Beautiful gowns, original songs and dances of all styles are familiar sights on the Miss Virginia stage, but this year one contestant broke the mould with an explosive chemistry demonstration, saying it “felt like this was the right time.”
Camille Schrier, a 24-year-old biochemist and Doctor of Pharmacy student at Virginia Commonwealth University, added another title last month to her list of achievements. She is the newly crowned Miss Virginia, taking home the prize after a stereotype-breaking performance.
“I want to broaden what we think of as talent,” she told the judges and audience at the Miss Virginia competition in June before she took to the stage during the talent portion of the event.
Schrier, in a white lab coat, beige heels, and huge, sparkly earrings, gave a science demonstration worthy of Bill Nye. The demonstration she performed -- catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide -- was colourful, explosive and instant. She poured potassium iodide into three beakers full of concentrated hydrogen peroxide, food colouring and dish soap to set the reaction off.
Video of the performance shows the moment that three tubes of coloured foam shoot out of the tops of the beakers, stretching high into the air one by one before collapsing upon the table in a colourful, fluffy heap of air and bubbles. As the foam bubbled like a creature out of Stranger Things, Schrier explained that the reaction produced water, oxygen gas and heat -- the gas became trapped in the dish soap, creating the dramatic foam display.
The cheers from the audience are audible during the demonstration. Schrier told CTV News Friday evening that the performance was a blur, but she could hear her friends and family out there.
It was “an absolutely positive reaction, if I’m going to make a chemistry joke,” she said.
A panel of five judges selected Schrier as the winner from among 24 women. Candidates were scored on personal and onstage interviews, evening gowns, social impact initiative and the talent section.
Miss America and competitions like it that pit women against each other have long been criticized for their emphasis on pageant good-looks and performing femininity for judges. Schrier pointed to the evolution of the Miss America pageants -- which got rid of the swimsuit portion of the contest in 2018 -- as well as the opportunities for scholarships as factors behind her decision to enter.
“I think that now, the Miss America Organization has changed to be a lot more progressive,” Schrier said.
“I think that there’s a perception of what women that compete in organizations like this, what we look like and what we sound like, so I want to be that groundbreaker, who goes out and surprises everyone, and says, I’m a woman of science, an academic-focused person, but I still see myself in an organization like this. There’s no reason that you can’t do both, so that’s absolutely part of why I did this.”
The Miss Virginia Organization gave away more than $75,000 in scholarships through this competition, with Schrier alone winning more than $21,000 of that.
Schrier has a dual degree from Virginia Tech in biochemistry, and systems biology -- which she said was a newly formed stream of science that integrated computational biology and mathematical modelling. Her social impact initiative for the competition revolved around overdose prevention and drug safety, as she is a certified Naloxone trainer in the city of Richmond.
She said that she has loved science “since I was a little girl,” and hopes to use this opportunity to speak to young people about science.
“This particular demonstration is really designed for kids, and I picked it because it’s really entertaining and engaging, and I want to use that as a catalyst to get kids excited about STEM careers,” she said.
She will also be moving on to compete in Miss America, as the representative from Virginia. She says she plans to do another chemistry demonstration there as well. But even if she doesn’t take home a second crown, she already feels accomplished.
“I feel like I’ve been successful,” she said, “especially being able to make waves by being a representative of STEM and being a scientist in this organization.”
