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Recognizing Our 2024 Editorial Board Members

18 Dec 2024

At the end of 2024, the RSC Americas office would like to again recognize the Editorial and Advisory Board members in the region who joined over the course of 2024. This year, we had over 20 new Editorial Board members and over 100 Advisory Board members join since we last recognized new additions in December 2023. We would like to thank all of the outstanding work and guidance provided by these researchers, who help ensure the Royal Society of Chemistry maintains its community focus while publishing high-impact, groundbreaking scientific work. Thank you for everything you have done this year, and we look forward to 2025!

New Editorial Board Members:

B. Jill Venton, University of Virginia (USA)
Analytical Methods, Editor-in-Chief

Elsie Sunderland, Harvard University (USA)
Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, Editor-in-Chief

Dionisios Vlachos, University of Delaware (USA)
Reaction Chemistry & Engineering, Editor-in-Chief

Stephen Klippenstein, Argonne National Laboratory (USA)
Environmental Science: Atmospheres, Editorial Board Member

Roger Linington, Simon Fraser University (Canada)
Natural Product Reports, Editorial Board Member

Mark Maclachlan, University of British Columbia (Canada)
Nanoscale Horizons, Scientific Editor

Hans Renata, Rice University (USA)
Chemical Science, Associate Editor

Hannah Shafaat, University of California, Los Angeles (USA)
Chemical Science, Associate Editor

Matthew Sigman, University of Utah (USA)
Chemical Science, Associate Editor

Jason Hein, University of British Columbia (Canada)
Digital Discovery, Associate Editor

Joshua Schrier, Fordham University (USA)
Digital Discovery, Associate Editor

Xin Li, Harvard University (USA)
EES Batteries, Associate Editor

Juan-Pablo Correa-Baena, Georgia Institute of Technology (USA)
EES Solar, Associate Editor

Carla Ng, University of Pittsburgh (USA)
Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, Associate Editor

Ning Dai, University at Buffalo (USA)
Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, Associate Editor

Elin Winkler, Centro Atómico Bariloche (Argentina)
Journal of Materials Chemistry C/Materials Advances, Associate Editor

Eva Hemmer, University of Ottawa (Canada)
Nanoscale/Nanoscale Advances, Associate Editor

Shelley Claridge, Purdue University (USA)
RSC Applied Interfaces, Associate Editor

Wei Gao, California Institute of Technology (USA)
Sensors & Diagnostics, Associate Editor

Carlos D. Garcia, Clemson University (USA)
Sensors & Diagnostics, Associate Editor

Michael Serpe, University of Alberta (Canada)
Sensors & Diagnostics, Associate Editor

Adriano Brandelli, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil)
Sustainable Food Technology, Associate Editor

New Advisory Board Members:

Ashley Ross, University of Cincinnati (USA)
Analyst, Advisory Board Member

Scott Martin, Saint Louis University (USA)
Analytical Methods, Advisory Board Member

Michael Roper, Florida State University (USA)
Analytical Methods, Advisory Board Member

Eric Appel, Stanford University (USA)
Biomaterials Science, Advisory Board Member

Louise Berben, University of California, Davis (USA)
ChemComm, Advisory Board Member

Robert Gilliard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA)
ChemComm, Advisory Board Member

Kerri Pratt, University of Michigan (USA)
ChemComm, Advisory Board Member

Rommie Amaro, University of California, San Diego (USA)
Chemical Science, Advisory Board Member

Alexis Grimaud, Boston College (USA)
Chemical Science, Advisory Board Member

Garry Rumbles, University of Colorado Boulder (USA)
Chemical Science, Advisory Board Member

Mohammad R Seyedsayamdost, Princeton University (USA)
Chemical Science, Advisory Board Member

Alejandro Vila, Universidad Nacional de Rosario (Argentina)
Chemical Science, Advisory Board Member

Amanda Morris, Virginia Tech (USA)
Chemical Society Reviews, Advisory Board Member

