In a study of the technology, about half of the learning that occurred throughout an introductory course was attributable to the ChemCollective.

Yaron says he anticipates a boost in the ChemCollectives popularity, particularly among scientists, as a result of winning the SPORE contest. Having a two-page article in Science will cause people who didn’t know about us to take a look, and those who knew a little to learn more, he says.

As he looks at chemistry’s future, Yaron he sees all kinds of interesting opportunities. Green chemistry, or developing chemical technology in a better, safer way, has changed the field such that a lot of questions in chemistry that were solved aren’t considered solved anymore, Yaron says. Not only is that important, he says, it’s going to be really fun and interesting.