Since he joined my group in spring 2024, Luke Fossat has done some amazing things. He worked throughout summer 2024 funded by our group’s Organic Syntheses Faculty PUI research grant and completed a project Morgan Payne had started two years earlier. We published that work in the European Journal of Organic Chemistry last year after Organic Syntheses rejected it as an article proposal, and now it was time to present at ACS.

Luke and I traveled to San Diego for the Spring 2025 American Chemical Society conference. As always, the weather was beautiful and a welcome departure from the cold Utah spring. We stayed in the historic Gaslamp district, which was just a short walk to the conference center. The large, horizontal San Diego conference center seemingly blocks pedestrian access to the bay, which lies just beyond the building, to the right of the picture below. Thankfully, the architects built massive stairways going up and over the building, which lead right to the boardwalk adjacent to the bay. I also recommend catching the ferry and visiting Coronado Island, which lies on the other side of the bay and abuts the Pacific Ocean.

Since I wasn’t presenting at this meeting, Luke and I navigated the first day together. We attended the “opening ceremonies” and the Kavli Presidential Lecture. After Luke presented his poster, we connected with fellow UVU student Eugene Leung, who was also presenting at the meeting, and captured a photograph in front of the iconic “Proud to be a Chemist” sign. Later, we dined outside at a Cuban restaurant in the Gaslamp quarter. I enjoyed an authentic cubano, which is one of my favorite sandwiches. Definitely recommend.