Dr. Truis Smith-Palmer is a science champion. And now she has an award to recognize it.

The long-time StFX chemistry professor was honoured recently at the seventh annual Discovery Awards for Science and Technology, winning the prestigious Science Champion Award at the ceremony held November 26th at The Westin Nova Scotian, Halifax.

The awards honour individuals and organizations whose exemplary work in science and technology inspire. In particular, the Science Champion Award recognizes the devotion to the promotion of science and technology to the public. The recipients of the award are role models who make science fascinating and accessible.

Dr. Smith-Palmer’s award is in recognition of her efforts to bring exciting and engaging science educational activities to children and schools all over northern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton.

“I was very excited and honored to receive the award,” she says. “It recognizes not only the work I have done with outreach, but also all the help and support I have had from faculty and staff in chemistry and the rest of the science faculty. I began visiting schools over 25 years ago in company with the late Dr. David Bunbury to give presentations on chemistry. We also gave presentations in malls and to community groups and at Mayfest. We were part of the opening day presentations at the Museum of Industry.”

Dr. Smith-Palmer has continued this tradition along with other members of the chemistry department. Each presentation involves demonstrations where they explain, and offer hands-on activities to get the audience involved.

For the past seven years, she has organized the hugely popular summer Imperial Oil Science Outreach (formerly X-Chem) science camps on campus. She started by offering three camps, and has now expanded to offer seven camps on campus and one for Pictou Landing First Nations children.

She has also expanded the school visitation program by hiring undergrads to give presentations throughout May and June. This past year, presentations were given to 2,300 school children. She says the program also benefits the undergraduates who are hired to help organize and present the workshops and camps, especially in terms of practical skills and their ability to communicate knowledge as well as enthusiasm.

Dr. Smith-Palmer now spends a lot of her time coordinating the program and organizing the funding as well as designing presentations and training undergrads.

She says outreach is important for many reasons, and that they aim to make the workshops and camps as accessible as possible, funding the visits to schools and keeping the camp fees as low as possible.

“It is vital that young people see how important science is in our lives and how fascinating it is and how many questions it can answer, and raise. It is especially important in this rural area of Nova Scotia where there is no Discovery Centre right on our doorstep.”

Dr. Smith-Palmer has taught analytical chemistry at StFX for almost 30 years. She has also conducted research in a variety of areas. For a long time she studied the interactions of polyelectrolytes and particulate matter, and now she is using FTIR and confocal Raman microspectroscopy to study bacterial growth in biofilms. She is also interested in nanoparticles and their use in Raman spectroscopy and as biocides.