American Chemical Society Local Section Partnership Award 2015

American Chemical Society Local Section Partnership Award 2015 Partnership Between Tampa Bay & Puerto Rico Presenter: Crystal Saut Author: ?

Group with the ACS Bridge the Gap Nano grant Dr. Kimberly Fields from University of South Florida, Dr. Ingrid Montes from University of Puerto Rico, and her student Giovanni plus Interamerican Univ. of Puerto Rico students Marco, Lenianne, Gabriel, and Keishla. American Chemical Society 2

The five undergraduates from Puerto Rico presented their posters. • OR-25 Giovanni Rodríguez 1 – Synthesis of Novel Ferrocene Chalcones Derivative’s Polymers • BP-06 Marco A. Miranda Belandria 1 - Functionalization and characterization of bimetallic silver-gold nanoparticles with antibiotics. • BP-05 Ramirez Santiago, Lenianne 1 - Comparative study and characterization of Mg. O, Zn. O AND Cu. O nanoparticles using amino acids as capping agents. • BC-09 Keishla Rodríguez Graciani 1 - Antimicrobial effect of improved antibiotics combined with Ni and Semi-Green Ag nanoparticles in Klebsiella pneumoniae. • BC-10 Maldonado Vélez Gabriel¹- Functionalization of Indole-3 -Acetic Acid with gold nanoparticles synthesized through a double reduction reaction using leaflets’ extracts of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam. ) de Witt. American Chemical Society 3

At the Raymond N. Castle Student Research Conference Giovanni Rodriguez with Dr. Fields, won third in the organic division competition. American Chemical Society 4

Enjoying the highlights of Tampa. Bay On Friday, Dr. Ingrid Montes from University of Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico students arrived, & had dinner with volunteers from the USF Chemistry Society at Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill in Clearwater, FL. American Chemical Society After the conference ended, the five students and Dr. Montes were escorted to Ybor by TB-ACS chair Dr. Fields, USF Chemistry society students & their adviser Dr. Cruz. 5

Positive Impacts of the 2015 Partnership Between Tampa Bay & Puerto Rico. • At the Leadership Conference in Dallas, the local sections of Tampa Bay & Puerto Rico formed a new alliance. • An ACS Bridge the Gap Nano grant was written to get the initial funding for bringing students from Puerto Rico to participate with the free regional conference held in Tampa at the University of South Florida (USF) annually. • Dr. Ingrid Montes of UPR as the plenary speaker for the Castle Conference. • As a result of this collaboration, Giovanni Rodriguez of UPR returned as a 2015 USF summer SEED-scholar. It is hoped that he will continue into USF chemistry graduate school after graduation and continue his path in chemistry. • This new partnership will continue to provide opportunities to our Puerto Rican neighbors annually to present their research & hopefully match those looking to go to graduate school in chemistry with their future home at USF. • This alliance also increases the diversity of the student body represented at the Castle Conference which is an ongoing focus of our inclusiveness initiative. American Chemical Society 66666

The six guests from Puerto Rico flew out on Sunday morning for their return home.