Growing up in a small town in East Tennessee didn’t allow many opportunities for learning about STEM fields. But I was very fortunate to have the most passionate, imaginative, and caring High School Chemistry teacher one could ever hope to find. After catching several things ablaze, a few explosions, and oh yes, one classroom evacuation, I was hooked on Chemistry. I went on to study Chemistry constantly learning how much I did not know about Chemistry. After an amazing career in the Chemical industry I decided it was time to help prepare the next generation of scientists by sharing my passion for chemistry with them. What better way than to create a nonprofit corporation in honor of the World’s Greatest Chemistry Teacher Marsha Ottem.

Welcome to Ottem Labs.

The mission of Ottem Labs is to improve the accessibility to STEM educational opportunities for North Carolina high school students to better prepare them for potential careers or higher education STEM pathways. Weeklong summer day camps will focus on engaging classroom instruction and hands-on experiments in various fields of Chemistry including, but not limited to the following: Forensic Science, Polymer Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Science, Analytical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Green Chemistry, Metallurgy, and Food Chemistry.