Will and Norm from Tested.com paid a recent visit to the Reed nuclear reactor. The result is last week's 25 minute featured video. Check out the control room (6 buttons do most of the work, just SIX buttons), the blue glow from the reactor, gamma ray measurements, plus lots of face time with student reactor operators and Melinda Krahenbuhl, the Reed reactor director.
After you finish watching, check out 60,000 Dominoes Doing What Dominoes Do Best
Anyone who ventured outside the Chemistry building in March/April discovered one of the coldest and wettest Portland springs on record. A much better idea was to stay inside and check out the chemistry stories in the Reed Magazine’s spring issue …
When I arrived at Reed, the chemistry majors told me that they refered to themselves as "squids". Perhaps that label went the same way as Old Reed, but a fresh group of squids, graduating seniors plus faculty, got together last Friday night in Kaul Auditorium after the Thesis Parade for the Senior Dinner. Commemorating the event were (left to right, front row) Prof. Arthur Glasfeld, Prof. Pat McDougal, Prof. Melissa Galloway, Alina Kassenbrock '12, (middle) Prof. Maggie Geselbracht, Li Zha '12, (back) Elizabeth Ogden '12, Emily Robinson '12, Paul Whittredge '12, Dana Loutey '12, Rukayat Taiwo '12, Megan Duffy '12.
Two biochemistry/molecular biology seniors, Gabe Butterfield '12 and Michael Gonzalez '12, have received research funding from the Davis Projects for Peace. Their project will take place in Djibouti, Africa this summer and will involve testing samples for the presence and strain of two common dairrheal pathogens, shigella and salmonella. Different strains can cause different symptoms and possess different levels of antibiotic resistance. Gabe and Michael will determine the level of antibiotic resistance and the efficacy of antibiotics which should help local doctors prescribe more appropriate medications. Read more about this award at Our Brilliant Students, Sallyportal.
Evan Green '13 has been awarded a $3,000 Van Santen scholarship from the Portland section of the American Chemical Society (the scholarship is named for former Portland chemist and longtime supporter of the local section, Dick Van Santen).The Portland section makes three awards each spring to juniors majoring in chemistry at local colleges and universities. The students must have local roots, exceptional academic records, and be interested in pursuing a career in chemistry after graduation (past winners). The other 2012 winners are Hayley Johansen from Pacific University and Cassandra Ballou from Portland State. Evan, Hayley, and Cassandra will receive their awards at the Portland section's April 12 meeting in Vollum Lounge.
Alex stopped by last week. He has started graduate studies in chemistry at Stanford and is working in the lab of Prof. W.E. Moerner on single-molecule imaging of biological systems. And now that you know that, you probably know what a GUACAmole is.
In 1990 the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust initiated its Partners in Science program as a way to enhance the research experience of high school science teachers. According to its web page, "The Program is designed to help high school science teachers work with a mentor doing cutting-edge research over the course of two summers. The purpose of this grant is to bring the knowledge from the research lab back into the high school science classroom, promoting hands-on science education."
Reed College has sponsored 10 Partners in Science since the program's inception and, in recognition of that achievement, the Trust has conveyed a Certificate of Appreciation to the College. The transfer of this certificate was made during the March 8 meeting of the Portland section of the American Chemical Society (photo). The presentation was made by Benson high school teacher Jean Eames to Reed chemistry professor Alan Shusterman with Portland section chair David Terrell looking on.
Chemists know that Mole Day, the day set aside annually to celebrate Avogradro's number (or 6.02 x 10^23), actually occurs from 6:02 AM to 6:02 PM on October 23. Publication schedules being what they are, Chemistry & Engineering News didn't go public with last year's Mole Day announcement until the next day, C&ENews Oct 24, 2011, Newscripts, but when they did, they worked in a connection to Reed College:
... take Colin Purrington’s (Reed '88, Biology) advice and use a Sakura Gelly Roll pen. In 2003, after a leaky ceiling dripped all over his lab notebook, Purrington, a former professor of evolutionary biology, got serious about ink.
“My ink was fine” after the fateful incident, Purrington says, “but the episode prompted me to think a bit more about pen choice.” So he decided to test how various writing utensils stand up to hazards that scientists might meet while experimenting: water and heat. He also tested threats chemists regularly face, such as the organic solvents methanol, ethanol, and acetone. Out of the 14 pens Purrington tested, the Sakura Gelly Roll performed best.
Contrary to the reputation that Sharpies are permanent, their ink dissolved the most readily in each of the organic solvents, as did the ink in the Bic pens tested. And if the lab is toasty, scientists should avoid fountain and Pilot pens: Their ink fades the most when exposed to heat, Purrington found.
“I was taught how important it is to keep an accurate lab notebook in college by a chemistry professor,” Purrington says of his time at Reed College, in Oregon. Purrington’s professor had been involved in forensic court cases and stressed to his students the significance of collecting accurate raw data in case they are ever challenged.
Reed chemistry profs continue to stress the importance of accurate lab notebooks written in indelible ink. If you would like to see a photograph of one of Colin's experiments with lab notebooks, various types of inks, and how they hold up to solvents and heat, visit his blog.
What better way for Reed Magazine to celebrate Reed’s centennial than by printing a 100-year look back in the form of The New (OLDE) Reed Almanac. A compendium of the places where chemists reared their heads in the Reed Almanac follows, but first, these timeless words from President William T. Foster’s first convocation speech:
It lifts us above the transient interests that tend to warp and confine our daily living; it beckons our thoughts to a future, the significance of which we but dimly foresee; it presages generation after generation of human aspiration and service. The light of this morning shines upon those untold centuries when we, who greet this day with the fine enthusiasm of youth, will be but names in the faded archives of a venerable institution. That we should be remembered is of no moment; this only is needful, that our sense of the future committed to our care and our devotion to worthy ideals should create for Reed College a deathless spirit.”
Spring break is over, classes are back in full swing, and a few Reedies are going to travel to San Diego for the ACS national meeting. Here are some ideas on how to find Reedies at the ACS meeting.
Prof. Maggie Geselbracht will attend Saturday through Tuesday. Look for her near these student posters on Sunday* and Monday:
Prof. Alan Shusterman will attend Sunday through Wednesday. Look for him near the chemistry education (CHED) and computational chemistry divisions (COMP). Also look for him at the Wavefunction booth (#627) in the Exhibit Hall. (update Mar. 27 - a raging fever and a hacking cough kept Alan at home)
*Maggie and her IONIC/VIPEr colleagues have a poster Sunday night right next to the student posters: "210 - VIPEr: Adapt and adopt classroom content from the frontiers of inorganic chemistry"
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