Building bonds: Sharing chemistry with the community at Science Expeditions

By Outreach Program Manager Peter Jaeger

People attending the open house explore Exploration Stations in the North Tower atrium.

On Saturday, April 5th, the Department of Chemistry was open to the public as part of Science Expeditions, UW–Madison’s campus-wide STEM open house. During the three-day event, science venues across campus were open for the public to explore everything from Astronomy to Zoology. Since the new North Tower of the department opened in 2023 , this was the first official opportunity for the general public to experience the new spaces that make the Department of Chemistry a leader in providing innovative spaces for learning and research. The goal of Science Expeditions is to foster community engagement with UW-Madison, showcase buildings and events, and inspire curiosity about STEM.

Naviya Schuster-Little (Smith Group) shares “Boo Bubbles” with a young scientist.

The public event at the chemistry building was organized through a collaborative effort by Peter Jaeger, the outreach program manager for the Department of Chemistry, and a team of dedicated graduate students from the department. Besides the planning team, over 50 students, faculty, and staff (along with Bucky Badger) volunteered to host interactive Exploration Stations, guide tours through the new Analytical Lab facility, plan and execute a chemistry demonstration lecture, and guide people through an interactive lab experience in one of the undergraduate learning labs. More than 400 people experienced fun and engaging chemistry experiences in the new North Tower during the three-hour event.

There were four activities that students and families could attend at the Chemistry Open House.

Graduate students Amanda and Lydia (Buller Lab) at their Exploring Enzymes station.

Exploration Stations are informal hands-on exhibits hosted by students and staff from the department. Students experienced 12 different exploration stations that covered a variety of interests and research topics. These included tables on diffusion, using foldscopes, dry ice bubbles, lava lamps, exploring enzymes, why shapes are important for chemistry, and hydrophobic designs.

Tracy Drier demonstrates his glass working skills at his Scientific Glassblowing station.

Tracy Drier also demonstrated his glassblowing techniques with demonstrations using the Fire Wagon. Kids got to experience the demos and also take some of them home.

Ruby and Brie, tour guides for students and families to experience on of the analytical labs.

Besides the Explanation Stations, a guided tour of the 8th-floor analytical lab was offered every 30 minutes. Grad students Brie Bradshaw and Ruby Niesser guided groups of visitors through the lab and facilitated discussions about many of the instruments and techniques that can be performed in the lab space. Along with explanations about GC-MS, HPLC, and ICP-MS, Brie and Ruby engaged these groups with cool information that allowed visitors to see what a transformative learning space the analytical lab is.

Bucky assisting Jim with a bucket of dry ice.

One of the highlights of the day was the Science Spectacular Show, Chemistry with Jim and Bucky! Lecture demonstrator Jim Maynard held a chemistry demonstration show with the help of special guest, Bucky Badger. It was standing room only in the large lecture hall as over 250 people were entertained by the show. Jim demonstrated many exciting and unexpected chemistry concepts and got Bucky (making sure to wear his safety goggles) to help as well.

A final activity that students and families could participate in was Chemistry Live! Two times during the day, several students brought interested people into an undergrad lab to experience Science in a lab environment. Attendees learned about pH and indicators first, and then used red cabbage indicator to investigate how acidic and basic different household items were. Attendees got to put on lab coats and goggles and use some of the tools that chemists use while they were in the lab.

During the the campus-wide open house, the Department of Chemistry also provided a home base and space for two community groups.

Abayomi, Taylor, Elisabeth, and Emily share with a group of middle school students about their journeys as chemistry students.

We were able to host student who came from the Madison area via school and community groups. As part of our mission to share the department with others, relationships are being built to increase the opportunities for youth groups to be on campus and hear from students. NOBCChE and Women in Chem both met and shared with students from these community groups about their research and experiences in chemistry.