The Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division (AGFD) of the American Chemical Society (ACS) hosted a unique student competition: “Communicating Chemistry: Caribbean Cuisine (C4),” at the 251st ACS National Meeting & Exposition in San Diego, CA; where a team comprising four students from The University of the West Indies Mona Campus placed first. Participating students from the Department of Chemistry were Rajeve Brooks, Nadine Whyte, Mario Christie and Shorna Smith.

Teams were required to show a relationship between a concept in chemistry and an aspect of Caribbean cuisine, which was open to broad interpretation. The selection of the Caribbean as a theme for the 2016 competition was in honor of the newly chartered International Student Chapter at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona from which many members are active participants in the AGFD division. The goal of the competition was to increase STEM literacy among the general public and to demonstrate how chemistry, in particular, relates to food and culture. The competition also gave students a chance to learn to communicate complex ideas to an audience without a formal scientific background.

 For the first round of the competition, teams of up to 4 students submitted a video and written component. Three finalist teams (including the UWI team) were selected on the basis of the following criteria: scientific merit; clarity; entertainment/fun value; and connection of theme to broader chemical topics. The final competition took place on Tuesday, March 15, 2016 at the San Diego Wine & Culinary Event Center. The finalist teams prepared live, interactive presentations on their topics, as well as a display modeled after a science fair.

 Judges included Jason Knibb (Executive Chef, Nine-Ten Restaurant and Bar), Terry Acree (Professor of Food Science, Cornell University), and Sally Mitchell (STEM Educator and Albert Einstein Fellow). One of the past competitions was featured in the September 1, 2014 edition of Chemical & Engineering News. 

 Photo (L-R):  Rajeve Brooks, Mr Jason Knibb, Executive Chef, Nine-Ten Restaurant and Bar (one of the judges) Nadine Whyte, Mario Christie and Shorna Smith.