•   Northern State University student Aaron Kern has won a 2014 American Chemical Society Outstanding Chemistry Senior Award.
•  Kern, a Groton native, was one of 12 Outstanding Chemistry Senior awardees for South Dakota. He was presented with the award, which includes a certificate and a check for $100, at a ceremony in Sioux Falls last week hosted by ACS Sioux Valley.
• The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by Congress with main offices in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio. With more than 164,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed jour

nals and scientific conferences, according to information from the organization.
•  The purpose of the Outstanding Chemistry Senior Award is to encourage the continued professional development of senior chemistry majors who have attained a strong academic record.
• Kern will graduate from NSU on Saturday with degrees in biology and chemistry. At NSU, he and a research partner were winners of a $2,500 Undergraduate Competitive Research Grant for their project, titled, "Synthesis of Quinabactin and its derivatives for the study of increasing drought tolerances in plants."
• Kern will attend the University of Iowa in the fall with a Ph.D. assistantship.