ACPA 2021 AGM Summary
2021 AGM Recap
Thank you to all who were able to attend and participate in our 2nd virtual Annual General Meeting. We are pleased to introduce our 2021/22 Board of Directors and Committees to lead us into a new year and proud to announce our Award and Scholarship recipients of 2021 below.

If you were unable to join us online on April 28th, the 2021 AGM Minutes and Presentation are now available in the Members Only section of the website under 'Annual General Meeting > 2021 AGM' for your convenience.
Introducing our New President: Sean Stewart
Fellow members and ACPA staff, it is my pleasure and honor to serve as the President of the ACPA for the up-coming year. I hope each of you and your families have been safe and well during the unprecedented year we have experienced due to the COVID measures that have been in place. We all have had to accommodate these measures and restrictions. This includes the board, staff, and committees who adjusted to continue with the business of the association. Thank you for all your efforts!

From early in my professional career, I have been involved with the ACPA, and over that time I have met a talented and diverse group of people. This diversity reflects how varied the chemical industry is within the province; chemists find many occupations within these industries. I am optimistic about the opportunities for chemists going ahead, as there is an expanding petrochemical industry and improving opportunities in the petroleum and environmental industries. This is a reason why, as a whole, chemists exhibit such a varied career experience as a profession. I am fascinated by this diversity as chemists end up in all sorts of career paths.

As for myself, I currently work for SECURE Energy within the specialty chemical industry of production chemicals focusing on technical support and product development. Over the past twenty years, I have worked within production chemicals / oilfield chemicals holding additional roles such as research and development located in Alberta and the United States. Prior to that, I obtained a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Calgary in Polymer Materials Chemistry. Working in oilfield chemicals has been intriguing and challenging, I cannot believe the years have passed so quickly.

Looking ahead, the association has a lot of work to see through in the next year. For example, we would like to complete the governance manual, and there is the review of the Professions currently under way by the Alberta government. I look forward to working with the Board of Directors, Committees, and Members to promote and advance the causes of the association.

I look forward to meeting many of you in the months ahead. Be Safe!

Best Regards, 

Sean Stewart
Welcome to our New Board Members
Shane Harnish, President-Elect
Shiva Zohrehvand, Treasurer
Atosa Kavousian, Director
Mark Poirier, Director
Sarah Dougherty, Director
ACPA 2021 Award & Scholarship Recipients
2021 ACPA Frank W. Bachelor Award Recipient: Mark Rice
The ACPA is pleased to have issued the 2021 Frank W. Bachelor Award for Service to the Chemical Profession to ACPA member Mark Rice. This award is the highest honour for a Professional Chemist in Alberta.
Mark is a well-deserving recipient of this award. Among Mark’s contributions to our profession, one that stands out the most is his leading the development of ACPA’s first formal Strategic Plan. Mark’s other contributions include helping to establish the governance policies for our association, enhancing our professional development maintenance program, serving as ACPA webmaster, organizing and hosting a chemical health and safety symposium on behalf of our organization, and serving multiple terms on ACPA’s Board of Directors.
Mark has been a Professional Chemist and member of the ACPA since 2000. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, a Master’s degree in Public Administration, a certificate in Occupational Health and Safety, holds professional designations of Professional Chemist, Canadian Registered Safety Professional, and Certified Industrial Hygienist; plus has graduated from leadership and management development programs. In his professional capacity, Mark is an expert in chemical health and safety, occupational health and safety, occupational hygiene, and public administration. He wears multiple hats and is currently a statutory director under both Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Act and Radiation Protection Act. He has served as the lead for Alberta’s WHMIS, asbestos, and radiation programs, co-authored indoor air quality guidelines, has been published in Canadian Government Executive Magazine, and has received multiple Premier’s Awards of Excellence, among other achievements. Prior to joining government, Mark was team lead for a private-sector Hazmat (chemical emergency response) team, and worked in the hazardous waste, cement, and food processing industries, to name a few.
Congratulations, once again, to Mark Rice for receiving the 2021 Frank W. Bachelor Award for Service to the Chemical Profession.
2021 ACPA Arthur Bollo-Kamara Graduate Scholarship Recipient: Milanpreet Kaur
Milanpreet Kaur is a PhD candidate in the Van Humbeck Group at University of Calgary. Originally from India, where she did her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Chemistry at University of Delhi.

Milan’s research interest is focused on designing a new catalytic system for site selective C-H functionalization in azaheterocycles.

