NOBCChE to host regional meetings

The Greater Baton Rouge Metropolitan Area (GBRMA) Chapter and the LSU and Southern University Student Chapters of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) will host its Southwest Regional Meeting on Saturday, March 1, 2003 at the Holiday Inn on Airline Highway in Baton Rouge.
The Southwest Region covers the states of Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.
The session is entitled Transferring Experiences among Chemistry-Chemical Engineering Dual Degree Programs at HBCUs. The tentative agenda includes inspirational talks by accomplished black scientists and engineers, round table discussions, poster sessions, and technical presentations.
“The conferences offer exposure that is critical to the development of competent scientists, whether in academia or industry,” said Leroy Hubert, a senior chemistry student from Baton Rouge and former president of both the student NOBCChE chapter and Chemistry Club on campus. “Minority professionals offer underrepresented students inspiration and valuable knowledge.”
Faculty members Robert L. Ford, Ed Walker, and Marsha Robins of the chemistry department at Southern University currently serve on the GBRMA Administration Board as president, vice president, and treasurer, respectively.
“We have reference GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) as an activity we wish to get the local chapter more involved with. Our participation could balloon, as the Science and Engineering Alliance (SEA), our Campus GLOBE Partnership, NOBCChE, SECME, AAAS, and MANRRS are partners in a bid to manage the U.S. and International GLOBE Program,” said Robert Ford. “Currently, NASA manages the 101 country, 12,000 U.S. schools program, however, one or more of the 14 consortia responding to the solicitation is expected to provide management for the next 5 to 10 years.”
NOBCChE is also involved in activities geared toward high school students.
The chapter has managed annual Science Bowl competitions for junior and senior level pre-college students over the past several years.
This year’s event is chaired by Faye Taylor and is scheduled for Sunday, February 23rd at Southern University. Volunteers are being sought to assist in the double elimination contests.
NOBCChE was started in April 1972 and has since then been committed to the application of knowledge in the fields of science and engineering. The mission of NOBCChE is to increase the number of minorities in the fields of science and engineering, thus building distinguished communities in these fields.