Kristin Hutchins, University of Missouri (USA)
CrystEngComm, Advisory Board Member

Abel Moreno, National Autonomous University of Mexico (Mexico)
CrystEngComm, Advisory Board Member

Harry B. Gray, California Institute of Technology (USA)
Dalton Transactions, Advisory Board Member

Jennifer Love, University of British Columbia (Canada)
Dalton Transactions, Advisory Board Member

Doug Stephan, University of Toronto (Canada)
Dalton Transactions, Advisory Board Member

Tim Storr, Simon Fraser University (Canada)
Dalton Transactions, Advisory Board Member

Christine Thomas, The Ohio State University (USA)
Dalton Transactions, Advisory Board Member

Jahed Abed, Meta (USA)
Digital Discovery, Advisory Board Member

Joel W. Ager III, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (USA)
EES Catalysis, Advisory Board Member

Anastassia Alexandrova, University of California, Los Angeles (USA)
EES Catalysis, Advisory Board Member

Yu Huang, University of California, Los Angeles (USA)
EES Catalysis, Advisory Board Member

Emily Carter, Princeton University (USA)
Energy & Environmental Science, Advisory Board Member

David Sinton, University of Toronto (Canada)
Energy & Environmental Science, Advisory Board Member

Sarbajit Banerjee, Texas A&M University (USA)
Energy Advances, Advisory Board Member

Heather MacLean, University of Toronto (Canada)
Energy Advances, Advisory Board Member

Greg Goss, University of Alberta (Canada)
Environmental Science: Nano, Advisory Board Member

Sara Mason, Brookhaven National Laboratory (USA)
Environmental Science: Nano, Advisory Board Member

Tara Sabo-Attwood, University of South Carolina (USA)
Environmental Science: Nano, Advisory Board Member

Mario Ferruzzi, Virginia Tech (USA)
Food & Function, Advisory Board Member

Neuza (Mariko Aymoto) Hassimotto, University of São Paulo (Brazil)
Food & Function, Advisory Board Member

Chi-Tang Ho, Rutgers University (USA)
Food & Function, Advisory Board Member

Dragan Milenkovic, University of California, Davis (USA)
Food & Function, Advisory Board Member

Susannah Scott, University of California, Santa Barbara (USA)
Green Chemistry, Advisory Board Member

Christopher J. Chang, Princeton University (USA)
Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, Advisory Board Member

Oleg V. Ozerov, Texas A&M University (USA)
Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, Advisory Board Member

Marco Aurélio Zezzi Arruda, UNICAMP (Brazil)
Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, Advisory Board Member

Matthieu Baudelet, University of Central Florida (USA)
Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, Advisory Board Member

David Koppenaal, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (USA)
Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, Advisory Board Member

Claire Xiong, Boise State University (USA)
Journal of Materials Chemistry A/Materials Advances, Advisory Board Member

Iain McCulloch, University of Princeton (USA)
Journal of Materials Chemistry C/Materials Advances, Advisory Board Member

Robbyn Anand, Iowa State University (USA)
Lab on a Chip, Advisory Board Member

Jesse Greener, Laval University (Canada)
Lab on a Chip, Advisory Board Member

Abhishek Jain, Texas A&M University (USA)
Lab on a Chip, Advisory Board Member

James Crawford, Altos Labs (USA)
MedChemComm, Advisory Board Member

Hao Jing, George Mason University (USA)
Nanoscale Advances, Advisory Board Member

Li Li, Northeastern University (USA)
Nanoscale Horizons, Advisory Board Member

Neha Garg, Georgia Institute of Technology (USA)
Natural Product Reports, Advisory Board Member

Hendrik Luesch, University of Florida (USA)
Natural Product Reports, Advisory Board Member

Dirk Trauner, University of Pennsylvania (USA)
Natural Product Reports, Advisory Board Member

