Highlights

• Tom Higgins (NSF) speaking at K College and WMU
• Chemists Celebrate Earth Day Events at KNC and at Celery Flats
• Alton Brown Live at Miller Auditorium
• Annual Awards Gathering
• Field Trip to Journeyman Distillery

Comments from the Chair

By Brian Eklov

We have been hard at work lining up a busy spring schedule for the KACS members!

Mark your calendars for:

April 8th

Tom Higgins (NSF) will be speaking at K College and WMU

April 23rd:

Chemists Celebrate Earth Day Events at KNC and at Celery Flats

May 5th:

Alton Brown Live at Miller Auditorium

May 9th:

Annual Awards Gathering

May 14th:

Science Café Field Trip to Journeyman Distillery with the St. Joseph Valley Local Section

Make sure to read this newsletter cover-to-cover for all the details!

Brian Eklov, Ph.D. (KACS Chair)

Speaker: Tomas B. Higgins, PhD

How undergraduate research can change students' lives

Harold Washington College
Program Director, Division of Undergraduate Education, NSF

Kalamazoo College
Dow Science Center, Room 226
1135 W. Main Street, Kalamazoo, MI
Friday April 8, 2016
4:00 pm

Undergraduate research is a powerful teaching method that can have a profound impact on students, their perceptions of themselves, and their visions of their future. It can be especially powerful when working with students from underrepresented groups and non-traditional students. With generous funding from the National Science Foundation and the Undergraduate Research Collaborative (URC) program, almost 300 students from 10 Chicago-area community colleges did authentic, faculty-mentored undergraduate research as part of the STEM-ENGINES URC. This paper will present data from the Survey of Undergraduate Research Experiences assessment and case studies that illustrate how undergraduate research supports student transfer and eases the shock of institutional transfer beyond the community college. Overall, these experiences promoted students' academic achievement, built their critical workforce skills, and increased their confidence regarding further study in chemistry. Over half of these students transferred to a four-year college. Students from underrepresented groups and first-generation college students were strongly impacted.

Chemists Celebrate Earth Day!

The Great Indoors - Your Home's Ecosystem

Saturday, April 23, 2016
Kalamazoo Nature Center (10am - 4pm)
Celery Flats (11am - 3pm)

KACS will continue its 5-year tradition of participation at the Kalamazoo Nature Center during its Earth Day event (entry to the KNC is free to the public on that day!). During the hours of 10am and 4pm KNC patrons will be treated to hands-on projects and theme-relevant materials; the response from those who have attended in prior years has been very enthusiastic. Thank-you very much to the WMU Chem Club for volunteering to staff this event!

Since the Kalamazoo and Portage libraries will not be having Earth Day events this year we have applied to participate in the City of Portage Green-a-thon event, also on Saturday, April 23, at Celery Flats, from 11am to 3pm. Those of us who volunteer will be prepared to do hands-on activities with patrons as well as hand out theme-related materials which can be used off-site for further learning. Lydia Hines will provide the safety-tested printed materials that ACS prepares for us. We need at least 3 volunteers for the Celery Flats event. If you want to enjoy the outdoors while positively representing chemists to the public, then please contact Lydia E. M. Hines very soon!

Alton Brown Live: Eat Your Science at Miller

Alton Brown Live: Eat Your Science
Miller Auditorium
Thursday May 5, 2016
7:30pm
AltonBrownTour.com

KACS has reserved a block of tickets for members who are interested in attending the Alton Brown Live show on Thursday, May 5th at 7:30 PM. The well-known television personality and author has a knack for explaining kitchen science in an engaging and entertaining manner. Don’t worry, though, our tickets are out of the “splash zone”. The KACS seating will be near the back of the orchestra level, and tickets are $35 each (after our KACS subsidy).

Science Café Field Trip to Journeyman Distillery

Journeyman Distillery
Historic Featherbone Factory
109 Generations Drive
Three Oaks, MI 49128
Saturday May 14th
3:00pm

It's time for a field trip! We will be meeting up with the St. Joseph Valley Section at Journeyman Distillery in Three Oaks, MI for tours of the distillery and tasting of their distillates at 3 pm on May 14th. We are expecting our twenty spaces to fill quickly, so please RSVP ASAP! Tour tickets are $10, and also please indicate if you would be interested in a group transportation option (Additional cost may apply). You can find out more about Journeyman Distillery by visiting their website.

Science Cafés promote scientific literacy by encouraging informal discussions between nonscientists and scientists. So feel free to invite your over-21 non-chemist friends or family to this open event!

Annual KACS Awards Program

Western Michigan University's Chemistry Building
Monday May 9, 2016
6:00pm Refreshments
6:45pm Presentation of Awards

The annual Awards Program of the KACS will be held Monday, May 9th, 2016 in the lobby of the Chemistry Building at Western Michigan University (WMU). We will gather at 6pm for light refreshments and conversation among members, students, teachers, and parents. The presentation of awards will begin at 6:45pm.

Among the over 50 awards to be given that evening will be: Outstanding College Chemistry Student from WMU Outstanding College Chemistry Student from Kalamazoo College Outstanding High School Chemistry Teacher Outstanding High School Chemistry Students Competitive Exam Scholarship Awards

In order that we may provide adequate refreshments, do be kind enough to send a quick note to either James Kiddle, KACS Competitive Exam Committee Chair or Mike Walsh, KACS Education Chair indicating the number of attendees in your party. Parking, in the Miller Auditorium Ramp, will be no cost to attendees

Project Seed Opportunities

Project SEED opportunity

Project SEED was established by the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 1968 to provide economically disadvantaged high school students the opportunity to conduct hands-on research for 8 to 10 weeks in the summer. Selected students receive a fellowship award and will be eligible to apply for a SEED college scholarship.

In the summer of 2015, two students were awarded Project SEED opportunities. Jacob Wasylliw worked with Dr. Szymcznya at Western Michigan University (WMU) on a project titled “Bioinformatics of Tanapox Virus Proteome”. Kathryn Way worked with Dr. Guda at WMU on a project titled "Optical Spectroscopy to Monitor Ligand-DNA Binding Interactions".

This year the Kalamazoo ACS (KACS) is looking to fill two Project SEED positions. One will be with Dr Szymczyna and one will be with Dr. Guda.To qualify the student must have completed his or her sophomore year in good academic standing, have taken at least one course in chemistry, and be recommended by their chemistry teacher or other school official. Students are selected based on their qualifications and letters of recommendation. High school chemistry teachers should have received a letter detailing the project and nominating process. If you have not received the letter or need more information please contact Don Schreiber, Project SEED Coordinator or Mike Walsh, KACS Education Chair.

Wrap-Up of Older Items

Annual Competitive Chemistry Exam

On March 22nd, 2016, fifteen high schools in the Kalamazoo American Chemical Society (KACS) local section administered the annual preliminary Competitive Chemistry Exam. The top three scoring students from each school and all students who score in the top 10% on this exam will be invited to sit for the final exam scheduled for April 23rd, 2016 at Western Michigan University. The top 20 scorers on the final exam will receive cash awards at the Annual KACS Awards Program (see previous announcement).

The "Like KACS on Facebook winner" is…. Andrew Franks!

Andrew, a scientist at Pfizer, only needed to do three simple things to win - he liked KACS on Facebook, shared a post, and commented on a post. For those actions he gets a copy of of "Mauve" by Simon Garfield. Congrats Andrew! However, we all are lucky as Andrew has promised to post a short book review on the Facebook page!