Greater Houston SectionEstablished in 1917, the Section serves about 2500 members, consisting of chemists, chemical engineers and professionals in allied fields. The American Chemical Society is recognized as a world leader in fostering science education and research, and promoting public understanding of science. The Greater Houston Section of the American Chemical Society is one of 189 local ACS sections across the nation. |
Celebrating 150 Years of Chemistry! Join the global ACS community online as we honor our history and look toward the future!
On April 6, 2026, we're celebrating ACS’ 150th Anniversary Founding Day with a Virtual Celebration! From our first meeting in 1876 to today’s global network of scientists, educators, and innovators, ACS has shaped the course of science and its impact on humanity. This special commencement ceremony connects the worldwide chemistry community through a special live presentation. Monday, April 6, 2026 9:00 am CDT Virtual via Zoom 2026 ACS Fellows - Call for Nominations
The nomination window for the 2026 Class of ACS Fellows will be open from February 23 to April 23, 2026. Please send your suggestions with supporting information to Lisa Houston at acs-ghs@acs-ghs.org. Celebrating Earth Day at Discovery Green!
Join the Greater Houston Section of the American Chemical Society for a free Chemists Celebrate Earth Week event as part of the 2026 Green Mountain Energy Earth Day at Discovery Green. Learn about this year’s theme, Into the Woods with Chemistry, with exciting hands-on activities as we highlight the essential role of trees and forests in building a sustainable world. Saturday, April 25, 2026 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm Discovery Green - Jones Lawn 1500 McKinney St. Houston, TX We need volunteers to help staff the booth. Interested parties should contact us at acs-ghs@acs-ghs.org with their name, phone number and indicate how much time they can commit to the booth. ACS-GHS Chemistry Scholarship Examination The ACS-GHS is once again holding our annual chemistry scholarship examinations! Three scholarships will be awarded at each level (1st year and 2nd year). The awards will be $2500, $1500, and $1000 for first, second, and third places, respectively. The registration fee is $2.00/student. This fee should be given to the teacher, and the teacher will pay all their students' fees at once via PayPal. Students who are not pre-registered for the exam will be seated only if extra tests are available. Teachers may register their students using our online form. Saturday, April 25, 2026 Check-In - 9:15 am Exam - 10:00 am Science and Engineering Classroom Building University of Houston 3487 Cullen Blvd. Houston, TX 77204 Pre-registration closes April 18th. Students who are not pre-registered can register on-site if there are extra tests available. For more information, contact Ms. Obiageli Nwosu at acsghseducation@gmail.com. Rules, eligibility requirements, and venue/parking directions Registration form for teachers with PayPal link ------------------------------- Volunteer Exam Proctors Needed to Support High School Chemistry Students We are looking for volunteers to assist with student check-in and exam proctoring. The event is expected to last 4.5 hours; we ask volunteers to commit to a minimum of 2 hours within this time. Share
your love of chemistry with the next generation, and watch them climb
to new heights - we know they would appreciate your support. To volunteer, please contact Ms. Obiageli Nwosu at acsghseducation@gmail.com. Lab to Life: Chemistry Careers in Action Not sure what comes after your chemistry degree? You’re not alone, and we’ve got you covered.
Join the ACS-GHS Younger Chemists Committee (YCC) for an interactive virtual event designed to help you explore real-world chemistry careers. Hear directly from professionals working across industry, academia, and beyond as they share how they turned their chemistry background into exciting and impactful careers. Wednesday, April 29, 2026 6:00 - 8:00 pm Via Zoom Registrants will receive Zoom link by email Call for Nominations - Award for Excellence in HS Chemistry Teaching Do you know a high school chemistry student with an amazing chemistry teacher? Does this student have fond memories of a particular lab, demonstration, or experience that makes them smile? If so, encourage them to nominate their chemistry teacher for the ACS Greater Houston Section’s Award for Excellence in High School Chemistry Teaching! Learn more about the award and the nomination process on our awards page Please direct all inquiries and submit all nomination packets to acs-ghs@acs-ghs.org. Nomination deadline is May 1, 2026. Cosmetic Science: Kelly Dobos Gives us a Good Look at Cosmetic History On March 18, 2026, we were proud to host Kelly Dobos as she presented the first seminar of the 2026 ACS-GHS season. Approximately 20 virtual attendees joined to hear about the history of cosmetic science, from the early pre-industrial development of natural plant and mineral formulations (including lead and mercury compounds!) through the industrial revolution, and the application of scientific principles enabling scale up and consistency of the new cosmetic materials.