Vladimir V. Kouznetsov, Universidad Industrial de Santander (Colombia)
New Journal of Chemistry, Advisory Board Member

Stuart Conway, University of California, Los Angeles (USA)
Organic Chemistry Frontiers, Advisory Board Member

Jeremiah A Johnson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA)
Polymer Chemistry, Advisory Board Member

Klavs Jensen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA)
Reaction Chemistry & Engineering, Advisory Board Member

Anna Balazs, University of Pittsburgh (USA)
RSC Applied Interfaces, Advisory Board Member

Carlos F. O. Graeff, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) (Brazil)
RSC Applied Interfaces, Advisory Board Member

Kristi Anseth, University of Colorado, Boulder (Canada)
RSC Applied Polymers, Advisory Board Member

Jason Bara, The University of Alabama (USA)
RSC Applied Polymers, Advisory Board Member

Matthew L. Becker, Duke University (USA)
RSC Applied Polymers, Advisory Board Member

Sidi A. Bencherif, Northeastern University (USA)
RSC Applied Polymers, Advisory Board Member

Kelly A. Burke, University of Connecticut (USA)
RSC Applied Polymers, Advisory Board Member

Heather D. Maynard, University of California, Los Angeles (USA)
RSC Applied Polymers, Advisory Board Member

Alshakim Nelson, University of Washington (USA)
RSC Applied Polymers, Advisory Board Member

Luiz Antonio Pessan, Federal University of São Carlos (Brazil)
RSC Applied Polymers, Advisory Board Member

Eleftheria Roumeli, University of Washington (USA)
RSC Applied Polymers, Advisory Board Member

Anita Shukla, Brown University (USA)
RSC Applied Polymers, Advisory Board Member

Junpeng Wang, University of Akron (USA)
RSC Applied Polymers, Advisory Board Member

Haian Fu, Emory University (USA)
RSC Chemical Biology, Advisory Board Member

Robert Carpick, University of Pennsylvania (USA)
RSC Mechanochemistry, Advisory Board Member

Stephen Craig, Duke University (USA)
RSC Mechanochemistry, Advisory Board Member

Deborah Crawford, University of Birmingham (USA)
RSC Mechanochemistry, Advisory Board Member

Mario Del Pópolo, CONICET & National University of Cuyo (Argentina)
RSC Mechanochemistry, Advisory Board Member

Seong Kim, Pennsylvania State University (USA)
RSC Mechanochemistry, Advisory Board Member

Audrey Moores, McGill (Canada)
RSC Mechanochemistry, Advisory Board Member

Emily Day, University of Delaware (USA)
RSC Pharmaceutics, Advisory Board Member

Anthony J. Hickey, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA)
RSC Pharmaceutics, Advisory Board Member

Eliana Lima, Universidade Federal de Goias (Brazil)
RSC Pharmaceutics, Advisory Board Member

Priyabrata Mukherjee, University of Oklahoma (USA)
RSC Pharmaceutics, Advisory Board Member

Wilson Poon, University of Texas at El Paso (USA)
RSC Pharmaceutics, Advisory Board Member

Lingling Shen, Novartis (USA)
RSC Pharmaceutics, Advisory Board Member

Audra Stinchcomb, University of Maryland (USA)
RSC Pharmaceutics, Advisory Board Member

Stefan Wilhelm, University of Oklahoma (USA)
RSC Pharmaceutics, Advisory Board Member

Chunmei Ban, University of Colorado Boulder (USA)
Sustainable Energy & Fuels, Advisory Board Member

Shirley Meng, University of Chicago (USA)
Sustainable Energy & Fuels, Advisory Board Member

Alissa Park, University of California, Los Angeles (USA)
Sustainable Energy & Fuels, Advisory Board Member

Amy Prieto, Colorado State University (USA)
Sustainable Energy & Fuels, Advisory Board Member

Erin Ratcliff, Georgia Institute of Technology (USA)
Sustainable Energy & Fuels, Advisory Board Member

