You Can Be a Science Fair Judge (yes, you!)

You can be a science fair judge for the St Louis Section’s Science Fair Chemistry Special Awards! Volunteer by contacting Sheryl J Loux at 636.237.5149 or sjloux@gmail.com. There is one more fair this season: last chance until 2012.

The Greater St Louis Science Fair will be Wednesday, May 4, 2011. The Greater St Louis Elementary and Secondary Science Fairs are held at Queeny Park Recreation Complex, 550 Weidman Rd, Ballwin, MO 63011, in west St Louis County. Volunteer opportunities here are:

• Elementary (K–5): participation Awards are distributed to chemistry-related projects. Three people needed for about 1 hour each between 3 and 8 pm. No Judging involved.
• Secondary (6–12): judging of chemistry-related projects 3–8:30 pm (please come for at least 2½ hours). Free dinner for judges on site, 5–6 pm. You must be able to be present at 8:30 to pick the winners.

Your participation as a judge would be greatly appreciated!

Outstanding College Student Awardees announced

Outstanding College Student Awards are presented to chemistry students in their junior year at local colleges and universities. An Outstanding Chemical Technology Student Award is given to a student at St Louis Community College–Florissant Valley. The awards consists of a $100 honorarium, a framed certificate, and an engraved brass plate which is held on a perpetual plaque at each institution.

For 2011, the winners are:

• Shayla Barber, Lindenwood University
• Amber Brown, Greenville College
• Melanie Huttner and Martin Fan (co-winners), Washington University
• Yi Ren, Saint Louis University
• Allison L Saettele, University of Missouri–St Louis
• Sylvia Wandahwa, Principia College
• Brooke K Williams, Maryville University
• Kaitlin Womack, SIU–Edwardsville
• No winner, McKendree College

Outstanding chemical technology student award:

• Melinda M Klotz, SLCC–Florissant Valley

St Louis Award nominations are open

Nominations are solicited for the Saint Louis Award, one of the premier awards administered by our Section. The Award is sponsored by the Monsanto Company. Nominees should be individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the profession of chemistry and demonstrated potential to further the advancement of the chemical profession. The awardee is selected by a review committee constituted by the St Louis Section. The award, consisting of a $1,500 honorarium and a plaque, is presented at the St Louis Award Banquet held in October during National Chemistry Week.

At the time of the nomination, nominees must not have previously received the Midwest Award or any national ACS-sponsored award. Nominees must be members or affiliates of the St Louis Section of the ACS. Nominations can be sent year-round. This year, nomination packets received by April 29 will be considered for the 2011 award presented in October.

Nominations should include a nominating letter, two or more seconding letters from individuals who have had a close professional affiliation with the nominee, a brief biography, a description of the nominee’s accomplishments, and a list of publications and patents. Send nomination packets to:

Joseph J H Ackerman
Department of Chemistry
Campus Box 1134
Washington University
One Brookings Drive
Saint Louis, Missouri 63130

Additional details, including a list of previous winners, and citations for recent winners, can be found at www.stlacs.org/events/stlouisaward.html.

Guest speaker makes Awards Night even more must-see

In addition to all these award presentations you already knew about ...

• High School Chemistry Contest
• Outstanding Students at area colleges and universities
• Leopold Marcus Award
• Outstanding High School Chemistry Teacher Award

we can now disclose that our guest speaker is Bob Becker, chemistry teacher at Kirkwood High School and winner of 1997 ACS James Bryant Conant teaching award and 2010 Missouri teacher-of-the-year. He presages an interesting and involving presentation, including demonstrations. You’ll regret it if you miss this. You still have a few days to send in your reservation.

