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FST Chemistry Students Top ‘Commonwealth Chemistry Posters – Partnership for the Goals’ Event

The Scientific Organising Committee of Commonwealth Chemistry hosted a virtual poster event August 25-27, 2020 to fuel the momentum generated by the Commonwealth Chemistry Congress which was delayed from May 2020 to 2021 due to COVID-19. The event was entitled ‘Commonwealth Chemistry Posters – Partnership for the Goals’.  One hundred and eight (108)  Early Career Chemists (ECCs) from 38 countries across the Commonwealth presented their work in six (6) categories which align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Green Chemistry & Catalysis, Food & Agriculture, Energy & Materials, Biodiversity & Natural Products, Water & Environmental Chemistry and Health & Wellbeing.

The event was hosted using the iPosterSessions platform which facilitated viewing of the posters as well as live and delayed networking among participants. The Commonwealth was divided into three (3) different time zones and countries were grouped so that two regions at a time met on the platform and all regions were able to meet each other.

Delegates who were previously selected to participate in the Congress all attended the poster event.  From Jamaica the Early Career Chemists were Ms. Annaleise Aiken, Mr. Marc Collins, Mr. Jermaine Smith, Dr. Zeyar Min, Dr. April Johnson, Dr. Stacey-Ann Parker, Dr. Alexa Redway, Dr. Nijole Young and Miss Littlelet Scarlett [all current or recent postgraduate students from the Department of Chemistry]. Dr. Debbie-Ann Gordon Smith, Dr. Ainka Brown, Dr. Petrea Facey and Professor Ishenkumba Kahwa were additional delegates invited from UWI and Dr. Andrew Lamm was invited from the UTech, Ja.  Dr. Marvadeen Singh-Wilmot participated as a member of the Scientific Organising Committee of Commonwealth Chemistry which conceptualized and planned the event.

Jamaica and the UWI did exceptionally well. Twenty ECCs emerged as winners across the categories and each received a prize of £500 (≈ 91,000 JMD).  Among them were Mr. Jermaine Smith and Dr. Zeyar Min (both supervised by Dr. Marvadeen Singh-Wilmot) who won in the Energy and Materials Category. Judges commented on the scientific quality, including the way the research was linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals as well as the knowledge, enthusiasm and passion of all the Early Career Chemists who represented us.  Congratulations to them and thanks for doing us proud once again!

Commonwealth Chemistry Limited is an international federation of chemical societies incorporated in December 2019 and hosted at the Royal Society of Chemistry in London England.

Published on 22 Sep, 2020

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