan event in support of science, but some scientists chose not to participate because they saw it as too political. (Credit: Cheryl Hogue/C&EN)Figure1of3(Credit: Shutterstock)Figure1of3National Chemistry Week, ACS’s largest chemistry outreach program, celebrated its 30th anniversary this year. ACS past president George Pimentel started the program in 1987 as National Chemistry Day to educate the public about the role of chemistry in everyday life. Today, ACS continues to spread the seeds of chemistry around the world through new outreach programs such as its international Chemistry Festivals. Next year, ACS will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Project SEED program, which provides research opportunities for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. C&EN will honor the milestone with a series of monthly profiles featuring program alumni. (Credit: ACS)Figure2of32017 was marked by the worldwide March for Science, the 30th anniversary of National Chemistry Week, and increasing use of artificial intelligence in materials science. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald J. Trump endeavored to tighten travel and immigration policies, and sexual harassment became increasingly acknowledged across the country.Policy Chemists were among the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets during the March for Science on April 22 in Washington, D.C. (shown), and hundreds of other cities across the U.S. and world. Organizers promoted the march as a nonpartisan event in support of science, but some scientists chose not to participate because they saw it as too political.ACS news National Chemistry Week, ACS’s largest chemistry outreach program, celebrated its 30th anniversary this year. ACS past-president George Pimentel started the program in 1987 as National Chemistry Day to educate the public about the role of chemistry in everyday life. Today, ACS continues to spread the seeds of chemistry around the world through new outreach programs such as its international Chemistry Festivals. Next year, ACS will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Project SEED program, which provides research opportunities for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. C&EN will honor the milestone with a series of monthly profiles featuring program alumni.Computational chemistry Major chemical companies including Dow Chemical, BASF and Evonik, are partnering with computer firms such as IBM and Hewlett Packard Enterprise on digitalization projects in materials science research. Programs launched this year aim to put artificial intelligenceand machine-learning algorithms to work on large stores of research data using supercomputers.Diversity “I don’t know what I would be doing now if it weren’t for DACA. Being in the U.S. with DACA has really been a life-changing event for me. It’s allowed me to do research and pursue a degree in STEM.”—Rudy, an undocumented student, University of California, Davis Immigration was front and center in the U.S. in 2017, starting with President Donald J. Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order barring travel to the country by residents of seven Muslim-majority countries. The move upended the lives of many foreign chemists. Later in the year, the immigration focus turned to the 2012 Obama Administration immigration policy called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which gave undocumented students an opportunity to step out of the shadows and apply for temporary work permits. In September, Trump ended the program. More than 1 million unauthorized young adults were eligible for DACA in 2016. What will happen to them remains to be seen. Women in science “I’m thinking, ‘What do I do? Do I shove him? Do I do anything? He’s got my proposal.’ ” —An academic chemist on her experience being sexually harassed at a conference The persistent problem of sexual harassment in chemistry and in the broader community was on public display in 2017. C&EN and the ACS Women Chemists Committee will cohost a daylong symposium on sexual harassment in science at the March 2018 ACS meeting in New Orleans to discuss how to prevent harassment in the workplace and at meetings.