Utica University Chemistry Students Present Research on Global Stage
Utica University students at ACS Spring 2026 Conference
Six Utica University undergraduates traveled to Atlanta to present their research at the American Chemical Society Spring 2026 Meeting.
Chemistry seniors Brayden McCaw, Katie Mattes, Xavier Moore, Nathan Sand, Nevaeh Scott-Dominguez, and Yamilet Taveras, who were accompanied by Professors Michelle Boucher and Alyssa Thomas, joined more than 15,000 chemists from around the world at the four-day conference.
“I cannot overstate how welcoming, exciting, and valuable it is to give your research at the national meeting,” Boucher says. "There are a thousand undergraduate posters there. When we take students to (regional conferences), there are fifty, sixty, seventy posters, and that’s great, but this is a different level. When the hall opens, it’s so loud and the energy is insane.”
Presenting at national conferences, especially those of the caliber of the ACS meeting, inspires and nurtures confidence in undergraduate researchers. What’s more, Boucher says, the opportunity offers students the opportunity to showcase their research opens doors to graduate school and entry into the broader scientific community.
“They get sought out by professors from universities across the country who are not just genuinely interested in their research, but who are interested in them as future graduate students,” says Boucher, who is the chair of the student communities subcommittee within the ACS Society Committee on Education. “When a bunch of people for two hours come up to you to talk about your research, valuing the work you’ve done, and telling you, ‘I think you should go to graduate school and here’s my card,’ that external validation is priceless.
"I cannot overstate how welcoming, exciting, and valuable it is to give your research at the national meeting."
“Our students exceled,” she continues. “They were smart, they were comfortable, they were bold,, and they left exhausted. The next day upon reflection, they were extremely proud of themselves – as they should be.”
Mattes, Sands, Scott-Dominguez, and Taveras were each awarded competitive ACS travel grants to attend the meeting.
