| 2010 Outstanding Undergraduates in Chemistry Awards |
| Local Section Travel Grants |
| Café Scientifique |
| Scout Merit Badge Day Registration Currently Open! |
| Michigan Science Olympiad |
| High School Chemistry Teachers Meetings |
| Fall 2010 ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA, August 22 - 26, 2010 |
| Chemistry
Day at Impression 5
The MSU local section's 24th National Chemistry Week celebration. Theme: "Behind the Scenes with Chemistry!" |
| Chemistry Olympiad Local Section Competition |
| YCC Student Outreach "Chemistry Caravan" |
| Holiday Food Drive |
| Spring ACS National Meeting, San Francisco, CA March 21 - 25, 2010 Council Report |
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The following undergraduate students were recognized for their outstanding acheivement in chemistry programs/courses by the MSU local section of the ACS. These students received certificates and monetary awards.
Outstanding Graduating Chemistry Major Awards
Michigan State University: Ms. Shannon Morey (BS major), Mr. Victor Luu (BA major), and Mr. Steven Miller(BA major)Michigan State University Outstanding Undergraduate Awards:Olivet College: Mr. Bradley Voss
Spring Arbor University: Mr. Scott Hasbrouck
Freshman Chemistry: Ms. Jessica Lui and Ms. Elizabeth HelffrichFreshman Honors Chemistry: Ms. Katie Trumbley and Mr. David Dickson
Organic Chemistry: Mr. Thomas Whitton
Physical Chemistry: Mr. Leif Peterson and Mr. David Bergman
Analytical Chemistry: Ms. Catherine Possanza and Mr. Ryan Reynolds
Inorganic Chemistry: Mr. David Bergman
MSU Department of Chemistry graduate students Mr. Mark Evans Ondari, Mr. Atefeh Garzan, Mr. Wenjing Wang, Mr. Roozbeh Yousefi, and Mr. Arvind Jaganathan received travel grants from the MSU local section to present their research at the spring 2010 national meeting.
The first Café Scientifiques were held in Leeds, in the UK, in 1998. From there, café’s gradually spread across the globe. Café Scientifique is a place where anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology. Meetings are a forum for debating science issues and promoting public interest in science. The goal of the Café’s is simply to have regularly scheduled sessions for informal discussions of scientific topics. Meetings start with a short talk from the speaker, who is usually a scientist or a writer on science, to introduce the topic followed by an hour or so of questions and answers and general discussion.
Information on upcoming meetings can be found at: http://www.lcc.edu/science/cafe_scientifique.aspx
The Younger Chemists Committee will be holding the seventh-annual Chemistry Merit Badge Day on Saturday, May 22, 2010. During this event, boy scouts and girl scouts visit the MSU chemistry building and participate in a day of experiments and activities. The boys earned a Chemistry Merit Badge; the girls earned a Chemistry Interest Project Patch (IPP)*.
If you know of a Boy Scout or a Junior Girl Scout who would like to participate, please visit the event webpage for more information. Registration is open until May 10, 2010. Graduate student Mr. Steve Halpin is the event coordinator.
*The Girl Scout Chemistry
Interest Project Patch was developed by women in the local section
and approved by the Girl Scouts of Michigan
Capital Area Council in 2004. Any girl scout can earn the Chemistry
IPP by fulfilling the requirements.
The YCC (Younger Chemist Committee) will again participate in the Michigan Science Olympiad. The Olympiad will be held on Saturday May 1, 2010 and chemistry graduate students Mr. Matt Nethercott and Mr. Andrew Klose are the Supervisors for the Chemistry Lab event. The topic this year is Kinetics and Aqueous solutions. The event will test the abilities of 48 different teams from across the state of Michigan in both their knowledge of chemistry on these topics but also in the ability to perform experiments in the lab and then interpret their findings. The Younger Chemist Committee (YCC) at MSU is helping out with the organization and running of the event by offering their time to write the test, set up the experiment and also proctor the event. YCC also receiving help from Mr. Dave Voss in setting up of the experiment / materials.
