May 2023, Vol. 13(5)

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Member Meeting in Less Than Two Months!

KACS members, we are less than 50 days from our KACS members’ meeting on Saturday, June 24, at the Oshtemo Township Park at 7275 West Main Street, Oshtemo. We view the meeting from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. as a time to socialize outdoors, have members get reacquainted in person, and highlight benefits of the ACS to members and prospective members. Members, their families, and your guests who might be interested in joining KACS, will be treated to pizza and a hotdog- and hamburger cookout between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m., to be followed by the meeting itself. If this is something that interests you and you have been looking for a way to increase your involvement, please join us. To ensure an accurate count of attendees for food and supplies you must register at Eventbrite by June 21: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kacs-spring-2023-members-meeting-tickets-620039443667.

Agenda

4:00 p.m.         Welcome and picnic
5:00 p.m.         Meeting call to order and chair remarks
5:05 p.m.         Introduction of executive committee and chairs
5:20 p.m.         Key activities accomplished and planned for in 2023
5:30 p.m.         Benefits of Joining ACS/KACS
5:40 p.m.         Members Survey and Feedback
6:00 p.m.         Close of meeting

Volunteers Needed

Thanks to our members who volunteered to cook and help with logistics on the day of our meeting. Anyone else who would like to help secure supplies, or help with set-up or clean-up would be welcome. We will need tables for serving and coolers for that day. If you can help or have any questions, please contact the meeting organizer Ed Thomas at edwardwthomas@gmail.com.

Awards Gathering Information

Our 2023 Awards Gathering will be held on the ZOOM platform again this year, at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 8; I am pleased to let you know that as of May 1, there were 31 registrants; the list includes student awardees, some of the nominating teachers, KACS members – including three of our 50-year members – and others who have contributed to the students’ interest in chemistry over the years.

Looking Ahead to GLRM

The Kalamazoo Section of the ACS (KACS) is one of 20 local sections in the Great Lakes Region (GLR) of the ACS; we offer Regional meetings every other year. Some of these meetings are hosted by one section, while others are organized in collaboration either with a section either within our GLR or with a section in an adjacent Region. Our 2023 Regional meeting is being cohosted by the East Central Illinois Section (GLR) and the St. Louis Section (Midwest Region), hence its name and abbreviation: 2023 Joint Midwest – Great Lakes Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society (MWGLRM 2023)

It will be held from Wednesday to Saturday, October 18-21, 2023, in St. Louis, Missouri. The venue will be the St. Charles Convention Center. The theme of the meeting is Scale Up Your STEM, and will feature a program designed to energize you to take your pursuits to the next level. MWGLRM 2023 will provide a full range of technical symposia on the latest scientific research, poster sessions highlighting student research, workshops designed by, and for, high school chemistry teachers, an Exposition, an Awards Banquet, and much more! Abstract submission will open in the Spring of 2023. For updates please visit the website https://www.acs.org/meetings/regional/midwest.html.

Tourtellotte Lecture To Focus On Alzheimer’s Research

Dr. Renã A.S. Robinson will present the 2023 Tourtellotte Lecture at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 23, in 103 Dewing Hall, Kalamazoo College. The lecture is titled “High-throughput ’Omics to Advance Equity in Alzheimer’s Disease” and is sponsored by the Kalamazoo College Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. A reception will follow at 8 p.m.

Dr. Robinson is Professor of Chemistry and Dorothy J. Wingfield Phillips Chancellor’s Faculty Fellow at Vanderbilt University. Her group specializes in developing novel proteomics approaches involving mass spectrometry and using these technologies to understand the molecular basis of health disparities in Alzheimer’s disease and sepsis. For more information about Dr. Robinson and her research, visit the Robinson Lab website.

Kalamazoo College Chemistry Club Gets Involved In The Community

By Carter Eisenbach

The Kalamazoo College Chemistry Club has been involved with several volunteer events in the community this year: In the fall, we were part of Chemistry Day at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum demonstrating Elephant’s Toothpaste on the live stage for the kids and their families. We also held a booth for STEAM Night at the Air Zoo for Portage schools where we demonstrated cabbage water’s vibrant colors as a pH indicator; students were involved in hands-on learning to test the pH of common household items. In the winter, we hosted a collaboration with other STEM-based student clubs to meet and socialize with students across the science and math disciplines; we had food, games, and got to inform others about opportunities to be involved with the science community. We also demonstrated the polymer chemistry of homemade slime and Oobleck to the students at Parchment Elementary during their science fair. This spring, we hope to create a science-themed escape room for students and to participate in a family science night at Kalamazoo College with future scientists! (See description below and in the Calendar for May 18)

Science Surrounds Us!

You’re invited to a Family Science Night at the Dow Science Building at Kalamazoo College (1200 Academy St. Kalamazoo, MI) on Thursday, May 18, 2023 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. We are so excited to explore science with K-12 students and their families. Join us for hands-on science booths designed and run by our science undergraduate students at Kalamazoo College. This year’s theme will focus on science in our daily lives, especially in our environment during the spring and summer seasons! Admission and parking are free. Contact Dr. Josie Mitchell (Josephine.Mitchell@kzoo.edu) if you have questions.