RADFORD -- Radford University has been selected as the site of the 2009 International ChemEd Conference, a week-long forum that annually attracts more than 1,000 chemistry teachers from throughout the world.

The 20th annual International ChemEd Conference will be chaired by Radford University chemistry professor Christine Hermann and run August 2 - 6, 2009. Keynote speakers will share valuable insights in their field and teachers can attend a wide variety of presentations, hands-on workshops and demonstrations offered to help participants better engage students in science. Teachers use this conference to meet with colleagues, compare classroom experience, and grow professionally.

ChemEd Conferences began in 1973 in Waterloo, Ontario, as a group of high school teachers wanting to share ideas, classroom experiences, and laboratory experiments with other high school teachers. Over the years, it has blossomed into a more comprehensive conference involving teachers from all instructional levels, and chemistry educators come from all over the world to learn new ways to invigorate their classes.

Recent conferences have attracted participants from every state and Canadian province and more than 50 countries. The majority of attendees are high school chemistry teachers, though college professors from two-year and four-year institutions also participate.

Members of the organizing committee for the 2009 conference include RU faculty, faculty from surrounding universities, high school teachers and chemistry professionals. The deadline for submission of presentation and workshop abstracts is March 1, 2009.

For more information, visit http://www.radford.edu/chemed2009.