Biochemist wins pageant crown
The experiment known as elephant toothpaste may not impress many chemists. Depending on your perspective, it may not even qualify as an experiment. But performing it onstage seems to result reproducibly in victory at beauty pageants.
It worked for Alayna Westcom, crowned Miss Vermont in 2015, and again for Camille Schrier, a doctoral candidate at Virginia Commonwealth University’s school of pharmacy, who recently won the 2019 Miss Virginia competition.
For the talent portion of the competition, Schrier demonstrated and explained a simple but impressive chemical reaction that relies on iodide to catalyze a decomposition of hydrogen peroxide into water and gaseous oxygen. Onstage, with the addition of a little soap and food coloring, the product was a bubbly, photogenic crowd-pleaser that won Schrier the preliminary talent award.
Criticized for decades as frivolous or antifeminist, beauty pageants have seen declining television ratings and heightened controversy during the Me Too movement. Pageant organizations have tried to change with the times. In 2018, the Miss America Organization rebranded, ending the swimsuit competition and focusing on contestants’ professional ambitions and plans for social impact. It was that rebrand that kindled Schrier’s interest.

A number of past pageant winners have been scientists. Kára McCullough, a chemist at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was crowned Miss USA in 2017. Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2014, entered pageants to win scholarship money to pursue an advanced degree in medicine and used her spotlight to advocate for science education. Erika Ebbel, Miss Massachusetts 2004 in the Miss America pageant, went on to earn a Ph.D. in biochemistry and start a biotech company and an advocacy nonprofit, Science from Scientists.
Schrier graduated from Virginia Tech with a major in biochemistry and systems biology. Now studying for a pharmacy degree, she told Virginia Tech that she hopes one day to work in the pharmaceutical industry on drug or vaccine development. For the next year, though, she’ll be on sabbatical from her Ph.D. program, touring the state to promote prescription drug safety and science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.
“I’m trying to be like Bill Nye,” she told Virginia Commonwealth University’s press team. “I want to get kids excited.”
Watch #VCUPharmacy student Camille Schrier wow the judges for Miss Virginia with her talent performance — the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide!
— VCU School of Pharmacy (@VCUPharmacy) June 26, 2019
PS: she won. Next pageant: #MissAmerica#FuturePharmacistpic.twitter.com/MzqgZBUygl
Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?
Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition monthly.
Learn moreGet the latest from ASBMB Today
Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.
Latest in People
People highlights or most popular articles

Finding a symphony among complex molecules
MOSAIC scholar Stanna Dorn uses total synthesis to recreate rare bacterial natural products with potential therapeutic applications.

Sketching, scribbling and scicomm
Graduate student Ari Paiz describes how her love of science and art blend to make her an effective science communicator.

Embrace your neurodivergence and flourish in college
This guide offers practical advice on setting yourself up for success — learn how to leverage campus resources, work with professors and embrace your strengths.

Survival tools for a neurodivergent brain in academia
Working in academia is hard, and being neurodivergent makes it harder. Here are a few tools that may help, from a Ph.D. student with ADHD.

Quieting the static: Building inclusive STEM classrooms
Christin Monroe, an assistant professor of chemistry at Landmark College, offers practical tips to help educators make their classrooms more accessible to neurodivergent scientists.

Hidden strengths of an autistic scientist
Navigating the world of scientific research as an autistic scientist comes with unique challenges —microaggressions, communication hurdles and the constant pressure to conform to social norms, postbaccalaureate student Taylor Stolberg writes.