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Lycoming College chemistry major Lydia Yorks ’20 of Jersey Shore, Pa., received a John F. Conn Award at the Gamma Sigma Epsilon (GSE) Biennial Convention, held Nov 8-10, 2019 in North Carolina. She earned the award for her research poster, “NMR Studies of Ruthenium Complexes with Nitrogen-Containing Phosphine Ligands,” which she presented at the convention.
Yorks also spoke on her research at the College’s chemistry colloquium in November, and presented her research poster at the College on Dec. 6. She was the official GSE voting delegate for Lycoming College, and serves as the Secretary for the College’s Rho Delta chapter. Her research poster is based on work completed in the lab of Charles Mahler, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry at Lycoming.
“It was great to see Lydia’s hard work in my lab pay off, both in terms of the results she discovered, and in presenting her award-winning poster at GSE’s 100th anniversary convention,” said Mahler. “Speaking about her research with faculty and students from other colleges and at Lycoming is great preparation for graduate study and working in industry, since science has to be communicated to have an impact.”
“The Gamma Sigma Epsilon Convention gave me many new points of contact for other universities with chemistry grad programs, as well as friends that have the same interests as I do,” said Yorks. “Participating was such a neat experience — getting to vote on decisions of GSE and learning more about the history of how GSE began.”
In addition to her chemistry major, Yorks also minors in biology and psychology. This semester, Yorks is doing more research in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. After her time at Lycoming, she plans to pursue a graduate degree in chemistry.
Founded in 1919, Gamma Sigma Epsilon is a national chemistry honor society that promotes academic excellence and undergraduate research scholarship in chemistry. There are more than 70 active chapters throughout the country, and the organization meets every other year for governance, fellowship, and scientific exchange.