Cristobal Aguilar González, Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila (Mexico)
Sustainable Food Technology, Advisory Board Member

Rafael Auras, Michigan State University (USA)
Sustainable Food Technology, Advisory Board Member

Ian Noble, Mendelez International (USA)
Sustainable Food Technology, Advisory Board Member

Joshua Buss, University of Michigan (USA)
Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, Early Career Advisory Board Member

Selvan Demir, Michigan State University (USA)
Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, Early Career Advisory Board Member

Marcus Drover, Western University (Canada)
Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, Early Career Advisory Board Member

Jarad Mason, Harvard University (USA)
Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, Early Career Advisory Board Member

Eva Nichols, University of British Columbia (Canada)
Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, Early Career Advisory Board Member

Timothy Su, University of California, Riverside (USA)
Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, Early Career Advisory Board Member

Alexandra Velian, University of Washington (USA)
Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, Early Career Advisory Board Member

Dianne Xiao, University of Washington (USA)
Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, Early Career Advisory Board Member

Jeff Bandar, Colorado State University (USA)
Organic Chemistry Frontiers, Early Career Advisory Board Member

C. Rose Kennedy, University of Rochester (USA)
Organic Chemistry Frontiers, Early Career Advisory Board Member

Cody Ross Pitts, University of California, Davis (USA)
Organic Chemistry Frontiers, Early Career Advisory Board Member

Jolene P. Reid, University of British Columbia (Canada)
Organic Chemistry Frontiers, Early Career Advisory Board Member

Christo S. Sevov, The Ohio State University (USA)
Organic Chemistry Frontiers, Early Career Advisory Board Member

Erin Stache, Princeton University (USA)
Organic Chemistry Frontiers, Early Career Advisory Board Member

Makeda Tekle-Smith, Columbia University (USA)
Organic Chemistry Frontiers, Early Career Advisory Board Member

Zachary K. Wickens, University of Wisconsin–Madison (USA)
Organic Chemistry Frontiers, Early Career Advisory Board Member

Yang Yang, University of California, Santa Barbara (USA)
Organic Chemistry Frontiers, Early Career Advisory Board Member

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Read the First Accepted Articles in Sustainable Food Technology

09 Dec 2022

We are proud to announce that the first accepted articles for the Royal Society of Chemistry’s new journal, Sustainable Food Technology, are now available to read for everyone. Sustainable Food Technology is a Gold Open Access journal focused on food engineering and technologies, especially sustainable and environmentally conscious ways to provide safe and high-quality food.

The journal, lead by Editor-in-Chief Jorge Barros Velázquez, opened for submission earlier this year and recently released the first three advance articles, covering a range of topics:

	Determination of moisture loss of pomegranate cultivars under cold and shelf storage conditions and control strategies Robert Lufu, Alemayehu Ambaw, and Umezuruike Linus Opara Sustain. Food Technol., 2023, Advance Article. DOI: 10.1039/D2FB00017B
	Biodegradable biopolymers for active packaging: demand, development and directions Jessica R. Westlake, Martine W. Tran, Yunhong Jiang, Xinyu Zhang, Andrew D. Burrows, and Ming Xie Sustain. Food Technol., 2023, Advance Article. DOI: 10.1039/D2FB00004K
	Evaluation of blanching technology in green color preservation in yerba-mate as a substitute for conventional process Ana Paula Picolo, Itamar Luís Gonçalves, Everson Adelmo Pasquali, Albanin Aparecida Mielniczki-Pereira, and Alice Teresa Valduga Sustain. Food Technol., 2023, Advance Article. DOI: 10.1039/D2FB00003B

To stay up to date with Sustainable Food Technology as more advance articles are published, click here. Also, follow the RSC Food Journals on Twitter and read more about the journal’s scope, editorial team, and publishing format on its webpage. If you are interested in submitting your manuscript to Sustainable Food Technology, you can currently publish for free, as all article processing charges are covered until 2025.

