International Year of Chemistry

ChemQuest 2011, an event honouring the International Year of Chemistry, is being hosted by Year of Science BC, Simon Fraser University, and Douglas College on May 14, 2011 from 1 pm to 4 pm on the Academic Quadrangle at Simon Fraser University’s Burnaby Campus.

This isn’t the only such event in Canada. Last week, there was a chemistry marathon (part of a larger initiative, 24 heures de science), La chimie pour tous (Chemistry for everyone) from 12 noon to 12 midnight at Université de Montréal. Isabelle Burgun wrote up an interview, for Agence Science-Presse, that she had with the chemist leading this public engagement event, Andreea Schmitzer. From the interview,

ASP – À qui s’adresse cette activité?

AS — Nous désirons sensibiliser la population et insuffler aux jeunes le goût de devenir chimiste! Mais nous visons surtout les plus jeunes, car le goût pour la science s’acquiert très jeune et puis, voir l’émerveillement scientifique dans les jeux [sic] d’un enfant n’a pas de prix!

ASP — La chimie, vous êtes tombée dedans quand vous étiez petite…

AS — J’ai effectivement découvert la chimie enfant, avec mon grand-père, qui était un passionné de science, la physique et la chimie en particulier. On faisait ensemble toutes sortes de manipulation dans le garage. À 6 ans, j’étais fascinée par tout ce qu’on pouvait apprendre et comprendre en manipulant des molécules, et c’est exactement ce que je fais aujourd’hui en recherche. Cette passion héritée de mon grand-père, j’ai à mon tour le goût de la transmettre aux jeunes et aux moins jeunes.

My rough translation:

Who is your audience for this event?

We want to raise public awareness and we want to inculcate in youth the desire to become chemists. But we’re particularly interested in inspiring young children because one acquires an interest in science at a young age and seeing the wonder at science in a child’s eyes has no price.

You were very young when you tumbled into a passion for chemistry.

I discovered chemistry very young, with my grandfather who was passionate about science, physics and chemistry in particular. We performed all kinds of experiments in the garage. At the age of six, I was fascinated by what you could learn and understand by manipulating molecules and that’s exactly what I do in my research today. This passion I inherited from my grandfather is what I want to pass on to the young and the not so young.

That’s it, I’m in a rush this morning. I’ll come back later to fix mistakes. Meanwhile, hope to see you at Northern Voice today or tomorrow.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *