The tantalizing scents of spices come from special chemicals that interact in specific ways with neuron receptors in our nose. Each spice has a unique blend of various scent and taste specific molecules. Can your neurons identify which scent chemicals belong to which spice?
Let’s find out! Participants will smell various spices in their native state and then attempt to identify each spice by smelling the oil of the spice, which has a high concentration of the scent molecules. The structure of the scent chemicals impacts how our neurons detect its scent, and models will be available so participants can connect the microscopic molecular structures to the macroscopic scents.
About the Instructor: Nikae Perkinson
Nikae Perkinson has taught for more than three decades in K-12 and higher education. She earned her master’s degree in inorganic chemistry from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she conducted research on nanoparticles. Credentialed in sociology from Appalachian State University, her passions include broadening participation in STEM through multidisciplinary approaches with a social justice lens. She joined the University of Nebraska at Omaha, UNO, in January 2021where she teaches undergraduate chemistry classes and laboratories as a member of the UNO Chemistry Department in the College of Arts and Sciences. Ms. Perkinson is a UNO STEM Trail Center fellow, advisor of the Women in STEM Undergraduate club, and National Chemistry Week coordinator for the local section of the American Chemical Society.
Who: Everyone
Where: 345 Riverfront Drive
When: April 25 // 10AM
Cost: Event is FREE with the cost of daily admission (or Membership).