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Peer Review Week 2022

22 Sep 2022

This week (September 19-23, 2022) is Peer Review Week, an annual event celebrating and discussing the role of peer review in scholarly communication. This year’s theme is “Research Integrity: Creating and supporting trust in research,” and the posts, webinars, and resources shared this week will cover this vitally important aspect of peer review.

To see a full list of events being held by publishers, authors, editors, reviewers, and more, take a look at the full list of events for this year. Also, join the discussion about Peer Review Week on Twitter using #PeerReviewWeek22.

If you want to learn more about the Royal Society of Chemistry’s approach to peer review, read our article written for this year’s Peer Review Week, with perspectives from Editors-in-Chief and Associate Editors, as well as more information about the peer review process for the Royal Society of Chemistry’s journals, including how you can become a peer reviewer.

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Announcing New RSC Journals

25 May 2022

We are pleased to introduce three new RSC journals: EES Catalysis, RSC Sustainability, and Sustainable Food Technology.

All three journals are gold open access, and will have their article processing fees (APCs) waived until mid-2025, so you can publish your research openly without cost. Submissions will open for each journal in Summer 2022.

Click the images below to find out more information about each journal and to stay up to date with their developments as they move forward.

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Welcoming Luis Campos, Associate Editor of Chemical Science

06 Sep 2018

Our flagship journal Chemical Science, with its dedicated team of Associate Editors, aims to publish research that’s most important to the chemical sciences community. We were excited to announce the appointment of Professor Luis Campos from Columbia University as an editor for polymer science on the Chemical Science blog, and we enjoyed taking some time to get to know him on a more personal level, from his views on publishing to his love of improv!

What are you most looking forward to as an Associate Editor at Chemical Science?

I’m excited to be a part of Chem Sci because I am hoping to serve and represent the polymer community, bringing visibility to the creative work that many people are doing worldwide. With its broad target audience, Chem Sci is an ideal venue to highlight the work of talented young chemists.

What recommendations do you have about publishing journal articles that was helpful in your experience?

Clarity and attention to details in the story you’re telling. Setting the stage in a paper is as important as the results one describes. For example, in my group, we’ve found it very useful to focus on “Figure 1” to try to use images to represent the hypothesis or the story that we’re trying to tell in the paper. It is not always straightforward in all cases, but it’s an important exercise when we write papers. There are many other tips floating around, and I highly recommend that all authors keep an open mind when learning how to write.

Could you share something you’re excited about related to your research or the field?

My group studies small molecules and macromolecules in a way that I can categorize as falling in the bucket of physical macromolecular chemistry, akin to the well-known field of physical organic chemistry. Interestingly, there is not one particular topic that I’m excited about in my research field since there are many exciting challenges out there. I recently participated in an NSF-led workshop to establish a 10-year roadmap of challenges in polymer science and engineering. The final report is a valuable piece, outlining some of the most exciting and challenging areas of research.

There is one thing that I am passionate about –
the polymer community is awesome!

However, there is one thing that I am passionate about – the polymer community is awesome! It’s a very warm, kind, understanding, and supportive group of people. I have had my share of ups and downs, and the support I’ve received from friends and colleagues in the community is just amazing and energizing.

How did you get involved with improv?

A friend of mine introduced me to Thank You, Robot, an improv comedy group in NYC. They are really talented individuals who perform regularly in the city. Each set involves a research scientist presenting their work (~10 min talk). Then, the improv team does a whole comedy routine around it. It’s super entertaining and fun and I always look forward to working with them and their shows.

—

For more tips on how to publish your research, you might find some helpful notes from the RSC in the online guide.

We warmly welcome Luis to the Chemical Science team and look forward to publishing more of the community’s innovative research, especially in the areas of polymer chemistry and organic & functional materials!

