It may have been thundering outside but our LVACS volunteers sure made the inside of Da Vinci Science Center rock with their enthusiasm for science! Curiosity and Amazement were definitely everywhere to be seen and heard with education about the Earth and its algae the ultimate winner. The Lehigh Valley ACS local section thanks you for taking the time out of your schedules to bring 'science to life and lives to science.' Avi the mole salutes you!

LVACS visited the Reading-Berks Science and Engineering Fair this week: what a great turn-out and enthusiasm from the MS and HS students! We have two sponsored awards this year: best chemistry-oriented physical science project poster for grades 6-8 and to the 1st prize award winner in the senior high chemistry category. Let's see who's in the spotlight tomorrow evening, March 16th, at Albright's Bollman gym!

March Section Meeting: Developing the Formula for a Rewarding Career in Science

Speaker: Todd McEvoy, Azzur Labs
Social Hour 5:30-6:15 pm Dinner 6:15-7:15 pm:
Seegers Union Rooms 108-109 (campus map #1)
Meeting/Speaker 7:30-8:30 pm:
Trumbower Hall Room 130 (campus map #5)
Cost: $30 for members; $15 for students
RSVP to Maria Eden by Monday, March 13th:
(484-664-3060; mariaeden@muhlenberg.edu)
Directions: https://www.muhlenberg.edu/directions/
Campus Map (pdf): https://www.muhlenberg.edu/.../about/PrintCampusMap-1.pdf
Parking: Since the event is after business hours, there will be plenty of parking in the staff lot near Trumbower Science Hall (campus map #5). 

Steve Boyer, LVACS 2023 Chair, and Nigel Sanders, Secretary share a moment at the Region 3 Pa Junior Academy of Sciences meeting at Northampton CC February 25th.

UNDERGRADS: CAREER SATURDAY FEBRUARY 18TH!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lvacs-undergrad-career-saturday-tickets-526946961547

February 16th Section Meeting is at Lafayette College

Visualizing α-Synuclein in Neurodegeneration: From all-atom simulations to in vivo imaging

ABSTRACT: Fibrillar aggregates of the neuronal protein α-synuclein are a hallmark of Parkinson's disease and related neurodegenerative disorders.  However, a causative role for α-synuclein aggregation in these diseases has not been clearly identified. In order to understand the aggregation process, our laboratory uses a multidisciplinary approach, including computational approaches combining molecular simulations and machine learning models, synthesis of α-synuclein bearing post-translational modifications and photochemical probes, single molecule biophysics, structural biology, cellular and animal models for microscopy and proteomics, and development of positron emission tomography (PET) probes for clinical imaging.  Several projects will be discussed, highlighting the value of a multi-faceted and collaborative approach.

Speaker: James Petersson, U. Penn
James Petersson completed his undergraduate education at Dartmouth College and his graduate study under Dennis Dougherty at the California Institute of Technology. After receiving his Ph.D. in 2005, he was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University with Alanna Schepartz. He joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania in 2008 and the Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Graduate Group in the Perelman School of Medicine in 2013. His research has been recognized by several awards, including the Searle Scholar, an NSF CAREER award, and a Sloan Fellowship.

Program:

Social Hour:  5:30 pm – 6:00 pm; Dinner:  6:00 pm – 7:00 pm         

Marquis Hall, Clay Ketchum Room
Meeting:  7:00 pm – 8:30 pm                 

Acopian Engineering Center, Room 511
Menu/Cost:  $25 professionals, $15 students 

RESERVATIONS [by February 10th]:
Deborah Bastinelli, 610-330-5213, bastined@lafayette.edu

PARKING: Markle Parking Deck
DIRECTIONS: Campus Map
CONTACT: Mike Bertucci, bertuccm@lafayette.edu

January Section Meeting - Moravian University
Thursday, January 19th, 5:30-8:30pm
Workshop: Bringing Computational Chemistry into the Classroom
Priscilla Payne Hurd Academic Complex
1130 Monocacy St, Bethlehem, PA 18018
Speakers:
Heidi Hendrickson, Lafayette College
Carl Salter, Moravian University
Lorena Tribe, PSU/Berks
5:30 Social; 6:00 Dinner; 7:00 Workshop
Dinner Cost : $30/member, $15/student
Reservations:
June Thompson, 610-861-1425, thompsonj03@moravian.edu
Driving Directions/Parking:
https://lnkd.in/eM5hWJwn
CONTACT: Carl Salter, csalter@moravian.edu

The newly-elected LVACS Officers for 2023 are: Philip Elias, chair-elect, Sherman Cox, treasurer and Nigel Sanders, secretary. Philip, who graduated from Muhlenberg College last spring and now works at Evonik in Allentown, has been very active in community outreach events. Sherman, just retiring in December from a long career at Minerals Technologies Inc. in Hanover Township, has been LVACS treasurer before (in the 1990s!) and brings a wealth of experience in many areas of chemistry and chemical engineering. They join Steve Boyer, chair, Lindsey Welch, past chair, Jeanne Berk and Kelley Caflin, councilors and Mike Bertucci and Ned Corcoran, alternate councilors. Come out to our meetings in 2023 and meet your LVACS governance team in person! Check us out on: www.lvacs.org

We invite you to apply to the Institute for Future PUI Faculty (IFPF), an NSF-funded program at Lafayette College.  It is an immersive training program for graduate & postdoctoral students interested in pursuing a career at a teaching-focused institution.  Participants will travel to Lafayette for 2 weeks, all expenses paid, from April 10th - 22nd, 2023.  The deadline to apply is December 9th, 2022.  More information and the application can be found on the program website: https://sites.lafayette.edu/puiinstitute/

If you have any questions, please contact the program director, Michael Bertucci, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Lafayette College (bertuccm@lafayette.edu)

Ever wonder what you could do with your chemistry degree or how to make yourself marketable to employers? Come to career night to network with companies in the Lehigh Valley about career paths, employment, internship opportunities and the application process.

Our local section's ACS Career Consultant, Greglynn Gibbs, will be available to tell us more about ACS member career growth support and how to chart the next steps in your job search!

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