Where #Time4Chem meets #RealTimeChem
175 minutes for chemistry
The Twitter community @RealTimeChem encourages a safe environment for chemists to network online, sharing their successes, failures and moments of hilarity, not to mention those of boredom or frustration. This week is #RealTimeChem week and the theme is 'New Elements in Chemistry'.
Chemistry enthusiast and regular Twitter contributor to #RealTimeChem, Nadine Borduas started her chemistry career undertaking an undergraduate degree. After working in the pharmaceutical industry for a short time, she went on to study a Master’s degree but then switched expertise to pursue a PhD. During this time she travelled and explored the world as well as the world of chemistry.
She shared with us how she’s spending her 175 minutes, as well as her story of why she got involved with #RealTimeChem and how she came up with this year’s theme ‘New Elements in Chemistry’.
How did you first get involved in #RealTimeChem?
In August 2014, at SciFinder’s Future Leaders in Chemistry programme at the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) in Columbus, Ohio, the very persuasive social media representative for CAS Chemistry, Dr Peter Carlton (@petercarlton), convinced me to try tweeting .
At the time, I was very social media averse and I didn’t even have Facebook (I still don’t), but I was interested in following the ACS Conference and the Future Leaders in Chemistry programme online, so I signed up for a Twitter account.
#RealTimeChem is a very active hashtag, with new tweets every day, and so as a chemist new to Twitter, it’s one of the first hashtags you come across. It brings all the chemists together under one roof, so from there I started following other chemists, chemical journals and chemical societies.
What do you enjoy about #RealTimeChem?
There are so many benefits to #RealTimeChem. Not only does it connect chemists together, and provide a great way to ask and answer chemistry questions, it also reaches a more general audience. I often use the hashtag to document chemistry in my every day life with the hope of communicating science and engaging the public.
It’s a hub for the chemistry community, and a source of support and encouragement. This was of enormous help to me when I was writing my PhD thesis, and I even acknowledge @RealTimeChem in my thesis! I’ve made friends through the hashtag, been invited to conferences, and even been invited to apply for jobs.
I also very much enjoy the humour on #RealTimeChem and it’s made me laugh many times. And when I’m having a bad day in the lab I like to take a look at the hashtag and see all the pretty chemistry pictures to cheer me up!
What inspired you to come up with the theme of 'New Elements in Chemistry'?
When @RealTimeChem posted a call for themes, the four new elements had recently been named by IUPAC (nihonium, moscovium, tennessine, and oganesson). When I thought about these New Elements, I also thought it could be interpreted to mean new elements in our chemistry careers and in our personal lives. At the time, I was working in South Africa on an air quality project as a visiting scientist and was planning my move to Zurich to a postdoc, so for me this theme also represents new elements in my career, from moving from PhD to postdoc and from moving from atmospheric chemistry to environmental chemistry.
On a more personal level, I was at the time going through significant changes in my personal life. So 2016 has been about new beginnings, new paths, new science projects, new countries and new adventures for me. All New Elements in my career and life.
In all, I am hoping that New Elements in Chemistry highlights not only the new elements added to the Periodic Table but also the new elements in chemists’ lives as they begin new chapters in their chemistry projects, their careers and also (and as importantly) in their personal lives.
I hope to also bring 'New Elements' to the discussion table for chemists, for example pregnancy for female chemistry students and mental illnesses in grad school.
What are your plans for #RealTimeChem Week?
Last year during #RealTimeChem Week I gave a tour of our atmospheric chemistry labs at the University of Toronto and I would like to do something similar this year at ETH Zurich. The field of atmospheric chemistry (#atmoschem on Twitter) is relatively small within the chemistry community and I’d like to help chemistry tweeters learn more about it. Of course, I’ll be doing my own chemistry during the week as well. I’m really looking forward to it!
#RealTimeChem Week
If you’re interested in finding out more about #RealTimeChem Week take a look at the blog or head straight over to Twitter to get involved. There are even awards and prizes to be won!
175 minutes for chemistry
As the oldest chemical society in the world, we celebrated our 175th anniversary in 2016. We wanted to mark this milestone by recognising the important contributions our community makes to the chemical sciences. We asked our members and supporters to dedicate 175 minutes to chemistry in 2016 and share their stories with us. We featured these stories throughout the year on our website, in print in RSC News, and on social media using #time4chem.
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