Junior chemistry majors in the BS (Chemistry)/MS (Forensic Science) program met with Department Chair, Dr. Ellen Roskes, to learn about their Senior Capstone Experience.  Students were excited to learn that this fall they will rotate through local crime laboratories and see many forensic science labs in day-to-day operations.  Pictured here are some of the students in the program (left to right):  Chris Stemple, Amanda Heard and Sarah Wood.

Chemistry Senior, Maggie Widdowson, is shown here with her poster of her experiences at her fall Internship at the Maryland State Police and Baltimore County Crime Laboratories.  She rotated through various labs and learned how each unit functioned in processing evidence.  Maggie will complete her Bachelor’s in Chemistry in May and plans to complete her Master’s in Forensic Science one year later.  She is anticipating a career as a Firearms Examiner.  Maggie came to SU as a transfer student.  Her favorite course at SU was Forensic Science 101:  “The instructor, Heidi Kunert, was awesome and the course was very interesting!”

Chemistry sophomore, Amanda Hieatzman, and Professor Wendy Kimber traveled to Colorado last week to present their research on stem cells at the Molecular and Cellular Biology Keystone Conference.  Amanda did an amazing job presenting the poster of her work.  When Dr. Kimber was asked by those attending the conference how she could do research with undergraduates, she explained that our students are trained to do research right from their first science course.   According to Dr. Kimber, “This presentation really made me appreciate how special what we do at Stevenson is.”  This work and the trip were supported by an NIH EARDA grant to the School of the Sciences at SU.

Forensic Science graduate student Kala Milazzo (seated left, BS Chem 2009) and Chemistry freshman Megan Staudenmeier look up and smile for the camera as they sell tickets at the raffle sale sponsored by the Forensic Science Club.  The lucky winner will win an HDTV.  The club will use the money for club activities including a trip to the Spy Museum and CSI night at SU.

This weekend, faculty and students represented SU at a Robotics Competition in Westminster, Maryland.  In addition to competing, middle and high school students were able to learn more about the School of the Sciences at Stevenson.

Chemistry major Marisa Bender checks her reaction during Inorganic Lab.  She is adding hydrochloric acid to her reaction mixture as she synthesizes a solid acid.  After the synthesis is complete Marisa will characterize the product of the reaction.

Chemistry Senior Jen Schmit is very excited about her future after graduation!  Jen will be continuing her education in graduate school working towards her Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry.  She’s already been accepted to Ohio State University and the University of Nevada at Reno, and expects to hear from more graduate schools soon.  Congratulations Jen!  We’re excited for you!

On the first day back from Snowmageddon 2010, Amber is happy to be back in her classes and labs:  “It’s nice to have something to do!”  Amber enjoys keeping herself busy.  She not only has her classes to focus on, but she also is currently the Director of MAP (Mustang Activity Planning) in the area of Special Events.  She loves planning fun events and activities on campus, such as slam poets and magicians.

Welcome back!  Chemistry seniors, Lena Kemp (left) and Becki Shook, pose for a picture in front of one of the many piles of snow on campus.  Students had mixed reactions to the return to school:  about half were happy to be back (regular routine, bored at home, eager to get closer to graduation) and the other half would have been happy to have more vacation (no assignments, sleeping late, hanging out with friends).

Although Diane Payne is well known by students for her teaching of General Chemistry, she also is the Director of the Office of Research Development (ORD).  Earlier this semester, the ORD sponsored a grant workshop featuring discussion of responsible conduct in research, identifying grant opportunities and writing a competitive grant.  Most chemistry faculty attended the workshop and benefitted from the expertise of the speakers.