Crafty chemists get creative

Dissertation, meet drag Long-time Newscripts readers might remember the scientist who turned fabric posters into shirts . But Charles “Boomer” Russell recently took this concept to the next level by printing a chapter of their dissertation onto fabric and fashioning it into a dress fit for a queen . Back in May, Russell slipped on the handmade garment and wore it as their drag persona, Fatty Acid , to celebrate the completion of their PhD at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. “The dress itself is composed of chapter 2 from my dissertation,” Russell, a biochemist, tells Newscripts. “It was a fun way for me to incorporate a very important part of my life into another part of my life,” they say . Russell’s dissertation dress isn’t the first time the researcher has combined science and drag. Once, while participating in a drag pageant back in 2022, Fatty Acid donned a