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Chemistry Education: All Fun and Games

17 May 2018

Besides publishing high-quality research from around the globe, the RSC’s activities support chemistry education and lifelong learning. During Teacher Appreciation Week (May 7-11) we celebrated the launch of Professional Development of Chemistry Teachers: Theory and Practice, the first book in the RSC Advances in Chemistry Education series. We reflected on all the educators who are making a difference for those studying chemical sciences and wanted to showcase one of the outstanding young educators we’ve met who are making an impact in the North America chemistry community. At the 3rd annual University of California Chemical Symposium, Zachary Thammavongsy from the Yang Group at UC Irvine (UCI) won the coveted “Social Media Prize” for generating the most buzz around the meeting, but what really made Zach stand out was his game company, d-Orbital Games. Attendees like Chemical Science Deputy Editor, Jeremy Allen, had so much fun playing that they may not have even realized they were learning. Since many graduate students with a passion for teaching are often torn between their roles as a researcher and an educator, we caught up with Zach during Teacher Appreciation Week (May 7-11) to learn more about his accomplishments while in graduate school, what he has in store for the future, and what advice he would give to others who are inspired to teach. Zach, who won the 2017-2018 UCI Most Promising Future Faculty Award, has found a unique way to manage both research and teaching and even start his own business. Read on to learn more about Zach’s story and how teaching and learning really can can be fun and games.

Chemical Science Deputy Editor Jeremy Allen plays SeArCH with UC grad students and postdocs at the 3rd annual UCCS

“A game can be many things, but, at its core, a game is a defined set of parameters that allow a player or players to compete. This is a very structured answer, but these predefined parameters make games fun to play (either alone or against other players). A game should be fun, challenging, thought-provoking, foster a sense of competition, and ultimately provide a tangible way to accomplish one’s goals (winning). These concepts are easy to translate into simplified science topics. When playing a new game one must become familiar with the rules; I just make those rules simple to understand while teaching players about science!

“Growing up, I had amazing teachers. My source of inspiration for how to teach effectively has always been my high school teachers. They put maximum effort into their curriculum and I felt that they genuinely loved interacting with students. Now as a teaching assistant (TA), I take the same approach to teaching my lab sections and discussion courses. I don’t think I have a skill that others don’t possess in teaching, but I do believe I have the desire and the drive to pursue teaching as a career that I admire in other teachers. This is why I improve my teaching ability by taking advantage of the education classes offered at UC-Irvine and I attend teaching conferences. I am fascinated by the teaching techniques and learning strategies utilized in the subject of chemistry, and I hope to pursue conceptual learning as a research topic in the near future.

“I am a pedagogical fellow at UCI through the Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation (DTEI). The fellowship is highly competitive as it is open to every graduate student at UCI. I learned of the fellowship through a former pedagogical fellow in the chemistry department. I submitted a sixty minute video of my teaching, collected student evaluations and underwent a formal interview process. The fellowship provided invaluable opportunities, like taking a year-long seminar on teaching techniques with pedagogical fellows from other departments and leading a two-day teaching workshop to prepare incoming graduate students in chemistry for teaching responsibilities. Preparation for the workshop was rigorous; I now fully appreciate the time commitment instructors invest into preparing lecture notes.

“Initially, I was apprehensive about revealing my games to my advisor. I didn’t know how she would receive the news since research is a graduate student’s top priority.”

Zach’s company d-Orbital Games uses simple but clever games to teach chemistry concepts while making education fun.

“As a pedagogical fellow, I crafted a few chemistry flash cards with some paper, pen and scissors to make a simple game to play with my colleagues. The game was so popular with those who did not have a chemistry background, that I used it as the basis of the first d-Orbital game, SeArCH! I launched a Kickstarter soon after, where I converted the seed money from the funded campaign to make more science-based card games and built a brand! The name d-Orbital Games (dOG) was brainstormed one late night in lab with an undergraduate researcher, Wyeth Gibson. It was only fitting that as an inorganic chemist, the chemistry card game company would be named after the transition metal electron orbitals (d-orbitals). I also love the acronym “dOG” since I love dogs and my parents have a shiba inu – which is the company mascot featured in our logo wearing a lab coat and goggles.

