The Alaska Local Section is proud to host the 2016 American Chemical Society Northwest Regional Meeting (NORM) in Anchorage, Alaska! We are currently planning this event, and we solicit the advice and help of our members.
Please see the preliminary email communication (shown below) sent by Dr. Lisa Hoferkamp, our section councilor, on August 4, 2012.
Hello AK ACS members,
I recently returned from the 2012 NORM meeting in Boise, ID. It was a good meeting in what turned out to be a pretty good place. Having grown up in northern ID, I’d been to Boise a few times, about 25 years ago. It has changed quite a bit. The downtown now has a very nice pedestrian center with good shopping, restaurants and parks; overall a nice place to visit. The scientific presentations ranged from technical applications (nano and nuclear chemistry) to the more esoteric (non-linear optical spectroscopy) as well as chemical education. I attended several fascinating sessions. I also attended the NORM Board meeting and as your representative and took that opportunity to present a bid for the 2016 NORM meeting. The theme of the proposed meeting was “Integrated Ecosystem Studies of Terrestrial and Near-Shore Environments”. The bid was accepted so it looks like we’re on for the 2016 ACS-NORM meeting in Anchorage (please see below for further details on the proposal). 2016 may seem like a ways out but we all know how fast time flies so I’m going to try to get as much as possible done well-ahead. With that said, Chairperson Patrick Tomco and I would like to take this chance to solicit your input. We would very much like this meeting to be something that appeals to and serves all members of the AK section as well as our lower-48 colleagues of the ACS. Please send your suggestions for symposia, session topics, workshops and/or extracurricular activities to either Patric (ptomco@alaska.edu) or me (lahoferkamp@uas.alaska.edu). And if you’d like to get involved in the organization and implementation of the meeting (e.g. chair a session), then by all means let us know! I’ll keep you posted as the meeting structure and contents develop and will always welcome your comments, suggestions and insights.
Here are some of the details from the proposal I presented at NORM 2012:
Basic elements of the technical program planned: Biochemistry, Chemical Education, Environmental Chemistry, Geochemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Toxicology.
Particular highlights or themes for your meeting (is a logo planned?): Integrated Ecosystem Studies of Terrestrial and Near-Shore Environments. Excursion to the Seward Sealife Center, a banquet at the Alyeska Resort, the Anchorage Museum at Rasmussen Center, the University of Alaska Anchorage (Environment and Natural Resources Institute, Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies) and the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail.
I’ll keep you informed as plans solidify and I look forward to including your good ideas. If you’re not interested in receiving these email updates, please let me know and I’ll remove your address from this list.
Regards,
Lisa Hoferkamp
Originally Posted by William Howard on August 30, 2012
