Sidewalk Chemistry

On Friday, October 28, 2022, UNCW Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry hosted the first Sidewalk Chemistry demonstration day. The event was hosted outside of Dobo Hall, the former official home of the department.  

Approximately 150 people attended Sidewalk Chemistry and we were graciously joined by Dr. Michelle Scatton-Tessier, Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UNCW. Also in attendance were faculty members from other departments and a few members of the public who saw notice of the event on social media. The Office of University Relations reached out to WWAY, a local news station, and a camera person was sent to the event.  A story was broadcast on the news at both 5:30 and 7:30 PM.

See the Press Release here.

We had 12 tables in total.  Students enjoyed the photobooth table as well as the trivia table. Students had the opportunity to challenge UNCW’s newest Chemistry faculty member, Dr. Nick Chiappini to a “Lightning Round” of trivia.  Dr. Chiappini is affectionately known as “Nick-apedia” by the UNCW graduate students. He is an encyclopedia of information on all topics. This challenge consisted of naming as many elements (from symbols) as possible in 30 seconds. The element cards were scrambled, and all 118 elements were included. Students loved this, as did Nick. It turned out to be a non-demonstration highlight of the event.

Event Coordinator at UNCW: Elizabeth Walters