“Initially, I was apprehensive about revealing my games to my advisor. I didn’t know how she would receive the news since research is a graduate student’s top priority. I finally told my PI four months after launching the d-Orbital game website and she was absolutely supportive and encouraging. I am not quite sure why I initially felt that my PI would not be receptive to the idea, as she is a very supportive mentor to her students and their scientific goals, even if it isn’t strictly research. My PI has even retweeted things posted on d-Orbital game’s Twitter. If she is reading this, Jenny, you are the best!

“I wandered often while navigating my way into starting a company. I gathered the courage to approach all types of people, not just academics. I asked business owners who started their own companies and shared my business platform at entrepreneurial meet-ups sponsored through UCI. One of my biggest challenges was approaching domestic or international manufacturers to make my games for the lowest price. The best advice I received thus far is from Catherine Croft, Ph.D., the CEO of Catlilli Games, who advised me to submit my games to award shows and attend conferences to showcase d-Orbital Games. It is amazing how many doors open by starting a conversation with people you barely know. I was happy to receive such a warm welcome at UCCS. I went to the symposium unsure how chemistry graduate students from other UCs would react to d-Orbital Games. I had one of the best moments this year watching other graduate students take interest in the education games my team developed. Specifically, I enjoy seeing the smiles and laughter that “Slap Count” brought to the table when a collective group of graduate students were competing to show off their skills in counting d-electrons! The UCCS Chair, Andrea Coleman from UC-Davis, was the star player that night, by bringing the energy to the game table.

“It is amazing how many doors open by starting a conversation with people you barely know.”

“My current team is made up of lab members and childhood friends who possess skills that are unique and vital to the success of d-Orbital Games. They provide critical feedback on every detail, allowing us to provide the most accurate and fun chemistry games. Also, it is nice working with your friends! They don’t hold back on their opinions and I appreciate that a lot. The game designers can be anyone on the team, but usually Bianca and Wyeth help come up with initial concepts and game mechanics. The two editors Kim and Brian are extremely critical of spelling and grammatical errors. Ali and Mike are hometown friends that have helped me get through some of the computing and business side of the company. They are a big help from far away. Fortunately, the game designers are my lab mates. I see them every day. Since we are all busy researching, we don’t normally set a schedule for designing games. The game design happens over at the pub or during our group bonding time. We choose a chemistry topic to tackle and share how certain game mechanics can be incorporated into highlighting a difficult chemistry concept. We try to simplify our games as much as possible, so that students can quickly pick up the game in a one-hour classroom setting. From there, I talk to my editing team about the overall look of the game. I make a lot of grammatical errors, and I am so lucky to have editors that can spot all of my mistakes. The most exciting game that my team is currently working on is a proton NMR game. We try to focus primarily on games that can be implemented in the college level classroom. The proton NMR game will be our first game with a gameboard! I even had students from my organic chemistry course play test the game several times. I am exciting to be presenting the results from the proton NMR game at this summer’s ACS Biennial Conference on Chemical Education! Please come check it out if you are attending the conference!

“I had one of the best moments this year watching other graduate students take interest in the education games my team developed.”

Zach Thammavongsy (right), founder of d-Orbital Games with Connor Easley (left), Chair of the next UCCS where Zach’s games will be featured during the 2019 meeting.

“I envision some universities giving d-Orbital Games a try, if not in their classroom then hopefully in their office hours. We hope our games will assist students in their chemistry learning. Eventually, we hope to tackle every topic in general, organic, inorganic and physical chemistry. We want teachers to be able to pull one of our games off the shelf and seamlessly incorporate them into their lesson plan. We can provide the tools and detail all the new techniques for an educator to be great, but if we don’t get educators to buy in to how teaching can be beneficial to them as much as it will be for the students then that is when students suffer. From my experience, the skills I think graduate students gain from teaching are improved communication skills and professionalism. Every day is a chance for graduate teaching assistants (TA) to practice these skills so that they can be perfected for job interviews or handling difficult workplace situations in the future. Not everyone has to have the passion for teaching, but if everyone knows the benefits from getting the opportunity to teach then perhaps we can start to improve the teaching mindset of our graduate TAs and many other educators.”