April 11 at Maggiano’s, 2 Boulevard Saint Louis, Richmond Heights (across Brentwood Blvd from the Galleria), map. Free parking in the garage.
5:30 social hour, 6:30 dinner, 7:30 program
Cost is $20. RSVP by April 4 to Vic Lewchenko, viclewchenko@yahoo.com or 314.973.1308. Send check payable to St Louis Section–ACS to:

Vic Lewchenko
354 Larkhill Ct
Webster Groves, MO 63119

Bylaws (and members) get the nod at Recognition Night

Yes, we assembled the required quorum for voting on the bylaw amendments at Recognition Night on March 12th. The amendments were accepted by vote of the members present. They now go back to the national Constitution & Bylaws Committee to certify the vote and make the changes official. The whole process should be finished by fall? ... maybe?

In the real business of Recognition Night, 30 people applauded the seven members who were recognized for 50 years of ACS membership and three for 60 years. Lisa Balbes received the 2011 Distinguished Service Award. Lisa has made her mark in many ways over the years: as Chair, founding webmaster, Treasurer, Career Resources coordinator and scout clinic coordinator, and currently as Councilor. She is the 2011 chair of national ACS Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs. Shelley Minteer, 2010 chair of the section, received a plaque and pin for her service as chair and gave a talk on how chemists can contribute to solving the energy crisis with examples from her own work. Eight past chairs of the Section were recognized. We wish to thank Covidien for their financial support of this event.

Bet you’re sorry you missed these—unless you didn’t

ACS tour speaker Robert Blackledge, forensics expert retired from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), gave a talk on March 4th, on the topic Glitter as Forensic Evidence. Washington University provided the venue (big thank you!). Bob was introduced by a new ACS member, Brian Kamusinga, a senior at Principia College. Bob talked about what glitter is, how it is made, and how it can be collected from crime scenes and used as evidence. He described some of the scientific techniques to analyze unique characteristics of glitter, and showed several case histories including photomicrographs, Raman spectra, and IR spectra of the evidence. The audience of 78 people gave it an enthusiastic reception. Several students from high school and college classes asked for photographs with the speaker. That kind of fanboy/fangirl behavior seemed odd at first, until someone pointed out that these students needed proof of attending for class credit. Ahhhhh!

A joint meeting of ACS and AIChE came together at Pujols 5 Restaurant on March 9th to hear Michelle Jones of Covidien address the topic Don’t Have a Blast Running a Chemical Reaction. Michelle is a Principal Research Chemist at Covidien. Thirteen people signed in as ACS members (including the speaker) and 37 as AIChE members, but several attendees admitted that that they were members of both organizations. Michelle talked about tools for studying reaction hazards and showed real-life examples of some reactions that went awry.

Still a few days to register for the URS

All undergraduate students at colleges and universities within the St Louis Section borders are eligible to present posters or oral presentations based on their research. Each presenter receives a Certificate of Participation; awards are given for “Exceptional Presentations.” This year’s symposium is scheduled for 8:30–10:30 am, April 9, in Science-Math Room 111, Saint Louis Community College–Florissant Valley.

There are a few days remaining before registration closes. Return the registration form to Dr Donna G Friedman, who is also your contact for additional information: dfriedman@stlcc.edu or 314.513.4388.

Picnic details revealed

Preliminary details for the 7th Annual St Louis ACS picnic are available: June 18, 12 noon to 5 pm at the Chinese Shelter, Tower Grove Park. Plenty of picnic fare, soda, beer, games, talk. Bring the family! Just $5 per person. Kids under 12 free. Please reserve by June 13th so we can plan for food and drink, and crowd control. Questions and reservations to:

Jeff Cornelius
1 Maybeck Place
Principia College
Elsah, IL 62028
email jeff.cornelius@prin.edu

Board of Directors

St Louis Section–ACS Board of Directors meets the second Thursday of each month, usually at the Glen Echo Country Club ( map). Meetings are open to all members, and all are encouraged to attend. Elected officers and chairs of major committees vote on questions put to the Board; others in attendance have voice but no vote.

If you want to attend for dinner, please contact the section Chair at least a week in advance. Usual cost of the dinner is $24 ($12 for post-docs and unemployed members). Members wishing to become active in section activities are welcomed for their first dinner as guests of the section.

