{"id":26733,"date":"2026-01-22T11:17:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T16:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?post_type=story&p=26733"},"modified":"2026-01-26T10:26:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T15:26:42","slug":"worcester-students-learn-the-language-of-chemistry-at-clark","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/01\/22\/worcester-students-learn-the-language-of-chemistry-at-clark\/","title":{"rendered":"Worcester students learn the language of chemistry at Clark"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Professor D\u2019Arcy invites local school\u2019s science class to unpack the mysteries of organic molecules<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Clark University Professor Julio D\u2019Arcy<\/a> recognizes that to many college students, learning chemistry is like trying to master a new language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe chemists are full of words that scare people. We take words and smash them together, and we make them into even harder and longer words. And then we wonder why people don\u2019t want to study chemistry,\u201d says the Carl J. and Anna Carlson Endowed Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his lab and classes at Clark, D\u2019Arcy has made it his goal to engage students, make chemistry approachable and even fun, and win them over, despite their encounters with words like Poly(3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene). Called PEDOT for short, it\u2019s a polymer \u2014 a large molecule made up of chemical materials chained together. Students working in his lab study PEDOT<\/a> and other polymers as part of his $500,000, five-year National Science Foundation CAREER Award<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But even before entering college or even high school, students should have many more opportunities to learn about the chemistry that is all around, and within, us, D\u2019Arcy believes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you wanted to demystify chemistry, you could do that in elementary school. You can start getting students into it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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