Michigan
State University Local Section
MSU
Local Section Newsletter, Volume XIV, March 3, 2008
News and Announcements:
Recent Event Reports:
Other Upcoming Events
& Activities:
| Spring
2008 ACS National Meeting, New Orleans -
April 6-10, 2008 |
| Michigan
Science Olympiad - Saturday, April
28, 2008 - WiC will supervise the Chemistry Lab event. Topic: Chemical
Reactions & Energy. Ms.
Jaime Fisk, coordinator |
MSU
Local Section Announcements:
Professional
Development Workshop for Women in Sciences
Help us celebrate the 10th
anniversary of Women in Chemistry (WiC) at MSU! On Saturday, March
29th, WiC will be hosting a “Professional Development Workshop for Women
in the Sciences”. The day will consist of seminars and workshops
with the goal of empowering women graduate and undergraduate students by
presenting successful female role models, many of whom are former WiC members,
and to provide an atmosphere for building mentoring relationships.
Workshops will focus on creating resumes and CVs while seminars with highlight
networking and various science career paths for both undergraduate and
graduate students.
This all-day event (see the
program
schedule) will be held on Saturday, March 29th in 481 Chemistry Building
on the campus of MSU beginning with a light breakfast at 8:30 AM.
This event is free thanks to an ACS Innovative Project Grant. The
MSU Graduate School is also a sponsor and will be providing a catered lunch.
We hope that you will join us!
Register for the event on-line
by March 21st at: http://www.chemistry.msu.edu/acswic/10years/
Questions? Contact
coordinators Ms.
Jaime Fisk or Ms. Amber Hupp.
Chemistry
Olympiad
High school students participate
in the US National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO) each year. The first
step in the selection of representatives for the United States team is
participation in competitions sponsored by local sections of the American
Chemical Society. Last month, the MSU local section sent letters
to chemistry teachers at over 100 area high schools, inviting them to encourage
their students to participate.
Our qualifying exam will
be held on Thursday, March 6th at 10 AM in 138 Chemistry Building on the
MSU campus and will last about two hours. New this year, the highest
score on the local exam will receive a $50 cash prize. After the
exam a box lunch will be provided for the students, and there will be a
short chemistry demonstration show. This will be followed by a brief
awards ceremony. Each student will receive a certificate acknowledging
their participation in the local section competition. Note: this local
section exam is open only to students who attend schools within the area
of the MSU local section (mid-Michigan counties: Barry, Calhoun, Clinton,
Eaton, Ingham, Ionia, Jackson, and Shiawassee). Click
here for more information about the local section competition.
Based on the results of the
qualifying exam, ten students from the Michigan State University area will
be invited to compete in the National competition to be held at MSU during
the period of April 17-21. These students are eligible to be selected
as members of the United States team for the International Chemistry Olympiad
(IChO). For the past twenty years, the United States has sent a team
of four students to compete with teams from around the world at the IChO.
Students participate in both theoretical and laboratory examinations over
several days. Gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded to the
best performers, and the IChO provides students with the opportunity to
interact with their peers from other countries. The 2008 event will
be held in Budapest, Hungary on July 12-21, 2008.
Prof. Merlin Bruening (bruening
@chemistry.msu.edu) is coordinating the local section competition.
Meeting
with ACS President Elect Dr. Thomas Lane
Dr. Thomas Lane visited
the Department of Chemistry at MSU on Wednesday, February 13th to present
a seminar to the CEM 419/890 Pharmaceutical Chemistry students. As
part of his visit, he met with Prof. Gavin Reid, MSU Local Section Chair
and Ms. Jaime Fisk, co-chair of Women in Chemistry. They discussed Dr.
Lane's perception of the mission of local sections. He feels that
the local section can make a significant impact by supporting local teachers.
He indicated that the local section could do this by providing teachers
with networking opportunities and resources. Resources could include
video demonstrations, instruments, and context for lessons they are teaching.
As a result of this discussion,
Prof. Reid is going to set up a meeting later in the spring with local
high school teachers to find out how the local section can best support
their needs. Any teachers interested in meeting with Prof. Reid are
invited to contact him (reid@chemistry.msu.edu
or 517-355-9715x198).
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 who have a paper accepted
at a conference sanctioned by the American Chemical Society. The
application deadlines are: May 1, September 1, and December 1. Applications
will be reviewed by the MSU Local Section Executive Committee and the support
decision will be delivered to the applicant by the Chair. Only those
who have never received a local section travel grant in the past are eligible.
Interested persons should fill out the on-line
application. Contact a Local Section
board member if you have questions or need more information.
Recent
Events:
Women
in Chemistry presented hands-on activities at two outreach events in
February:
Girls Math Science Conference
(GCMS): Since 1991, this
exciting annual event has been taking place in the Lansing area for the
purpose of facilitating the interests of sixth-grade girls in science and
mathematics . This one-day conference, called “An Invitation to Sample
Success”, is jointly organized by MSU, Capital Area Science and Math Center,
and county education agencies from Clinton, Eaton, Ingham, and Ionia counties.
Girls attending the conference participate in sessions with role models
(women with scientific or mathematical careers) as well as attending hands-on
sessions.
This year GCMS took place
on Saturday, February 9th at East Lansing High School. This is the
9th time that WiC has presented hands-on sessions at this event and WiC
presented "The Chemical Properties of Soil" which is posed as a murder
mystery. Close to 20 girls participated and were given soil samples
from two suspects as well as soil found at the scene where the body was
discovered. They looked at pH, chemical reactions involving limestone
and chloride, as well as analyzing for copper and making absorbance measurements.
All of the girls enjoyed being able to do a hands-on experiment and using
chemistry to help solve a mystery. Thu Nguyen coordinated WiC participation.
Science Fun Day:
WiC members brought hands on activities to this annual event which is organized
by the Okemos Supporters of Science. Christine Hay coordinated WiC
participation.
MSU Local Section
American
Chemical Society
Department
of Chemistry
Michigan
State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
Last updated:
3/3/08 by:
Kathryn
G. Severin, Secretary & Newsletter Editor