Author Archives: Luanne Johnson
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Undergraduate of the Quarter – Fall 2016 – Nathan Coddington
Recently, Department Chair, Rich Carter sat down with Chemistry Undergraduate, Nate Coddington to discuss what brought him to OSU, why Chemistry, and how he feels about being named one of the Fall 2016 Undergraduates of the Quarter.
Nate grew up in Eugene, Oregon, where he attended Willamette High School in the Bethel school district. Nate participated in Willamette’s International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Nate reported that the difference between AP and IB is breadth vs depth. AP teaches the surface of many topics, while IB intensively teaches a few select topics. Nate spent his sophomore through senior years in high school participating in their honors and IB chemistry courses.
Nate chose OSU because he did not want to go to an out-of-state school, and because his brother was already here, studying Nuclear Engineering. He moved to Corvallis to live with his brother while he was transitioning into college life – commenting “it was great having someone who understood his sense of humor while relating to the struggles of college life.” While Nate admits he started as a BB major to support his goal of ultimately becoming a dentist, upon entering the program it quickly became apparent to him that Chemistry was the better choice for his interests and his career path. So, he re-declared, with the premed option, and never looked back.
Nate told us that his favorite class was, hands down, Organic Chemistry. “It was just so full of great professors,” he said. But the teacher that resonates the most for him was Dr. Vince Remcho. “Dr. Remcho taught my Honors Gen Chem class,” Nate said. “He was always so happy when teaching.”
Currently, Nate is doing research in Dr. Sandra Loesgen’s lab. Her research group focuses on natural products, specifically bio-active compounds like penicillin. Nate’s research is a spin-off of Dr. Loesgen’s PhD thesis on epigenetic modifications. He’s hoping his research will result in unlocking new genes to produce previously unseen compounds. He’s hoping to be able to obtain some usable results very soon so he can start writing his honors thesis on this topic.
Nate still plans to enroll in dental school after graduation. His mother is a hygienist and he says he loves working with and helping people. Dentistry, he says, has always just clicked with him. “It’s so revered in our culture and I’ve always just thought, ‘I want to be this.’” He would like to do some job shadowing before graduation but says it is been difficult finding a slot due to doctor/patient confidentiality. He is not giving up yet though.
In his spare time, Nate is the President of the OSU Chapter of the National Society for Collegiate Scholars (NSCS), a community service and professional development based society that is currently working toward being recognized as an Honor Society.
Students like Nate are part of what makes our Department so great. We could not be more proud of him and wish him nothing but success in his future endeavors!
Undergraduate of the Quarter – Fall 2016 – Jason Sandwisch
Chemistry Major, Jason Sandwisch, the newest Fall 2016 Undergraduate of the Quarter recently sat down with Department Chair, Rich Carter to discuss what brought him to OSU, his favorite parts of the program and his plans for the future.
Jason was born in Vancouver, Washington. He then moved briefly to Colorado with his parents, but ultimately grew up in the small town of Banks, Oregon. He attended Liberty High School where he immersed himself in the sciences with the help of his freshmen biology teacher and swim coach Paul Hanson. Hanson would go on and recruit Jason to the swim team, where he spent the next four years competing.
Jason was very enthusiastic about biology and others sciences. He decided to pursue a Chemistry Major coming out of high school because of his senior year AP chemistry course. The class was small which resulted in a good amount of student/teacher interaction. The class focused mainly on class work and book work, but not a lot of time was spent doing laboratory work. Due to the lack of lab experience in high school, he decided a university with a good undergraduate research would be important for his educational goals.
While attending an Oregon State Fall Preview, Jason was impressed by how many people spoke to him about undergraduate research. He was already leaning toward matriculating here as his brother also attended OSU. “It’s nice to know someone where you’re going.” During Jason’s first term, Dr. Neal Sleszynski mentored him and suggested that he pursue the URSA Engage undergraduate research grant, which led him to conduct research for Dr. Kenneth Hedberg. Throughout this experience, he studied gas phase electron diffraction on 1,1,3,3-tetramethylcyclobutane. More recently, he studies spiropentane alongside Dr. Joseph Nibler and his undergraduate researcher, Blake Erickson (Winter 2016 UGQ).
During the summer of 2015, Jason also did research in Dr. John Simonsen’s lab in the College of Forestry. He worked with Johnny Hergert (Fall 2015 UGQ), conducting research on new polymer blends using cellulose nanocrystals. Other research projects with Prof. John Simonsen included Jason working for a local start-up called EcNow Tech. Here, Jason helped develop plant-based plastic material. His favorite part of all his various research has been being able to apply physical chemistry principles and problems solving aspects. “I took physical chemistry last year and before that I was working with all these experimental instruments such as FTIR, but never realized the basis for how they actually worked.”
Jason says he doesn’t have a favorite professor, “I enjoyed all my chemistry classes.” Overall, he really enjoyed taking Organic Chemistry from both Dr. Paul Blakemore and Dr. Chris Beaudry. He also loved the challenge of CH 464, taught by Dr. Chong Fang. His favorite class was CH 421 – Analytical Chemistry taught by Dr. Sean Burrows. “He’s just a great person. He was funny, understanding and really wanted you to learn the material. He didn’t make it hard, but stressed the important points. Being taught Analytical chemistry by him was an awesome experience.”
