'Breaking Bad' consultant to keynote QUEST forum

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Donna J. Nelson, professor of chemistry at the University of Oklahoma who served as a consultant on the TV show “Breaking Bad,” gives the keynote address Tuesday at the annual QUEST Forum for Student Scholarship.

The event is 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Kilcawley Center at Youngstown State University.

QUEST is a university-sponsored forum for undergraduate and graduate students to present scholarship to the community, share achievements and creations, hone conference presentation skills and receive university recognition for accomplishments.

Nelson, past president of the American Chemical Society, specializes in organic chemistry, which she both researches and teaches.

Nelson has focused on five primary topics of research, generally categorized in two areas, Scientific Research and America’s Scientific Readiness.

Under America’s Scientific Readiness, she focuses on science education, which includes classroom innovations and correcting organic chemistry textbook inaccuracies, on ethnic and gender diversity among highly ranked science departments of research universities, and on improving the image and presentation of science and scientists to the public.

About 400 YSU students will make presentations on nearly 300 research projects during the full-day event. Presentations run the gamut from engineering designs and study abroad reports to musical scores and poetry readings.

Awards will be given for the best projects and presentations.

For information, visit ysu.edu/quest/.

The event is free and open to the public. A formal program guide with abstracts will be published in advance and will be available at QUEST. All accepted submissions will be judged for a variety of awards and recognition. Best of QUEST is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m.