Chemistry Camp held at Bucknell
Jun. 16—LEWISBURG — A two-day Chemistry Camp at Bucknell University was perfect for students like Kenzie Vasbinder.
The 17-year-old Mifflinburg Area incoming senior said she is planning to study chemical engineering at Bucknell when she graduates next year. She was one of eight high school students participating in the Bucknell University Chemistry Department's two-day Chemistry Camp on Thursday, which continues Friday.
"I came to the engineering camp last summer, and this was recommended to me by my chemistry teacher," said Vasbinder on Thursday. "It was a good time last year, so I thought why not?"
One of the morning sessions included making fragrances in a session called Organic Chemistry at Work: Making Fragrances. Her first session in the afternoon was called Analytical Chemistry: Measuring the Amount of Caffeine and Artificial Sweeteners in Soft Drinks.
"I had a smelly morning," said Vasbinder. "It was fruity. It was supposed to be grape."
The hands-on, interactive chemistry day camp was open to high school students who are rising sophomores and older. The camp includes an overview of different types of chemistry; interaction with Bucknell chemistry students, faculty and staff; hands-on chemistry demonstrations; lunch and snacks; and a culminating dinner where campers demonstrate what they learned.
The camp was organized by Camp Director Kaitlyn Connelly, a chemistry lab instructor, Professor of Chemistry David Rovnyak and chemistry lab instructor Erica Merriett.
"They get to see science and a lot of the different pathways and avenues they can explore," said Connelly. "They can find their niche or something that makes them excited about chemistry in college."
The camp in the past was longer and overnight. This is the first interaction of the camp post-COVID-19 and the first time it's a day camp, said Merriett.
"We wanted to bring the camp back in a more digestible way and have it still be meaningful," said Merriett.
Chemistry professor Doug Collins and Tim Strein led the session on Measuring the Amount of Caffeine and Artificial Sweeteners in Soft Drinks. The object is to use high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to determine the concentrations of benzoic acid, aspartame and caffeine in commercial beverage samples.
Liquid chromatography is a widely-used technique for the separation and quantification of the components of a mixture.
"We're not mixing chemicals, we're analyzing chemicals," said Collins.
"It's CSI with soft drinks," said Strein.
The eight students consist of four from Lewisburg Area, one from Mifflinburg, and one each from Mountain Top, Morgantown and Tysons, Va.
Bucknell is also hosting Engineering Camp from June 25 to June 30 for students who completed grades 7 through 11 by the summer of the camp. Participants will discover the many different areas where engineers apply their skills, study the latest technologies that shape the world and learn how the scientific phenomena studied in school are applied by professional engineers.