After graduation, Jason wants to pursue a Ph.D. in physical chemistry by studying excited state chemistry. He is interested in the University of Washington due to the broad selection of potential faculty focused in his area of interest. He is also excited about the wide array of options that are available to him after graduate school. His summer internship with EcNow Tech really opened his eyes to what’s available after school. “At this point, I’m unsure about my specific career path, but four years ago I wasn’t sure about my major I just want to go to graduate school and then find my path.”
Students like Jason are a huge part of what makes our Department so great. We wish him well with graduation, graduate school and beyond.
OMSI Science Communication Fellowship applications
Faculty, graduate students, personnel, postdocs: Applications for the 2017 spring cohort of the OMSI Science Communication Fellowship are now being accepted. Tuition for the program is $1,850 per participant, with scholarship opportunities available. Participation can be included to meet NSF broader impact goals. Deadline for applications is Dec. 1. Questions? Contact Amanda Fisher 503-797-4635 / afisher@omsi.edu or visit the program website http://www.omsi.edu/science-fellowship
Academic Technology WebCast: Learn@OregonState Power Tools for Teachers
Presented by Dr. Tech on Wednesday Nov. 30, 9 – 9:15 a.m. Introducing the Learn@OregonState web presence – your Canvas-powered teaching and learning tools. This 15-minute mini-webinar provides an overview to your support documentation and consultation opportunities for Canvas, Kaltura, Clickers, Turnitin, and online publisher content. This webinar will save you time and guesswork. Register Now!
Research under Trump
OSU’s Research Office invites you to a town-hall discussion on the federal research landscape under the Trump Administration and 115th Congress. The town hall will bring together OSU’s Vice President of Research Cynthia Sagers, NOAA’s Chief Scientist Rick Spinrad (and former OSU VPR), NIFA’s director Sonny Ramaswamy (and former OSU Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences), and OSU’s Director of Federal Government Affairs Gabrielle Serra. Friday, Dec. 9 from 1-2:30 p.m., Kidder 202. LIVE STREAM will be available at live.oregonstate.edu. Seating is limited. Please RSVP to attend in person here.
Engineering and Science Research Opportunities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) – Oak Ridge, TN
Appointments for Spring and Summer 2017!
Apply NOW to the Nuclear Engineering Science Laboratory Synthesis Programs (NESLS) Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) – Spring or Summer 2017
Must apply at https://www.zintellect.com/Posting/Details/2642
by December 31, 2016 for Spring term
Must apply at https://www.zintellect.com/Posting/Details/2649
by February 28, 2017 for Summer term
· Current AAS, BS, MS, and PhD students – Majors related to Engineering, Earth and Geosciences, Environmental and Marine Sciences, Life Health and Medical Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics, Nanotechnology, Chemistry, Physics, International Relations, Political Science, Government, Policy, Risk Analysis, Science Writing, Public Affairs, and Computer Sciences
· Stipend based on academic status – range from $529/week to $935/week for full-time; pro-rated for part-time
· Travel/Housing assistance (if eligible)
· Professional development activities
· Minimum GPA – 3.0/4.0
· Open to U.S. Citizens, Legal Permanent Residents (LPR) and Eligible International Citizenship
Visit http://www.orau.org/ornl or contact ORNL Education Programs at ornledu@orau.org for more information!
A Message from Rusty re: The Heat
Residents of Gilbert Hall and perhaps elsewhere,
I am aware of the excessive heat in Gilbert Hall. Since I’m the focal point for facilities issues I know that the problem is not confined to specific rooms but is a systemic problem as I’ve received messages from all floors and all wings within the Building.
I’ve contacted Facilities and Campus Environmental Controls. The situation is the University Campus wide control system; Unity, is down. Facilities have been working trying to get this system repaired. When the Unity System went down, it left the buildings in their last state. For us, it was heat on. This means we are gaining radiant heat from the steam pipes 24/7 whether or not an individual room’s thermostat is on or off.
To minimize the impact of Unity being down, Campus Environmental Controls will be manually turning the building heat on every workday morning and; turning it off every workday evening. This will minimize the accumulation of heat within the building.
This also means that weekends and Holiday’s the building will be cooler than work days.
I will keep you posted on any further developments.
Thank you for your understanding.
Sincerely,
Rusty
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Rusty Root
Coordinator-Building Services
Chem Purchasing/Facilities/Building Management
Oregon State University, Department of Chemistry
143 Gilbert Hall, Corvallis OR 97331-8546
Purchasing Business: chemistry.purchasing@oregonstate.edu
All Other Business: rusty.root@oregonstate.edu
PH: 541-737-6722
Cell: 541-231-9243
Call for submissions: 7th Annual Staff Art Exhibit
This is the 7th year of the Staff Art Exhibit, and we’re hoping for representation from all parts of OSU in this showcase of creativity. Do you have creative individuals in your area (maybe even you)? Most any medium is accepted in this exhibit, so please encourage submissions of work by November 29.
The benefits, besides showing talent beyond the day-to-day job, are that departments are listed on the artist’s block next to the work, and all artists, co-workers and friends are invited to a special reception hosted by President Ray on December 20.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions about this project, and I hope that you might be able to encourage participation in this activity.
Best wishes,
~Mealoha
Mealoha McFadden
Acting Director, University Events
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Oregon State University
205 Adams Hall | Corvallis, Oregon 97331-2004
communications.oregonstate.edu/events
facebook.com/OSUevents
Phone 541-737-6522 | Fax 541-737-8955 | Cell 541-231-2585