When she has time, she enjoys photography, blogging, and exploring different places and culture. Her life goal is to stay purpose driven and to leave a positive impact wherever she goes.
2021 ACPA Undergraduate Scholarship in Chemistry Recipient:
From Red Deer, Ashley Elgersma is completing her BSc in Chemistry at The King’s University in Edmonton, to be completed in the spring of 2022. She has also been a teaching assistant at King’s for a non-majors chemistry course, where she has learned strategies for teaching Chemistry to a broad audience.

Ashley has spent her summers working for the King’s Centre for Visualization in Science (KCVS.ca), where she focuses on creating online, interactive, learning tools for chemistry education, primarily in the area of climate change. Ashley’s current project is a learning tool to convert IR spectra to sound, to help students with and without visual impairments to understand the mechanisms of global climate change through the concept of resonance. In 2019, Ashley also had the opportunity to spend four months working in computational and theoretical chemistry at the National Research Council in Ottawa.

When not completing chemistry assignments or trying to solve the climate crisis, Ashley enjoys cross country skiing, hiking, kayaking, and playing oboe.
Youth Science Fair Award Recipients
Calgary Youth Science Fair Award Recipients
2021 ACPA Alberta Chemist Award Recipients

Project: Removal of ferric irons in water through biosorption using Saccharina japonica
Students: Lili Huang & Sauhe Kim
School: Western Canada High School
2021 ACPA Rick Dillen Memorial Award Recipient

Project: Chitosan-Based Bioplastics
Student: Audrey Kavchak
School: Branton School
Edmonton Regional Science Fair:
2021 ACPA Alberta Chemist Award Recipients
Award Winner

Project: Don’t Lose Your Temper
Student: Hannah Boreyko
School: Aurora Academic Charter School
Honourable Mention

Project: Is the 5 Second Rule Fact or Fiction?
Student: Yasmin Elfeki
School: Edmonton Islamic Academy
Edmonton Regional Science Fair:
2021 ACPA Rick Dillen Memorial Award Recipients
Award Winner

Project: Don’t Throw Your Furnace Filter
Student: Eman Karout
School: Edmonton Islamic Academy
Honourable Mention

Project: Learning Your A, G, C's, And T's Too 
Student: Sharshaad Bariana 
School: Aurora Academic Charter School 
Industry News & Articles of Interest
COVID-19: Chemists participate in vaccination
“Our professional order brings together members with varied skills, particularly in analytical chemistry, clinical biochemistry, pharmacology and molecular diagnostics. This is why we are pleased that the authorities concerned recognize our expertise to participate in the war effort deployed in response to COVID-19. We hope that our participation in the vaccination operations will be beneficial so that the entire Quebec population has the right to a first dose of vaccine by the summer as hoped by the Quebec government ”, affirms the president of the OCQ, Mr. Michel Alsayegh.
A Right to Healthy Environment: Wilkinson
OTTAWA, THE CANADIAN PRESS IN THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS — The Liberal government is proposing long-awaited changes to an environmental protection law that include a recognition every person living in Canada has a right to a healthy environment.

Officials with Environment and Climate Change Canada say defining what a “healthy environment” means or how exactly that right could work within the Canadian Environmental Protection Act will be determined through consultations.
Member Matters
This new virtual Ethics course will retain much of the material and the interactive elements that our members valued in the previous one-day course. The course will provide an introduction to the ethical framework that guides professional chemists in the conduct of their duties. The course still focuses on solving practical issues that arise in professional practice.
NOTE: This course is a mandatory requirement for ACPA membership.
We are looking for volunteers!
The Student Liaison Committee and Marketing Committee are currently seeking members.

To learn more about our Committees, click here to visit our website. To volunteer, please email acpaoffice@pchem.ca.
The Chemist's Ring is available for sale to any ACPA Professional Chemist who is a member in good standing. Completion of the Professional Ethics for Chemists and the Jurisprudence courses is a requirement to remain a member in good standing.

Note: Limited quantities of all sizes of titanium rings are currently in stock.
Available Sizes: 2 -13
(size 9 and 10 sold out)
If you are a member of ACPA, log in to start learning or pick up where you left off. Free and discounted courses are available. If you are not a member, join now and gain access to member discounts along with a long list of other member benefits and opportunities!

Job postings are now FREE to post for both members and non-members! To share your employment opportunity, log in or create an account today.

Job postings are listed on the Job Board page on the ACPA website. Please check this web page regularly for new postings that may have tight application deadlines.
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