Date: Apr 14
Social hour: 5:30 pm
Dinner: 6:30 pm
Business meeting: 7:15 pm
Future meetings: May 12, June 18 (picnic, not actually a meeting), Sep 8

Saint Louis University

Seminars are on Fridays at 12 noon in Carlo Auditorium, Tegeler Hall, unless noted otherwise. Refreshments follow. For more information, contact Ryan McCulla, dbaum1@slu.edu.

Apr 1
Nate Lacher
Pfizer Corp
TBA

Apr 8
Jon Rhoad
Missouri Western State University
TBA

Apr 15
Corey Stephenson
Boston University
TBA

Apr 29
Shubhra Gangopadhyay
University of Missouri–Columbia
TBA

Southern Illinois University–Edwardsville

SIUE will host its 2011 Probst Lecture April 4 and 5. The guest lecturer delivers an evening talk keyed to general audiences, and an afternoon seminar intended for a more technical audience.

Apr 4, 7 pm, Morris University Center, Meridian Ballroom
Jerald Schnoor, University of Iowa College of Engineering
delivers Probst Lecture for general audiences
Water Sustainability in a Changing World

Apr 5, 11 am, Science Building, Room 3114
Jerald Schnoor concludes the Probst Lectures with a technical talk
Phytoremediation from Molecular to Field Scale

University of Missouri–St Louis

Mondays at 4 pm in 451 Benton Hall, unless otherwise specified. Refreshments 15 minutes prior to seminar time. For more information, contact the Chemistry Department, 314.516.5311.

Apr 4
14th Annual Robert W Murray Lecture
4 pm in 104 Stadler Hall (reception adjacent at 3:30 pm and after the talk in the Center for Nanoscience)
Stephen V Ley
BP Professor of Chemistry, Cambridge University
New Tools for Molecule Makers

Apr 11
Aaron Sadow
Iowa State University
Oxazolinylborate Compounds for Catalytic C-N, Si-N, and Si-O Bond Formations

Apr 18
Michael Summers
Howard Hughes Medical Institute and University of Maryland
New insights into the mechanism of HIV-1 genome packaging and virus assembly

Apr 25
John P Selegue
University of Kentucky
TBA

May 2
24 Distinguished Alumni Lecture
Elizabeth Amin
University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy
Chemistry and Homeland Security

Washington University

Seminars are in McMillen 311 at 4 pm unless otherwise noted. For information, contact: Liviu Mirica, mirica@wustl.edu.

Weissman Lecture
Robert G Griffin Francis Bittner Magnet Laboratory, MIT
Apr 5, 4 pm
An Atomic Resolution Structure of an Amyloid Fibril
and
Apr 6, 11 am
Dynamic Nuclear Polarization at High Magnetic Fields

Apr 7
Mark Johnson
Yale University
Vibrational Characterization of Peptides and Catalytic Reaction Intermediates: New Developments in Cryogenic Ion Spectroscopy

Apr 12
Aaron Sadow
Iowa State University
Metal Amides in Catalytic C-N and Si-N Bond Formations

Apr 14
Ashton Hamme II
Jackson State University
Applications of 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition toward Heterocyclic Compounds

Apr 14
Corey Stephenson
Boston University
TBA

Apr 21
Greg Salamo
University of Arkansas
Anomalous Hall Effect in Anistotropic Media

Apr 28
Rongchao Jin
Carnegie-Mellon University
TBA

About the Chemical Bond

The Chemical Bond is published at www.stlacs.org January through May and September through December by the St Louis Section–American Chemical Society. If you would like to receive email notification when each issue is posted, you can subscribe to the bond.remind listserv. You can also follow the link to “Manage bond.remind options” from the home page at www.stlacs.org.

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Editor	Eric Ressner	314.962.6415 editor@stlacs.org
Assistant Editor & Advertising Manager	Sue Saum	314.513.4808 advmgr@stlacs.org
Business Manager	Donna Friedman	314.513.4388 bizmgr@stlacs.org