• Welcome to our Chair-Elect!
• Chemistry Day at the Museum—Call for Volunteers
• Two Pieces in our Education Corner
• Continuation of our Celebration of ACS’ 150th
• Operations Manual Now Available on Website
• Mark Your Calendar for the Bell’s Event!
• KACS Represented at Sci-Mix
• KACS Calendar
Welcome to our Chair-Elect!
We welcome Dr. Jacob Hood as chair-elect for the rest of 2026! He becomes Chair of the KACS in 2027. Below is a short summary of his background; please welcome him – he is the new leader in charge of our Recycle-a-Poster event at Bell’s…
“Hi everyone! I’m Jacob Hood, a chemist at Zoetis who enjoys developing new approaches to small-molecule therapeutics and continuous-flow synthesis. After growing up in the western Chicago suburbs, I earned my chemistry degrees from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Northern Illinois University. My academic research focused on organic synthesis, reaction mechanisms, and transformations involving superelectrophiles, with applications in both pharmaceuticals and materials science. Since moving to Kalamazoo in 2023, I’ve felt welcomed by the region’s amazing community and rich chemistry heritage.”
Chemistry Day at the Museum — Call for Volunteers
Chemistry Day at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum will be held on October 17, 2026, from noon to 4 p.m.
Get ready to educate, entertain, and entice the next generation to the wonders of chemistry and watch the smiles on the faces of children and adults alike! The theme of the 2026 National Chemistry Week celebration is Chemistry Under Construction. Do you have a great activity or experiment you can share with an audience of young students? Are you interested in demonstrating one of several experiments that are performed every year at this event? Do you have no idea what this event is about but are willing to contribute a few hours of your time on a Saturday in October to brighten the day of young scientists in our community? We need your help to make this event a success! If you are interested in participating, please email Hershel Jude or Carol Guerrero.
Two Pieces in our Education Corner
1) 2026 Project SEED Summary and Presentations
Our 2026 Project SEED fellows presented their summer research at Kalamazoo College on August 28. Thank you to all who came to support them and to Prof. Dwight Williams (Chemistry, Kalamazoo College) for organizing the event.
Lizbeth Mares Castro returned for a second summer to work under Prof. Dwight Williams at Kalamazoo College on the Synthesis of Maleimide-Tryptamine Hybrids as Potential Antibiotics. Lizbeth is beginning her senior year at Loy Norrix.
Project SEED fellow Karim Heydarzade worked jointly with Portage Central HS student Taimur Alam in the group of Prof. Mert Atilhan in the WMU College of Engineering and Paper Science on evaluation of the physical and extractive properties of deep eutectic solvents for wood pulp delignification. Karim is beginning his junior year at Portage Central and KAMSC.
Lizbeth Mares Castro at the Kalamazoo College Summer Research Poster Symposium (8/28/2026) with KACS Project SEED coordinator Doug Williams (left) and Prof. Dwight Williams (right).
Jesse Sanchez worked with Prof. Blakely Tresca at Kalamazoo College on the synthesis and characterization of peptoids and modeling of their conformational structure properties. Jesse’s research was presented orally at a group meeting at K-College on August 24 and virtually at the poster session because he had moved to begin his first year of study at Ferris State University earlier in the week. Jesse plans to study for a degree in pharmacology.
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Our ability to offer this program depends on local fund raising to afford 50% of the stipends received by the students. The remainder is funded by the national ACS Project SEED office. Thank you to our members who have donated to this effort. Please visit our Project SEED webpage or contact me directly at projectseed@kalamazooacs.org to learn more about how to help.
Karim Heydarzade (left) and Taimur Alam (right) at the Kalamazoo College Summer Research Poster Symposium (8/28/2026).
2) Think back to When You Took High School Chemistry….
Do you remember when you fell in love with chemistry? Was it mutual? I mean did chemistry love you back?
You have a chance to make that happen for high school students in our local section. Our Southwest Michigan Chemistry Network is entering its fifth school year of supporting high school teachers. Our website explains our work and resources provided through KACS funds and time.
There are various ways that you can help—as a classroom speaker or coach. If this is something that you are interested in doing, please send me an email. I would love to match you up.
We are also looking for scientists to host workplace tours for chemistry teachers. Group size is usually between 5-10 teachers, so not that many. It’s not too late to rekindle an old flame.
Continuation of our Celebration of ACS’ 150th
On Saturday, August 8 from 1 to 3 p.m., the Kalamazoo Local Section of the American Chemical Society (KACS) and the Kalamazoo Valley Museum (KVM) hosted a free community program highlighting the theme of “Chemistry is Everything.” The event was supported by an ACS Innovative Project Grant.
Visitors explored local contributions to science and history throughout the museum’s galleries.
KACS Chair Joe Chemler and KVM staff shared information about KACS opportunities and distributed science-themed giveaways and other educational materials.
The event also included the free planetarium show Elements in Orbit, which explored how chemistry connects the cosmos and helps us better understand our solar system within the broader universe.
The event will return to the Kalamazoo Valley Museum for its final time on Saturday, November 7, with two showings of Elements in Orbit at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Tickets for the shows are free and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Visit kalamazoomuseum.org for more information.
KACS members interested in volunteering are encouraged to contact Carol Guerrero. We look forward to seeing you at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum in November!
Operations Manual Now Available on Website
News flash! Our updated KACS Operations Manual (https://kalamazooacs.org/operations-manual/) is now on our KACS website (Kalamazooacs.org)! It gives the many opportunities available to you, our members, to participate and make a difference in the lives of our three-county area students, teachers and the community at large. Regularly available in this newsletter are requests for volunteers for our activities; please avail yourselves of these opportunities and reach out to help our community understand the importance of chemistry in our lives.
Mark Your Calendar for the Bell’s Event!
The annual Bell’s Recycle-a-Poster Event will be held at Bell’s Brewery on October 29, from 5-9 p.m.—see the poster below, and place the date on your calendar to come by and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow-chemists for that evening!
KACS Represented at Sci-Mix
At the recent ACS meeting in Chicago, IL, our alternate councilor, Brian Eklov, displayed a poster—made for the Sci-Mix event there—by Annette Hoppenworth and Lydia Hines which showed how the 40-year “cooperative-construction” experience between the KACS and the Kalamazoo Valley Museum has resulted in multigenerational memories for community members.
