Hello ACS San Diego Members,
March was an incredibly exciting month for San Diego when it comes to chemistry! With Spring officially started, there should be a lot more fun on the horizon. Here is a brief look at what went on these last few weeks:
We were proud to host the ACS Spring 2025 National Meeting & Expo right here in San Diego. This event brought thousands of chemists together to share groundbreaking research, connect with colleagues, and engage in rich discussions across a wide range of disciplines. A special thank you to everyone who helped make the event a success—from attendees to volunteers, your contributions truly showcased the strength and vibrancy of our local section. I would like to extend a special thanks to Marta Vuckovic, Sharai Mendez, Daphne Figueroa, Connie Weaver, Junhua Fan, Ferezhin Iazaro, Anil Shrestha, Fasil Tadesse, Neal Langerman, David Wallace, James Shih, Myra Gupta, Surya K De, Ryan Smith, Jiyue Chen and everyone else who came together to ensure that the local section booth was staffed and represented all week long.
Alongside the main event, there were plenty of other side events including the ACS Kids Zone, where our volunteers ran a hands-on activity all about glaciers! Children and families had the chance to explore how glaciers move and shape the Earth, all while learning fundamental scientific principles. It was a joy to see so many curious young minds engaged and excited, and we are deeply grateful to our amazing volunteers who helped spark that curiosity. This was the first time that we ran an event like this in Logan Heights and it was a smashing success that also brought new communities together with us. This was fantastic as one of our goals is to increase STEM curiosity within ethnic groups that have historically lower representation in both industry and academia and what better way to grow this than through the new generation of chemists?
As always, these events would not be possible without the dedicated support of our members. If you’ve ever wanted to get more involved—whether through volunteering at outreach events, supporting programs behind the scenes, or helping plan future initiatives—we warmly encourage you to reach out. Getting involved at the local level is a rewarding way to connect with fellow scientists and make a meaningful impact in our community.
Looking ahead, we’re excited to announce our upcoming virtual talk, “Inhibitors of HIV-1 Attachment” by Dr. Nicholas Meanwell. This engaging session will explore the latest research in antiviral drug design and strategies for combating HIV-1 at the molecular level. Stay tuned for date and registration details—it promises to be a fascinating and informative event you won’t want to miss. Register here!
We have more events coming in the next few months and will be releasing details as we get things cemented. One great outcome from the ACS Spring was that we all were able to do a lot of networking which included making connections with other local sections so expect to see some collaborations very soon.
Thank you again for all you do to support and strengthen our ACS San Diego community. We look forward to seeing you at future events—whether in person or online!
Warmly,
Max Mahler & Jackie Trischman
Co-Chairs, ACS San Diego Local Section
