Chemistry Day at Impression 5
The
MSU Local Section once again ushered in National Chemistry Week with our
16th annual “Chemistry Day” hands-on activity/demonstration
event held from 11
am – 3:30 pm
on Saturday,
October 19, 2002
at Impression 5 Science Center, a local science museum.Admission
to the museum was free, thanks to a generous donation from MBI International,
a Lansing
biotechnology firm.The total attendance
for the event was 2,259.
Though
the event was open to the public, Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops were
specifically invited to attend by publicizing the event through the local
councils.Any scout attending received
a specially designed Participation Patch illustrating the theme “Chemistry
Keeps Us Clean!”This is the third
year we’ve designed and distributed a patch to the scouts.The
total scout attendance was 712, including 326 Boy Scouts and 386 Girl Scouts.Activities
were provided so that Boy Scouts could earn their Chemistry Merit Badge
(130 Boy Scouts participated in this and 86 completed the requirements
at the event).Fifteen MichiganStateUniversity
faculty and graduate students were available to discuss the activities
with the scouts and to check their understanding as they progressed through
the requirements.In addition, 196
Cub Scouts and Webelos completed the requirements for their Science Belt
Loop, Science Academic Pin and/or Science Activity Pin.
Twenty-six
table of hands-on activities, many consistent with the theme, were presented
by 40 students from the Departments of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering,
Environmental Engineering, and Food Science; by 15 employees of MBI International
and an employee of the Board of Water and Light; as well as by 45 students
from PerryHigh
School
and LakesideChristianSchool.
Moles,
mugs, and element pins were raffled off each hour.Each
participant received a NCW activity newspaper, a “Hooray for Chemistry”
bag, and an NCW helium balloon.Hundreds
of nanomoles and chemistry tattoos were also given away.
A
report on National Chemistry Week events was in the December
16, 2002
issue of Chemical & Engineering News. Pictures
of our local “Chemistry Day” event taken by Dr. Tom Atkinson appeared in
the article: http://pubs.acs.org/cen/acsnews/8050/8050acsnews.html. Additional
pictures can be viewed at the local section website:
Poster Contest: “Chemistry
Keeps Us Clean!”
As
part of the National Chemistry Week 2002 celebration and in recognition
of its theme, “Chemistry Keeps Us Clean!”, the American Chemical Society
sponsored a poster contest for students in grades K-12.Students
were invited to draw a poster illustrating how chemistry contributes to
keeping clean.The students in Mr.
Gary Guevara’s class at LakesideChristianSchool
in East
Lansing
submitted posters to the local section contest.The
winner was awarded a NCW tee shirt and her poster was entered into the
national competition.The runners
up received millimoles.See the
local section winning poster and the two posters receiving honorable mentions
at:
NCW
Unifying Event: “Chemistry Makes Cleaning Possible!”
The
unifying event for this year’s NCW celebration was a collection drive for
cleaning products.Our local sections
collected items from boy scouts participating in Chemistry Day.Over
120 pounds of cleaning products were received and donated to the Salvation
Army!
2002
MSU Local Section Public Lecture & Salutes to Excellence Awards
The
MSU Local Section hosted a public lecture by Dr. Attila Pavlath, Immediate
Past President of the American Chemical Society and emeritus lead scientist
at the WesternRegionResearchCenter
of the USDA on Thursday,
May 23, 2002.Dr.
Pavlath presented the topic “Edible Coatings on Food, or How to Keep Fruits
and Vegetables Fresh after Light Processing.”Over
100 members of the MSU local section and campus communities attended the
lecture.
Prior
to the lecture, a short award ceremony was held to recognize MSU Chemistry
graduate students who have received awards during the past year.In
addition, Dr. Pavlath presented ACS Salutes to Excellence Awards,
to three organizations in recognition of their support of the MSU Local
Section’s 2001 National Chemistry Week activities.The
awards were presented to MBI International for a donation that allowed
Impression 5 to host Chemistry Day without an admission charge;to
the Michigan Capitol Girl Scout Council (MCGSC) for facilitating the participation
of over 400 girl scouts in Chemistry Day; and to Impression 5 Science Center
for serving as the host site for Chemistry Day and for coordinating public
relations and fund raising activities.Accepting
the awards were Dr. Mark Stowers, President MBI International, Ms. Pamela
Sievers, Executive Director of MCGSC, and Ms.Ellen Sprouls, Director Impression
5 Science Center.A reception for
Dr. Pavlath and the award winners followed the meeting.Pictures
can be seen at: http://www.cem.msu.edu/~msuacs/pavlath_after.html
ACS Undergraduate Student Awards
The
following students were recognized for their outstanding performance in
undergraduate chemistry.Awards
were presented to the students at their colleges.A
reception was held in the Department of Chemistry during April, 2002 for
the award winning MSU students.Congratulations!
2001-2002
Outstanding Graduating Students in Chemistry:
·Kevin
ClawsonAlbionCollege
·Cynthia
NallJacksonCommunity
College
·Doug
EbaughLansingCommunity
College
·Robin
Stein & Zachary LemonMichiganStateUniversity
·Ben
KopekSpringArborCollege
2001-2002
ACS Awards for Outstanding Performance in Undergraduate Chemistry at MichiganStateUniversity:
·Rosemary
KanastyFreshman Chemistry
·Jeffrey
GourFreshman Honors Chemistry
·Andrew
GoetzOrganic Chemistry
·Tessa
FojutPhysical Chemistry
·Elizabeth
CroalAnalytical Chemistry
·Steven
GuillaudeuAdvanced Chemistry
2002-03
Organic Division Graduate Fellowship Winner
The
members of ACS local section congratulate Ben Travis for being one of 16
graduate students nationwide to receive an ACS Division of Organic Chemistry
graduate fellowship.Ben is currently
studying with Babak Borhan and involved in the development of methodology
for the oxidative cyclization of 1,4-dienes and the oxidative cleavage
of olefins and oxidation of aldehydes.Ben's
fellowship is sponsored by Pharmacia.More
information at: http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/cen/80/i50/html/8050awards.html
Younger
Chemists Committee (YCC)
The
Younger Chemists Committee met with Dr. Atilla Pavlath former president
of the ACS to discuss grass roots efforts of increasing our membership.The
discussion was well attended and fruitful.Additionally,
we sponsored the annual “unofficial” bar night at Trippers, welcoming new
graduate students in an informal setting.There
was a large turn out of both domestic as well as international students
and of course the all-important faculty- to provide beverages to supplement
the food bought by YCC.Conversation
was abundant and all enjoyed the evening.
