Another Successful SAIL Chemistry Camp!

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SAIL campers employ a variety of methods and materials to clarify a water sample during the Water Filtration Challenge.

From July 25-29, 2016, the UO Chemistry and Biochemistry department hosted its third annual hands-on chemistry lab experience for twenty local high school students. The students are participants in the Summer Academy to Inspire Learning (SAIL).SAIL is a University of Oregon program led by volunteer faculty and aimed at increasing students’ enrollment and success in college. SAIL invites eligible 8th through 12th grade students to attend free, annual academic summer camps until they graduate from high school.

This year’s SAIL Chemistry Camp was organized by chemistry grad students Lisa Eytel and Erik Hadland along with biology graduate student Kate Walsh. The campers, all rising freshman in high school, put on their goggles and analyzed water samples, created filters, tested the pH of of common household chemicals, designed batteries, and toured some university laboratories. Be sure to check out our photos!

SAIL Chemistry Camp is sponsored by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and UO Women in Graduate Sciences.

Thank you! to all the additional volunteers who helped make this year’s camp a huge success: grad students Loni Kringle, Blake Tresca, Mae Voeun, Anneliese Morrison, Matt Cerda, Kathryn Chamberlain, Nicole Paterson, SAIL staffers Randi Besio and Robin Nagy, and faculty advisor Darren Johnson!

Grad Student Ann Greenaway Honored with Two Awards

AnnieGreenawayAnn Greenaway, a chemistry Ph.D. student at the University of Oregon, is one of 90 doctoral students in the U. S. and Canada selected to receive a $15,000 Scholar Award from the P.E.O. Sisterhood.  She was sponsored by Chapter W of Arkansas.

In addition, Ann was chosen by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) for the prestigious 2016–17 AAUW American Fellowship.

Ann is a 2012 graduate of the Hendrix College in Conway, AR, where she was the recipient of Goldwater and Truman scholarships, among many other honors. She is currently completing her fourth year in the University of Oregon Chemistry PhD program, working in Prof. Shannon Boettcher’s research laboratory on the development of low-cost alternative growth methods for the world’s most efficient solar cell materials. After graduation, Ann plans to pursue a career in fundamental solar energy and solar fuels research, while working to advance the presence of women in science.

About the P.E.O. Scholar Awards

Supporting Women…Changing the World

The P.E.O. Scholar Awards (PSA) were established in 1991 to provide substantial merit-based awards for women of the United States and Canada who are pursuing a doctoral-level degree at an accredited college or university.  Scholar Awards recipients are a select group of women chosen for their high level of academic achievement and their potential for having a positive impact on society.

The P.E.O. Sisterhood, founded January 21, 1869, at Iowa Wesleyan College, Mount Pleasant, Iowa, is a philanthropic educational organization dedicated to supporting higher education for women. There are approximately 6,000 local chapters in the United States and Canada with nearly a quarter of a million active members.

About the AAUW American Fellowship

One of the world’s oldest fellowship programs for women

American Fellowships, AAUW’s oldest and largest funding program, date back to 1888, making them one of the oldest and most prestigious fellowships in the world exclusively for women. AAUW American Fellowships support women scholars who are completing doctoral dissertations, conducting postdoctoral research, or finishing research for publication.

“I am incredibly excited to receive this fellowship,” Ann says. “The American Fellowship will allow me to focus full-time on completing my dissertation this year, as well as on continuing my mentoring and outreach activities within the University of Oregon’s scientific community.”

“We have a long and proud history of supporting exceptional women scholars through our American Fellowship program. This year’s group includes women who are leaders in their institutions and their fields working on issues related to sexual violence, race, and other topics of importance to women and girls. They aren’t just brilliant, they are agents of change,” said Gloria Blackwell, AAUW vice president of fellowships, grants, and global programs.

For the 2016–17 academic year, AAUW awarded a total of $3.7 million to more than 230 scholars, research projects, and programs promoting education and equity for women and girls through six fellowships and grants programs. AAUW is one of the world’s leading supporters of graduate women’s education, having awarded more than $100 million in fellowships, grants, and awards to 12,000 women from more than 140 countries since 1888.

Read AAUW’s announcement about this year’s awards. To find out more about this year’s exceptional class of awardees, visit AAUW’s online directory. To reach an award recipient, call 202.728.7602 or e-mail fellowships@aauw.org.

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The American Association of University Women (AAUW) empowers women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research. Our nonpartisan, nonprofit organization has more than 170,000 members and supporters across the United States, as well as 1,000 local branches and more than 800 college and university partners. Since AAUW’s founding in 1881, our members have examined and taken positions on the fundamental issues of the day — educational, social, economic, and political. Learn more and join us at www.aauw.org.

Sage Bauers chosen for 2016 ITS Graduate Student Award

bauers,sageThe International Thermoelectric Society (ITS) has announced the recipients of the 2016 Graduate Student Awards.  Sage Bauers, a doctoral student in the David Johnson lab, was one three students selected for the award. The Graduate Student Awards are supported by ITS.

