Dr. Karen Frindell proved she loves colors in the Santa Rosa Junior College Salon March 5 with her presentation, “The Periodic Table: A Love Story.”

“It’s an informal conversation on chemistry,” Frindell said. “It’s open to everyone but the focus is really the staff talking to one another about their specialties.”

The organizer of the event, SRJC English instructor Dr. Karen Walker, introduced Frindell.

“We want to keep the atmosphere very casual,” Walker said. “The speakers have whatever time they want to use in the hour but we hope to have some time after the speaker for discussion.”

The Salon maintained a casual atmosphere while Dr.Frindell gave her presentation. Frindell was animated in her presentation using demonstrations and props to make her points.

“I never get tired of talking about color,” Frindell said, presenting several vials of colored solutions. “I chose chemistry because I like the way chemistry looks.”

Frindell told the story of her 14-year-old self in a ninth grade chemistry class discovering that two chemicals that looked like water mixed to create a vibrant yellow, which she demonstrated for those present.

Frindell broke down some of the major colors into their elements and explained how they were discovered.
English, art and math teachers joined in the conversation, after the presentation, discussing topics such as the benefit of creating elements and the discovery of new colors.

“I want to go take chemistry now,”one student said at the end of the forum.

“Great, that’s the goal,” Frindell said.

Next month’s salon series will be hosted by the SRJC President Dr. Frank Chong.