We were impressed by Zach’s story and hope it will inspire other young people who are passionate about teaching and the 2019 UCCS is planning to incorporate some of Zach’s games into the program for attendees to play. The biggest lesson that Zach has learned through this experience:

“Continue through the tough times. Even when your ideas don’t work out the first, or second or third time – very similar to research – talk to as many people that are willing to listen and play your game and do what makes you happy.”

We appreciate Zach sharing his story with us and hope you join us in thanking all the teachers who are making a difference; follow Zach & d-Orbital Games and the Yang Group on Twitter to keep up with the latest happenings in both teaching and research. Educators looking for additional teaching tools can explore Learn Chemistry, the RSCs educational resource and teacher support publishing program. In addition to the magazine Education in Chemistry which covers all areas of chemistry education, our peer-reviewed journal Chemical Education Research and Practice is free to access for all, thanks to sponsorship by the RSC’s Chemistry Education Division.

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Joining (the) CHORUS

13 Mar 2018

How do Open Access mandates affect you? If you have NIH funding, you’re probably aware of the requirement that you deposit the author version of your manuscript in PubMed Central (PMC) within 12 months of publication. But did you know that the other U.S. funding agencies have followed suit?

In 2013, the Office of Science & Technology Policy issued a memo entitled “Expanding Public Access to the Results of Federally Funded Research”, which mandated that any U.S. funding agency with >$100 million R&D budget create a plan to make the resulting publications and data freely available to the public. Since then, the agencies have crafted bespoke public access policies with different requirements. Some (e.g., EPA, FDA) have chosen to piggyback off of NIH’s PMC, others (e.g., US DOE, USDA) have chosen to create their own repositories, but there are some who have decided to partner with the publishing industry to fulfil the mandates.

CHORUS, public access Subsequent to the memo, a partnership of scholarly publishers created CHORUS to make the required content publicly available at no additional cost to the agencies. For CHORUS agency partners, including NSF, US DOE, US DOD, Smithsonian Institution, USGS and ODNI, CHORUS leverages existing infrastructure to enable sustainable, cost-effective, and transparent public access to content reporting on funded research. By integrating services and open APIs, CHORUS optimizes funder identification, content and data discovery, long-term accessibility, compliance monitoring, and dashboard reporting.

RSC has been supporting CHORUS since its inception, and last year, we decided to become a full member to help our authors comply with their mandates. We have been depositing our authors’ NIH-funded manuscripts into PMC for years, so this was a natural extension of our commitment to make our author and reader experience smooth. We are now fully integrated with the CHORUS system, so expect to start seeing author versions of funded manuscripts appear on our website next year once their 12-month embargoes expire.

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RSC Americas Blog

Archive for the ‘Open Access’ Category

Recognizing Our 2024 Editorial Board Members

Read the First Accepted Articles in Sustainable Food Technology

Peer Review Week 2022

Announcing New RSC Journals

Welcoming Luis Campos, Associate Editor of Chemical Science

Chemistry Education: All Fun and Games

“Initially, I was apprehensive about revealing my games to my advisor. I didn’t know how she would receive the news since research is a graduate student’s top priority.”

“It is amazing how many doors open by starting a conversation with people you barely know.”

“I had one of the best moments this year watching other graduate students take interest in the education games my team developed.”

“Continue through the tough times. Even when your ideas don’t work out the first, or second or third time – very similar to research – talk to as many people that are willing to listen and play your game and do what makes you happy.”

Joining (the) CHORUS

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