Recipients are nominated by their adivsors and must be Ph.D. graduate students, holding a Master Degree or its equivalent, that are actively engaged in theoretical, experimental, synthesis or device research in the field of thermoelectrics.

Read more at http://bit.ly/29Cz5ss

Gabriel Rudebusch’s Research Leads Way to Promising Synthetic Molecule

 

 

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UO Chemistry and Biochemistry doctoral student Gabe Rudebusch has built a stable carbon-based molecule that offers properties that have been sought by scientists for a century, and has potential applications for devices such as transistors and solar cells.

Read more at AroundtheONature World News and Phys.Org

Adam Jansons Receives Dixon Graduate Student Innovation Award

Adam Jansons1UO Chemistry graduate student Adam Jansons has been named a recipient of the 2016 Julie and Rocky Dixon Graduate Innovation Award. Adamis a member of the Hutchison Lab group

The award is designed to support doctoral students who are interested in pursuing innovative experiences that will prepare them for careers outside of academia in areas including but not limited to industry, business, and the non-profit and government sectors.

Read more at http://bit.ly/1U3Vy23

6 Current UO Chemistry and Biochemistry Students & 3 Alumni chosen for 2016 NSF Awards and Honorable Mentions

L-R, UO Chemistry graduate students Lisa Eytel, Micah Donor, Aurora Ginzburg, Andrea Steiger, Mari Saif and Meredith Sharps
L-R, UO chemistry graduate students Lisa Eytel, Micah Donor, Aurora Ginzburg, Andrea Steiger,
Mari Saif and Meredith Sharps

When the National Science Foundation announced the 2016 awardees and honorable mentions for their Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), the University of Oregon Chemistry and Biochemistry Department had plenty of reasons to celebrate. Five University of Oregon chemistry graduate students were among the fellowship award recipients – Micah Donor, Aurora Ginzburg, Mari Saif, Meredith Sharps and Andrea Steiger – and one more grad student, Lisa Eytel, received an honorable mention.  In addition, two UO Chemistry and Biochemistry alumni also received awards, and a third alum received an honorable mention. Continue reading “6 Current UO Chemistry and Biochemistry Students & 3 Alumni chosen for 2016 NSF Awards and Honorable Mentions”

More Coverage for Chemistry Grad Students

innovation-1155994-1279x1119The Register Guard chats with UO Chemistry and Biochemistry’s Susan Cooper, Adam Jansons and Brandon Crockett about innovation, entrepreneurship and their University Innovation Fellowships with the National Science Foundation-funded Epicenter organization.

More at: http://bit.ly/1pXX9ce

5 UO Students named University Innovation Fellows by NSF-funded Epicenter

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L-R: Epicenter Fellows Susan Cooper, Brandon Crockett and Adam Jansons

University of Oregon chemistry graduate students Susan Cooper, Brandon Crockett, and Adam Jansons are among 155 students from 47 higher education institutions that have been named University Innovation Fellows by the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter). Epicenter is an NSF-funded national program that trains student leaders to create new opportunities for their peers to engage with innovation, entrepreneurship, design thinking and creativity. Continue reading “5 UO Students named University Innovation Fellows by NSF-funded Epicenter”

Susan Cooper Chosen for ARCS Award

photo Susan CooperUO Chemistry and Biochemistry graduate student Susan Cooper has been selected to receive the 2016 ARCS Foundation Josselyn Family Scholar Award.

The Achievement Rewards for College Students (ARCS) Foundation of Portland is one of sixteen ARCS Foundation Chapters nationwide.  Portland’s ARCS Foundation members are women philanthropists committed to advancing science in America. The chapter seeks to support and nurture young American women and men in doctoral programs as they prepare to take on current and future scientific and medical challenges. In February of 2015, ARCS Portland announced that the University of Oregon Department Chemistry and Biochemistry and Department of Biology had been approved for funding support from the chapter. Susan Cooper and Katja Kasimatis (Biology) are the first UO recipients of ARCS awards. The $18,000 unrestricted awards are payable over three years, at $6,000 per year. Continue reading “Susan Cooper Chosen for ARCS Award”

Bailey/Prehoda Paper Examines Behavior of Enzyme Found in Human Cancers

A paper authored by UO Chemistry and Biochemistry grad student Matthew Bailey and faculty Kenneth Prehoda was published in the October issue of Developmental Cell.  Titled “Establishment of Par-Polarized Cortical Domains via Phosphoregulated Membrane Motifs,” the paper highlights how an enzyme that is mutated in many human cancers functions to organize molecules in healthy tissues.

Matthew is the 2015 recipient of the Peter Von Hippel Graduate Scholar Award.  The award seeks to recognize a senior PhD graduate student both for their outstanding performance in thesis research, and for their concern for fellow students and colleagues during their time at the University of Oregon.

Professor Prehoda is a biochemist and the current director of the Institute of Molecular Biology.

Read their paper at http://bit.ly/1PjXYoe