Chemistry Teachers Monthly Meeting
When: 1st Monday
of each month during the academic year (next and last meeting this year: Monday, May 3rd)
Time: 7:00
pm
Location: 481W Chemistry
Building, Michigan State University
Information about past meetings and upcoming meeting topics can be found at our Chemistry Teachers Homepage. Anyone interested is welcome to attend the meetings. If you know of any teachers who might enjoy being a part of this group, please pass on the information to them. Questions? Contact Gavin Reid (reid@chemistry.msu.edu) or Kathy Severin (severin@chemistry.msu.edu).
Contact Kathy Severin if you'd like to be added to our teacher e-mail list.
Chemistry Day at Impression 5 - October 23, 2010 - Save the Date!
We are excited to announce that Chemistry Day at Impression 5 has been scheduled for Saturday, October 23, 2010! This year's theme is "Behind the Scenes with Chemistry" which will showcase the difference between what we see in television, movies, and literature and the real science behind the "magic" of special effects, hair/make-up, and forensics. This will be the MSU local section's 24th National Chemistry Week celebration!
We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers who are willing to help with the preparations for Chemistry Day. If you would like to be involved with the development of hands-on activities, publicity, or sponsorship, please contact Amy Pollock (pollock@chemistry.msu.edu).
Save the date (Saturday, October 23, 2010) and plan to help us celebrate National Chemistry Week at Impression 5 Science Center! Visit our website www.chemistry.msu.edu/chemday for more information about Chemistry Day as it becomes available.
The MSU Local Section competition was held on Friday, March 12th in the Department of Chemistry at MSU. A total of 50 students from the following high schools participated: Carmen Ainsworth, East Lansing, Grand Ledge, Haslett, and Perry. The event was coordinated by MSU Professor Merlin Bruening.
The day began with a two hour written examination. This was followed by a Chemical Demonstration Show done by Dr. Paul Hunter and an awards ceremony. The student with the highest score on the exam was Mariam Salman from Carman Ainsworth High School. She received a cash award of $100 from the local section. Katie Moeller from Grand Ledge High School finished in second place and Erick Skaff from Carman Ainsworth High School came in third. They received cash awards of $75 and $50, respectively. The top nine students each received a copy of the latest edition of the Merck Index. Merck donated these reference books to the ACS last summer for distribution by the local sections to deserving individuals.
The top 10 students (maximum of 2 per high school) move on to the national competitition which will be held on Saturday, April 24th. The National exam consists of three sections, a multiple choice exam, followed by a problem solving/short answer section, and a laboratory practical exam. Winners were 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 2010 event will be held in Tokyo, Japan on July 19-28, 2010.
New YCC Student Outreach Activity - Chemistry Caravan
YCC received an Innovative Projects grant from the ACS Local Section Activities Committee last year to develop "Chemistry Caravan" in which they take chemistry demonstrations into local elementary schools to increase interest in science among kids. They've visited classrooms in Red Cedar Elementary (Mr. Dye) and Donley Elementary (Mrs. Krumbach) so far this year and have gotten very enthusiastic, positive feedback from the students and teachers. Contact YCC chairs Mr. Matt Fhaner or Mr. John McIlroy if you know of a class that would enjoy a visit from the Chemistry Caravan. The YCC is also interested in having high school AP chemistry classes visit the MSU undergraduate instrumentation labs. Contact Matt or John for more information about this.
The YCC (Younger Chemist
Committee) hosted a holiday food drive again this year. All donations went to Second Harvest which supplies the Mid-Michigan Food Bank.
The Mid-Michigan Food Bank cordinates support for many shelters accross
mid-Michigan including several here in Lansing and East Lansing. In order to increase
department interest, six boxes (one for organic, inorganic, physical,
analytical, nuclear, and chemistry staff) were placed in the Department of Chemistry Main Office; the area accumlating the most points at the end of the food drive would be awarded a trophy. This year items with an estimated total value of over $1250 were collected and the nuclear chemists won the trophy!
Congratulations! Thanks to everyone for their support! The event was coordinated by graduate students Mr. John McIlroy and Mr. Matt Fhaner.