WELCOME TO THE MINNESOTA LOCAL ACS SECTION WEBSITE
The Minnesota Local Section (#513) of the American Chemical society serves chemists, chemical engineers, educators, and the general public in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin.
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is the world's largest scientific society and one of the world's leading sources of authoritative scientific information. A nonprofit organization, chartered by Congress, ACS is at the forefront of the evolving worldwide chemical enterprise and the premier professional home for chemists, chemical engineers and related professions around the globe. Learn more about the history, mission and vision of the American Chemical Society here. Become an ACS member here.
For more information about future meetings, please use the "Meetings" link.
For more information about current activities the local section is involved in, please use the "Activities" link.
If you are interested in volunteering, please use the "Contact Us" link to send a message letting us know where you would like to help and we will get back to you. For specific information on what roles need filling, please use the "Officers" link.
For more information about National ACS, please use the "Resources" link or go to the ACS website.
UPCOMING MEETING
The Joint Safety Team at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities: A Model for Student-Led Safety
Join Taysir Bader and Zoe Maxwell virtually on April 29th at 7:00 PM as they describe the evolution of the Joint Safety Team and discuss what they are currently doing to improve the culture of safety among our chemists. Registration can be found here.
Click on the "Meetings" link for more information.
ACTIVITY HIGHLIGHT
Mark your calendars for the next meeting of the MNACS Senior Chemists Group. Wednesday, April 21st, from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM, we will meet virtually to discuss an article about the development of the Covid-19 vaccines. The article can be found here.
Click on the "Activities" link for more information.
CALL FOR AWARD NOMINATIONS
MN ACS Awards season is coming up and we need your help to nominate deserving people. Nominations should be sent to Ramesh C. Kumar on or before July 15th, 2021. Descriptions of the awards are below:
2021 Brasted Award Excellence in College Teaching
This award is given to honor excellence in chemistry enterprise. The nominee must be actively engaged or retired from teaching chemistry at the college level. The nomination packet should include a biographical sketch, a list of publications, and a statement and evaluation of the nominee's achievement. Significant attributes can include quality of the candidate's teaching effectiveness and their ability to challenge and inspire students. Letters of support are encouraged and may come from the department chair, associates, current or former students, and colleagues.
2021 Lyle Hall Senior Chemist Award
This award is given based upon post-retirement professional activities of a member of the MN ACS. Professional activities can include volunteer ACS service, volunteer activities in any other scientific organization, professional writing, consulting, and/or research. Nominations can include up to two seconding letters and a curriculum vitae is helpful.
2021 Janet Tarino Volunteer Award
This award is given for outstanding volunteer service to MN ACS and/or chemistry related projects and events not directly connect to MN ACS. This person will have demonstrated an exceptional passion for and commitment to community outreach, and dedication to projecting a positive image of chemists. Nominating documents should include curriculum vitae and examples of volunteer service.
2021 GREAT LAKES REGIONAL MEETING
2021 Great Lakes Regional Meeting (GLRM): Elevating the Importance of Diversity and Inclusion in Chemistry
The registration for the 2021 Great Lakes Regional meeting is now open! The meeting will take place virtually June 6th to 9th. Registration cost is $25, and for undergraduate students includes 1 year of ACS membership.
Details and registration can be found on the meeting website at http://www.glrm2021.org/.
OTHER NEWS
Sea to Source: Reducing Plastics in Our Environment
Dr. Jenna Jambeck will be presenting virtually on April 23rd at 12:00 PM for the 2021 Covestro Lecture in Sustainability. She will talk about her research on plastic waste inputs, flows and recovery, along with the related impacts and policies around the world. Registration is available here.
Shaping the Future of Chemistry
The new Education Chair for MN ACS, Chuck Wheeler Handlon, would like to encourage all members to consider engaging with teachers and students to promote chemistry STEM careers and provide the expertise and knowledge of the applications of chemistry in many science and engineering fields. There is a free tool that can be used to facilitate this engagement called Future Forward (http://www.futureforward.org/). Please contact Chuck for more information.
Chemistry Shorts
Chemistry Shorts is a new series of brief films that spotlight innovative ways that chemists and chemical engineers are working to solve important problems and create new opportunities. Each film is accompanied by a lesson plan that offers suggestions on how to integrate it into the classroom. It is available at https://chemistryshorts.org, or on YouTube and Twitter at https://www.youtube.com/c/chemistryshorts and https://twitter.com/chemistryshorts.
NOTICE ON CORONAVIRUS
To stay on top of recent developments on the coronavirus pandemic, check out the following websites provided by ACS National:
How ACS is adapting to the coronavirus pandemic http://cen.acs.org/acs-news/comment/ACS-adapting-coronavirus-pandemic/98/i13
ACS efforts and resources on COVID-19 http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/covid-19.html
Chemistry in coronavirus research: a free to read collection from the ACS https://axial.acs.org/2020/02/03/coronavirus-research/