Furthermore,
we had a panel discussion with faculty representatives from a small university,Butler,
and a large university, MSU, to discuss teaching experiences at both types
of schools.For next year the YCC
plans to have a similar panel discussion for undergraduates deciding upon
graduate school or working after finishing their degree.We
are also going to sponsor a poster session before the ACS National meeting
in New
Orleans, Louisiana
so students can have input and practice before presenting.
ACS Women in Chemistry (ACSWiC)
From the annual ice cream social kick-off meeting
in September to the most “Meet the Speaker” events in the history of ACSWiC,
the fall was a busy semester.
We were
excited to meet with eleven women scientists who were scheduled to give
seminars in the chemistry department as part of our “Meet the Speaker”
program.
A wide variety of topics
were discussed including mentoring, balancing career and family, past and
present statistics of women in science etc.
Some
of our members also participated in a network building workshop organized
by the Pfizer Women's Network which was very valuable.
Outreach
was also on the agenda this past fall as we participated in Chemistry Day
at Impression 5 Science Center during National Chemistry Week.
In
keeping with this year’s theme “Chemistry Keeps Us Clean,” experiments
highlighting alternative energy sources were presented. The potential for
use of hydrogen gas as a fuel was demonstrated with an exploding egg experiment
and with electrolysis experiments that included an up and running fuel
cell car.
Several events for next
semester have already been planned.
Among
others, a brown-bag lunch and panel discussion:
Multi-National
Perspectives on Education at
noon
on January 23
rdin 322
Chemistry Building.
Preparing and
demonstrating experiments at the “The Girls’ Math and Science Conference”
will keep us busy in February.
In
March we will presenting demos at the St. Thomas Aquinas Elementary School
Science Fair in
East Lansing.
In
addition, we hope to have a panel discussion on alternative careers for
chemists in March, finally ending the year with our annual potluck in May.
Anne
Fischer and Prerna Sonthalia are the 2002-2003 WCC co-chairs.Other
members of the steering committee are Leslie Passeno, Soheila Vaezeslami,
Elizabeth Croal, Melissa Meaney, Jin Li, and Kathy Severin.For
more information about ACSWiC or to find out about upcoming events, visit
us on the web at http://www.cem.msu.edu/~acswic/acswic.html.
ACS
Women Chemists Committee Travel Awards For 2003
The
Eli Lilly & Company is sponsoring a program to provide funding for
undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral women chemists to travel to scientific
meetings in 2003 to present the results of their research. Grants may be
applied only for registration, travel, and accommodations, and are restricted
to travel to meetings within the United
States.
Grant funds are limited, but there are some funds set aside for undergraduates.
Only U.S.
citizens and permanent residents are eligible. Applications should be limited
to one per research group. Awards will be given with preference to the
following order: (1) any applicant who will be making her first presentation
(regardless of format) at a national or major meeting, (2) graduate or
postdoctoral applicants who have not presented at a national or major meeting
since leaving undergraduate school. Women who have received a prior award
under this program are ineligible.The
deadline date is February
15, 2003
for receipt of applications for meetings between July 1 and December
31, 2003.More
information available at: http://membership.acs.org/w/wcc/flyer2003.pdf
Local
Section Travel Grants
The
MSU Local Section has limited funds available to provide travel support
to chemical research/educational conferences. Travel grants up to $250.00
may be awarded to individuals who are members of the MSU Local Section
or the local K-12 science education community and have a paper accepted
at a conference sanctioned by the American Chemical Society.
MSU
graduate students receiving travel grants to ACS meetings in 2002 were:
Chrysoula Vasileiou, Dan Holmes, Heather Bullen, Montserrat Rabagosmith
and Rachael Crist to the spring meeting in Orlando, and Courtney Olmsted,
Chris Radano, and Radha Narayan to the fall meeting in Boston.
If you are interested in receiving travel support, an application form
for travel support is available at
http://www.cem.msu.edu/~msuacs/tgrants.html.
Applications will be reviewed by MSU Local Section board members in May
and December each year. Please contact Paul Mantica, 517-333-6456 or e-mail
mantica@msu.edu
for more information.
MSUACS Local Section Officers 2002-2003
|
Chairperson:
Dr.
Greg Baker
517-355-9715ext.
160
|
Past-Chairperson:
Dr.
Aaron Odom
|
|
Councilor:
Dr.
Kathryn Severin
517-355-9715ext.
372
|
|
MSUACS Local Section Committee Chairs
2002-2003
Committee
|
Chair
|
e-mail address
|
Awards
|
Paul
Mantica
|
|
National
Chemistry Week
|
Kathryn
Severin
|
|
|
Newsletter
Editor
|
Dalila
Kovacs
|
|
Web
Editor
|
Paul
Mantica
|
|
Women
Chemists
|
Prerna
Sonthalia
Anne
Fischer
|
|
Younger
Chemists
|
Emily
McKimmy
|
|
