The 2018 American Chemical Society National Meeting in New Orleans

From March 18 to 21, 2018, I attended the American Chemical Society National Meeting in New Orleans. Although I already attended last year´s National Meeting in San Francisco, I was still impressed by the size of the conference with 13,000 attendees, 7,000 presentations, and 250 exhibitors. Being a student at a small liberal arts college with only a handful of students majoring in chemistry, it was truly inspiring to be surrounded by so many people that share the same interest and passion. I particularly enjoyed getting to know the people behind a research project who are usually only visible through their names on the author list of a journal article. Furthermore, attending talks about research on nanomaterials gave me new input and ideas for future research in graduate school.

The conference allowed me to meet with my collaborators which was the perfect opportunity to discuss my thesis as well as their current research progress with them. Apart from the conference, I had a great time reconnecting with students, post-docs, and professors from other institutions I worked with last summer. In my free time, I was able to do some sightseeing in New Orleans and learn more about the Creole culture. I was particularly fascinated by the French Quarter and its rich history. Overall, attending