Dr. Heather Domjan and Dr Lionel Ronduen of SEFH Houston, and the amazing students who won various prizes this year.

The SEFH banquet was held on Tuesday, May 20th from 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm. Excitement was in the air as students and their scientific achievements were honored  this academic year. The banquet was held at the University of Houston in the MD Anderson Library on the 2nd Floor in the Rockwell Pavilion.

Ms. Obiagele Nwosu, ACS-GHS Education Committee Chair, and Dr Heather Domjan, Executive Director of the UH STEM Center and Executive Director of SEFH

The 2025 American Chemical Society Greater Houston Section High School Scholarship Exam took place on May 3, 2025 at the University of Houston.Thanks to all the teachers and students who participated in this year's exam and congratulations to this year's Scholarship Award winners!

2025 Winners - 1st Year

1st Place – Jason Chen

Bellaire High School, Teacher Robert Morales

2nd Place – Kevin Hu

DeBakey High School for Health Professionals, Teacher Dina Adam

3rd Place – Avik Jotwani

Carnegie Vanguard High School, Teacher Joshua Garcia

Honorable Mention – Emily Zhang

DeBakey High School for Health Professionals, Teacher Dina Adam

Honorable Mention – Brian Kim

St. John’s School, Teacher Roxie Allen

Honorable Mention – Daniel Pan

St. John’s School, Teacher Laura Kopff

2025 Winners - 2nd Year

1st Place – Yale Zhang

William P. Clements High School, Teacher Caitlin Zuber

2nd Place – Krish Jha

Carnegie Vanguard High School, Teacher Joshua Garcia

3rd Place – Alexander Sun

William P. Clements High School, Teacher Caitlin Zuber

Honorable Mention – Alexander Chou

Dulles High School, Teacher Katherine Coleman

Honorable Mention – Jay Sahni

Jordan High School, Teacher Jennifer Notz

Honorable Mention – Akhil Baker

High School TBD, Teacher TBD

Interested in taking the exam next year? Learn more about the Scholarship Exam on our awards page.

Congratulations to Dr. Claire Conboy of St. Thomas High School on receiving the 2025 ACS-GHS Award for Excellence in High School Chemistry Teaching!

In this special collaboration between WISEcast and the ⁠American Chemical Society Greater Houston Section (ACS-GHS)⁠, Dr. Richa Chandra has a long-anticipated conversation with Dr. Beth Lorsbach, Global Head of Innovation and Development at Nufarm and National ACS Leader.

Beth joins us ahead of her upcoming seminar, “The Chemistry of Bourbon,” taking place on National Bourbon Day, Saturday, June 14, as part of the ACS-GHS Summer Social at LIV Bar in Downtown Houston.

With more than 20 years at Dow AgroSciences and Corteva, Beth has helped shape the future of crop protection R&D and now leads global innovation strategy at Nufarm. She brings deep insights into both science and leadership, and in this episode, she opens up about:

• Transitioning from an individual contributor to a strategic leader
• Redefining value when you're no longer “hands-on”
• Finding a leadership voice through pivotal and often difficult moments
• Managing expectations and letting go of the “doer” identity
• A sneak peek into her scientific curiosity behind the chemistry of bourbon

Tune in for practical wisdom, candid stories, and a preview of one of the most anticipated event of the summer!

Have questions for Beth before the seminar? Email us at ⁠acs-ghs@acs-ghs.org⁠

Listen to WISEcast Season 8, Episode 5 - The Leadership Leap: Letting Go of the Individual Contributor Identity on Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

The 2025 American Chemical Society Greater Houston Section High school scholarship exam took place on May 3, 2025 at the University of Houston. A total of fifty eight students participated in the examination spread across the first year (twenty eight students) and second year (thirty students) categories.

Pictured (L to R): Obiageli Nwosu, Dr. Tai-Yen Chen, Truong Dang, Dipti Singh, and Linda Wong

A very special thanks go to our ACS-GHS volunteers as shown in the picture above from right to left, Linda Wong, Dipti Singh, Truong Dang, Dr. Tai-Yen Chen and Obiageli Nwosu. A special shout out to our ACS-GHS Senior Chemists, Linda Wong and Truong Dang for their help with making this outreach event a huge success.

This year, more than 340 students from 37 schools in Greater Houston participated in the Chemistry Olympiad local competition in March. Among the top section-wide performers, 14 students were nominated and joined the 3-part national competition held at the University of Houston on April 7th.

The Greater Houston Section is proud to sponsor 46 gift card awards given to section-wide and school-wide top-performing students. We are pleased to see rising students' great interest in chemical education. We welcome more high school students to take part in this annual event.

On Saturday, April 26th, a plastics-themed Earth Day Celebration was hosted by the Houston Health Museum with exciting activities to accompany the “Recycled Creations Exhibit”. ACS-GHS facilitated the event and many volunteers provided hands-on activities and background information on plastics recycling to the visitors. The volunteers included people from Dow Chemical, University of Houston, University of St. Thomas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and several high schools. Thanks to all of our volunteers for your invaluable time and hard work to make the event fun and educational for visitors.  

ACS Greater Houston Chapter had another successful year of Chemists Celebrate Earth Week at the Discovery Green Earth Day in Downtown Houston! With a steady flow of visitors throughout the entire event, we were able to share and demonstrate information on this year's theme of glaciers and their role in creating a more sustainable world. Huge thanks to our 2025 Outreach Volunteer of the Year Kiresha (Reese) Johnson for organizing the day, and to our event volunteers for helping make this a phenomenal event!

A heartfelt thank you to Dr. R. Yagmur Yegin, PhD. for delivering a powerful and inspiring seminar yesterday evening as part of the American Chemical Society Greater Houston Section (ACS-GHS) Seminar Series hosted at the University of St. Thomas (TX).

With around 40 attendees, Dr. Yegin’s talk on food sustainability, waste reduction, and science-driven solutions resonated deeply especially with our audience. She skillfully connected scientific innovation with real-world social issues like global hunger and environmental preservation, sparking meaningful conversations long after the session ended.

Dr. Yegin’s remarkable journey from earning her Ph.D. at Texas A&M to her postdoctoral research at MIT, makes her a true role model in STEM. Her accolades include numerous awards, patents, and publications in sustainable materials and food safety. We are incredibly grateful to have hosted her!

Congratulations to Amiee L. Modic for being named the recipient of the 2025 James Bryant Conant Award in High School Chemistry Teaching by the American Chemical Society! The purpose of this award is to recognize, encourage, and stimulate outstanding teachers of high school chemistry in the United States, its possessions or territories, at the national level. The award was presented as part of the annual National Awards ceremony at the ACS Spring 2025 Meeting in San Diego, California.

L to R: Lisa Houston, Jane Gray, Amiee Modic, Roxie Allen at the ACS Spring 2025 National Awards Reception

Amiee is a chemistry teacher at Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart and an active member of the Greater Houston ACS section, serving on Education and Outreach committees (including NCW and CCEW), and promoting chemical education opportunities in the Greater Houston area and beyond.