Along the way, we learned how and why historical cosmetic development influenced the current regulations governing cosmetic additives and formulators, and the complexities of cosmetic manufacturing today. Some other interesting tidbits from Kelly Dobos’ talk – Did you know?
 If you weren’t able to attend the March seminar and want to see what you missed, Kelly’s slides can be downloaded at the link below. We are incredibly grateful to have hosted her and thank her for sharing her knowledge with us! ACS-GHS Awards: Call for Nominations Recognize your peers for their outstanding scholarship and service to the ACS-GHS and our chemical community by nominating them for an award!
Direct inquiries and submit nomination packets to acs-ghs@acs-ghs.org by the specified deadline. | Project SEED Program 2026 Are you a high school student looking to do research this Summer for 8 weeks? If yes, apply for the Project SEED Program. Applications open from February 9, 2026 to the end of April 2026. Apply early!!! The Summer research program will run from June 8, 2026 to July 31, 2026 and students are paid for the duration of the program. Reach out to Dr. Eme Abu (ACS-GHS Project SEED Coordinator) at emeabu1@gmail.com for questions. *Please include Project Seed in the email headline Upcoming events
Houston EWOC Journal Club - April 2026 ACS-GHS and Houston EWOC members, as well as the extended chemistry community are invited to participate in the Houston EWOC Journal Club for a discussion of transforming mentorship, hosted by Houston’s EWOC chapter. April's article for discussion is Transforming Mentorship in STEM by training scientists to be better leaders. (Ecology and Evolution 2018, 8, 9962–9974.) We will be reading section 5 of this article for this discussion. We will also be brainstorming some future ideas for discussion. Thursday, April 23, 2026 8:00 pm via Zoom Registrants will receive the Zoom meeting link in their confirmation email Questions? Email ewoctx@ewochem.org! Volunteer Opportunity: STEM Bootcamp - San Jacinto College
Interested in giving back to the next generation of Chemistry Professionals? Please come out for a tutoring opportunity with freshman chemistry students. Multiple dates will be available. Friday, April 10, 2026 9:00 - 11:00 am San Jacinto College Central Campus
8060 Spencer Highway Pasadena, TX 77504 Volunteer Commitment: 3 hours (including prep and travel time) Content: Provided by San Jac professors, aligned with course syllabi Contact Caol.huff@exxonmobil.com for more info. Check out our new STEM Bootcamp video on YouTube! (Video/Editing: Ezenna Chukwujioke-Madu) Chinese-American Chemical Society 2026 Spring Picnic
The Chinese-American Chemical Society - Southwest Chapter (CACS-SW) is delighted to invite members of the ACS‑GHS to the upcoming CACS‑SW Spring Picnic! We’d love to have the GHS community join us for this fun and engaging event. SPE Energy Professionals Hiring Event
The Society of Petroleum Engineers – Gulf Coast Section (SPE-GCS) is pleased to inform you that it is organizing the 17th semi-annual Energy Professionals Hiring Event for professionals of energy and upstream oil & gas disciplines. The Spring 2026 Hiring Event will be held face-to-face on May 7, 2026, at the 2026 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) at NRG Park in Houston. Thursday, May 7, 2026 The NRG Park 3 NRG Parkway Houston, TX Job seeker registration will open in April, members of the SPE, ACS-GHS, and other collaborating organizations can register closer to the event date. Employers looking to meet interested job seekers should register here. More information available on the SPE-GCS Event Page
"From PhD to Industry"with Yangwei Liu
ACS-GHS Director and Communications Committee member Yangwei Liu was recently invited to give a talk about his career journey at Texas A&M University. As Yangwei shared on LinkedIn after the event:
You can view the full presentation here, and thanks to Yangwei for sharing his experience with TAMU students and ACS-GHS members. Chemistry Demonstrations at HMNS Did you know? The Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) has daily science demonstrations in the Matter and Motion Hall! ACS Fellow and long-time ACS Greater Houston Section member Kerry Spilker puts the spotlight on chemistry as the Docent presenting chemistry demonstrations on Wednesdays from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm (schedule may vary).
Kerry has been recognized for innovative contributions to energy conversion technologies resulting in inventions and the development of biofuels, distributed hydrogen and chemical enhanced oil recovery, as well as her commitment to outreach through chemistry demonstrations and student mentoring that she continues through her work with HMNS. Why not check out the HMNS during a demonstration day on Saturday, March 28th? You can catch Kerry performing chemistry-specific demonstrations from 3:30 – 5:30 pm, and enjoy other science demonstrations throughout the day! |
The GHS Awards Committee is soliciting 
