UNLV senior Kyler Elwell recently received an award from the Rocky Mountain regional division of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

Elwell, a sociology major who also is pursuing minors in chemistry and biology, received the award for the paper she presented on "Preparation and Characterization of Semi-Fluorous 2,2'-Bipyridines." The paper was selected as one of the top three papers it its category.

The award was made at the 17th Rocky Mountain Regional Meeting of the ACS in Albuquerque, N.M., in October. Because of an error made by conference organizers who placed her paper in the graduate student category even though she is an undergraduate, Elwell found herself facing particularly difficult competition.

Elwell, who will graduate in December, does her chemistry research under the supervision of assistant professor Byron Bennett. The research focuses on preparing fluorocarbon soluble metal complexes that catalyze the reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide in the presence of light.