ACS names its 2025 Outreach Volunteers of the Year

The American Chemical Society’s Committee on Community Activities has recognized 26 members with 2025 Outreach Volunteer of the Year Awards. Volunteers from local sections and international chapters are honored for their outstanding outreach efforts.

One recipient is named Global Outreach Volunteer of the Year. Anne-Catherine Bédard, a research scientist at Dow, is the 2025 winner. Bédard has led the Midland Local Section’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee since 2020 and is being honored for her work to transform this once-dormant committee into a thriving outreach enterprise.

Outreach programs that Bédard’s committee has launched or colaunched include the A Day in the Life of an Industrial Scientist events, in which high school and college students work in teams to solve a tricky problem involving both car racing and the space shuttle Challenger explosion. The day finishes with a poster session that emphasizes the importance of diverse teams to real scientific research. “The takeaway of A Day in the Life is collaboration,” Bédard says.

Last year, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee cohosted its inaugural STEM Day for Girl Scouts. “The Girl Scouts in Michigan typically don't get their science badge because they don't have anyone to run that activity for them—as opposed to the Boy Scouts, who often get it,” Bédard says. The volunteers at this event, which the committee plans to run annually, hosted hands-on experiments that covered the badge criteria.

The other 2025 Outreach Volunteer of the Year winners from local sections and international chapters are Mariana Alves of the California Section, Joseph Badillo of the North Jersey Section, Yolanda Daza of the Brazosport Local Section, Domonkos Feher of the Hawaii Local Section, Maria da Conceição Ferreira de Oliveira of the Brazil International Chemical Sciences Chapter, Fun Man Fung of the Singapore International Chemical Sciences Chapter, Allison Gotoh of the Orange County Section, Melinda Greer of the Dayton Local Section, Hasrinah Hasbullah of the Malaysia International Chemical Sciences Chapter, Sara Hubbard of the Central Arkansas Local Section, Thompson Izuagie of the Nigeria International Chemical Sciences Chapter, Kiresha Johnson of the Greater Houston Section, James Krikke of the Western Michigan Local Section, Kelly Lancaster of the Central Texas Local Section, Jeanne (Qin) Liu of the Oregon Local Section, Christin Monroe of the Green Mountain Local Section, Fiorella Olivera-Venturo of the Peru International Chemical Sciences Chapter, Nikae Perkinson of the Omaha Local Section, Christine Saber of the Erie Local Section, Ram Sabnis of the Georgia Local Section, Trina Shartsis of the Southern Arizona Section, Paris Svoronos of the New York Local Section, Alexandra Tamerius of the Indiana Local Section, Sheri Tonn of the Puget Sound Section, and Sherri Young of the Lehigh Valley Section.