Dec
18
18
Linda Wang
Associate Editor, ACS News & Special Features, Chemical & Engineering News
Hmmm … What To Watch?
Posted by Linda Wang on December 18, 2009 in Chemistry is Everywhere
With a huge snowstorm about to hit the Washington, D.C. area, I am pondering how to spend this weekend trapped in my studio apartment.
I can’t do my last minute Christmas shopping for fear of driving. I can’t go out and take pictures for fear of frostbite. And I can’t call a friend to come visit for fear of rejection. One thing I can do, however, is pop in a DVD (which I’ll grab from Blockbuster tonight) and sink into my big comfy blue couch.
I just finished reviewing “Whiz Kids” (stay tuned for that) and am in the mood for something sciency. Let’s see, what to watch?
I visited Reel Science for some inspiration. I’m not a big Sci-Fi fan, so I’ll skip “Surrogates.” If I want to lose my appetite, “Food, Inc.” may be my answer. Truth is, I’m a sucker for a good drama, so I’ll probably rent “Adam.”
Head over to Reel Science yourself; there are dozens of reviews and recommendations worth checking out.
Image: Shutterstock
Bringing Chemistry To Ballou High
Oct
21
21
Posted by Linda Wang on October 21, 2009 in Chemistry is Everywhere, Where is C&EN?
Ballou Senior High School is only about six miles from the ACS headquarters building in Washington, D.C., but the school feels like it’s a world away. Located in one of the highest crime areas in the District, students at Ballou must go through metal detectors every morning to enter the school.
Yesterday, ACS staff traveled by charter bus to Ballou to do hands-on activities with the students there as part of National Chemistry Week. The stations included activities such as making slime using Borax and Elmer’s glue.
I’ll admit, I wondered whether these activities were too elementary for high school students. John Solano, a chemistry and biotechnology teacher and science department chair at Ballou, told me that for many of these students, this was the only exposure to hands-on chemistry they’ve had because the school lacks the funding to purchase lab equipment and other supplies.
I couldn’t help but think of the high school students on the other, more affluent side of town, who are doing advanced chemistry experiments in labs that rival those at colleges and universities.
It just doesn’t seem fair.
Looking Back At The National Meeting
Aug
25
25
Posted by Linda Wang on August 25, 2009 in 2009 Fall National Meeting, ACS Meetings
With the ACS national meeting in my own backyard this year, I appreciated that fact that I didn’t have to travel very far. But I also wondered whether that would impact my ability get good photos.
When I’m in a new city, my senses are heightened, and I experience the world in a different way than I normally would. I guess that’s why ACS keeps the meetings moving from year to year—to keep them fresh and exciting. On the other hand, forcing myself to see Washington, D.C., in a new light brought this meeting to a new level of satisfaction.
Here are some things that caught my attention:
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C&EN Fan Club
Aug
19
19
Posted by Linda Wang on August 19, 2009 in 2009 Fall National Meeting, ACS Meetings
I found Murray State University chemistry professor Bommanna Loganathan grinning from ear to ear after having made the cover of C&EN on Monday morning. He and 125 other avid C&EN readers got personalized covers during a two-hour event at the ACS publications booth in the expo hall. We love you, too, Bommanna!
Hire Me–Please!
Aug
19
19
Posted by Linda Wang on August 19, 2009 in 2009 Fall National Meeting, ACS Meetings
Desperate times call for desperate measures. During the Academic Employment Initiative poster session at Sci-Mix on Monday night, several graduate students decided to forego the usual research poster and put up a giant CV instead. “I need every bit of help I can get,” said Elliot Ennis, a doctoral student at Middle Tennessee State University, who is looking for a teaching position at a four-year college or university.
Here he is next to his poster titled “Elliot Ennis and the Great Job Odyssey”:
Chemistry in French and German
Aug
18
18
Posted by Linda Wang on August 18, 2009 in Uncategorized
Laura B. Sole, a senior chemistry major at the University of Virginia, spent 10 weeks in Lyon, France, this past summer conducting research at Claude Bernard University as part of ACS’s International Research Experiences for Undergraduates (IREU) program, which is in its third year.
Twenty two students participated in the program this year, and they were hosted by research universities and institutions in France, Germany, Italy, and the U.K. In exchange, 15 students from Germany conducted research at U.S. universities.
Sole, who is double majoring in French, conducted her research entirely in French. She presented her results during the undergraduate poster session on Monday afternoon, and C&EN asked her to give her poster presentation in French (just because it’s cool to hear chemistry in French!):
As an added perk, hear Joachim Moch, an exchange student from Goethe University in Frankfurt, give his poster presentation on “Single molecule proton transfer studies with helical properties” in German:
Thank you, Salt Lake City!
Apr
6
6
Posted by Linda Wang on April 6, 2009 in 2009 Spring National Meeting, ACS Meetings
Looking through the hundreds of photos I took during the national meeting in Salt Lake City, I couldn’t help but think how fast the week went by. I certainly had fun. Here are some of my favorite moments:
Original music by Ivan Amato/C&EN.
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See you in Washington, D.C.!
Small World
Mar
24
24
Posted by Linda Wang on March 24, 2009 in 2009 Spring National Meeting, ACS Meetings
I’m not sure what drew me to Marilyn Mackiewicz’ poster during Sci-Mix tonight, but there I was firing off a rapid succession of photos while she explained her research to a passerby.
You might say it was fate, because when she finished her presentation, she looked straight into my lens and asked, “Did you go to Texas A&M?” Stunned, I put my camera down and asked, “Do we know each other?”
Marilyn reminded me that we had met at a bus stop in 2001 while I was a second-year master’s student in science journalism and she was a first-year doctoral student in chemistry. That day, I had been on my way to visit the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, in College Station, and I spontaneously invited Marilyn to join me. We became instant friends, meeting up often for lunch and even going to see the fireworks on the Fourth of July. We lost touch after I graduated and moved to Washington, D.C.
Four Minutes And Forty-Seven Seconds Of Fame
Mar
23
23
Posted by Linda Wang on March 23, 2009 in 2009 Spring National Meeting, ACS Meetings
Jeremy D. Leavell had been standing at his poster on crystallography for an hour and eight minutes when I came across him at the undergraduate poster session this afternoon.
Most students I had talked with had between five and six people stop by their posters. Some students excitedly told me they had explained their work to around 20 people.
But for Jeremy, not a single person had stopped by his poster the entire time he had been standing there—and there was only 20 minutes left in the poster session.
Jeremy noted that one girl had stopped by, glanced at his poster, and then continued on. “I didn’t even get a chance to present it to her,” he said. He still counts that as half a visitor.
It’s understandable why more people hadn’t stopped by, said Jeremy, who is a senior biochemistry major at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. Research on crystallography can be a bit obscure.
I wanted to give Jeremy, who is attending his first ACS national meeting, an opportunity to present his poster, and what better audience than C&EN readers? “Now I’ve just one-upped everyone,” he said.
National Meeting Sugar-High
Mar
22
22
Posted by Linda Wang on March 22, 2009 in 2009 Spring National Meeting, ACS Meetings
With goggles too big for their heads, and chocolate smudged on their tiny faces, hundreds of elementary school kids learned chemistry the fun way. The outreach event took place this afternoon at the Discovery Gateway Museum in Salt Lake City.
In one activity, kids learned how chocolate can neutralize acids. In another, kids learned how chocolate milk contains more electrolytes than Gatorade. Student affiliate groups led the various experiments.
Here are some highlights of this afternoon’s Chocolate Fest, a presidential outreach event organized by the ACS Office of Community Activities and the Committee on Community Activities.
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