We're Moving ...

Loyal Reader,

We're moving. Not to a new building - although that will some day happen - but rather to the official Department of Chemistry website hosted by IUP. For several months, most of the news posts and calendar events have been posted on both sites. According to Google Analytics, this blog site is now getting fewer than 10 hits a day (average) which is not high enough for me to continue updating.

Rather, all information will now be in one place: http://www.iup.edu/chemistry

This site will remain open as an archive, however, to past posts and events.

Thanks for reading!

Chemistry Seminar - 4/10

This week, the Chemistry Department welcomes Dr. Eugene Mazzola from the University of Maryland. After meeting with faculty and students in the department, Dr. Mazzola will give a lecture on "Structural Elucidation of Saponins from Edible Fruits".

Please join us in Weyandt 240 at 3:30pm. Light refreshments will be served.

Chemistry & Biochemistry Students Present at 4th Annual Undergraduate Scholars Conference

Students from the chemistry department and biochemistry program presented their undergraduate research in the form of posters and oral presentations today at the 4th Annual Undergraduate Scholars Conference. The event, held in the HUB, showcases the talent and drive of our students as they supplement their class loads with real-world research experience.

The following students participated in oral presentations:

• Ms. Caitlin Williamson and Mr. Peter Stonehouse with "Calcium Tungstate: A Convenient Recoverable Catalyst for Hydrogen Peroxide Oxidation" (advisor: Dr. Keith Kyler)
• Ms. Brittany Buterbaugh with "Life Happens: An Unexpected Reaction Between Magnesium and Copper (II) Chloride" (advisor: Dr. Wendy Elcesser)
• Ms. Maura Barrett and Ms. Jennifer Beveridge with "The Toxicity of Mercury on Daphnia Pulex" (advisor: Dr. Ellen Yerger)
• Mr. Dragomir Milovanovic with "The Srs2 Protein Expression Using the pET11c Expression Vector in the BL21 (DE3) Bacterial Protein Expression Strain of Escherichia coli" (advisor: Dr. Jana Villemain)
• Ms. Olivia McGovern with "The Cloning of Inositol Monophosphatase Gene from Paramecium tetraurelia: A Search for the Molecular Basis of Ultradian Rhythms" (advisor: Dr. Robert Hinrichsen)
• Ms. Jennifer Casanova with "Finding DNA-Aptamers Against Human IMPDH Enzyme via Ligand-binding Isoelectric Focusing Electrophoresis LIFE" (advisor: Dr. Keith Kyler)

The following students participated in poster presentations:

• Ms. Amy Devlin with "Effect of pH on Uptake Rates of Non-polar Organics by Semi-permeable Membranes" (advisor: Dr. Nathan McElroy)
• Mr. Andrew Crawford with "The Efficacy of a Proposed Ion-paired Reverse-phased HPLC Method for the Determination of Polythionate Mixtures" (advisor: Dr. Lawrence Kupchella)
• Ms. Martha Conners with "The Ion-paired Reverse-phase Chromatographic Separation of Polythionates from Sulfur Oxidizing Bacterial Cultures Grown on Nonathion" (advisor: Dr. Lawrence Kupchella)
• Ms. Laura Fox, Ms. Nadia Szymanski, and Ms. Victoria Constant with "Water Chemistry for Beer Brewing" (advisor: Dr. Nathan McElroy)
• Ms. Whitney Simmons with "A Computational Redesign of Cellulase" (advisor: Dr. Jaeju Ko)
• Ms. Galit Regev with "Characterization of Salicylic Acid Treated Mutant for Double Stranded RNA (dsRNA) in the Plant Pathogenic Fungus Rhizoctonia solani: Isolate 303" (advisor: Dr. Bharathan Narayanaswamy)
• Ms. Ee Leng Terng with "Computational Function Prediction of Hypothetical Proteins" (advisor: Dr. Jaeju Ko)
• Ms. Ashley Rossib and Ms. Heather Wagner with "Using Technology to Discover the Constituents of a Mental Model of Chemical Equilibrium" (advisor: Dr. Michael Briggs)
• Ms. Jessica Nichol with "Azobenzene Dye Synthesis for Attachment to Carbon Nanotubes to Control Conductance" (advisor: Dr. Carl LeBlond)
• Ms. Li Yin Wong with "Characterization of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Srs2 Helicase Features Essential for Regulation of Homologous Regulation" (advisor: Dr. Jana Villemain)
• Mr. James Zewe with "Development of ELISA for Mouse Growth Hormone Binding Protein (GHBP)" (advisor: Dr. Jonathan Southard)
• Mr. Brandon Jones with "Is Bacterial Alkaline Phosphatase Capable of Phosphite Oxidation?" (advisor: Dr. Jonathan Southard)

Chemistry Major Will Conduct Research in Arizona

Chemistry major Ms. Jennifer Casanova will be participating in a research project this summer through the University of Arizona's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program.

Jennifer will work under the direction of Dr. William Montfort in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. Dr. Montfort's research includes work with protein structures and their function and inhibition.

Congratulations, Jennifer.

Chemistry Major Awarded ACS International REU

The Department of Chemistry is pleased to congratulate Ms. Laura Fox, a sophomore chemistry major, on her acceptance of an American Chemical Society (ACS) International Research Experiences for Undergraduates.

For 10 weeks this summer, Laura will conduct research in the analytical chemistry department at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. She will then present the results of her research at the undergraduate poster session during the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C. from August 16-17.

Support for her travel and research comes from the ACS and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Congratulations, Laura!

Undergraduate Biochemistry Seminar - 4/3

Two undergraduate speakers will present in this week's biochemistry seminar.

Ms. Galit Regev will present "The Study of Double-stranded RNA in Rhizoctonia Solani".

Ms. Aubree Webb will present "The Unique Pharmacology of Scorpion Toxin Lqh3".

Please join us at 2:30pm in Weyandt 127.

Graduate Seminars on 4/1, 4/3

On Wednesday, April 1, we will hold the first of two graduate student research seminars. Mr. Daniel Adu-Ampratwum will present the talk "Clusters, Superatoms, and Building Blocks of New Materials" in Weyandt 240 at 3:30pm.

On Friday, April 3, Ms. Bernice Opoku-Agyeman will present the talk "Mechanisms and Kinetics of the Wacker Process: A Quantum Mechanical Approach" in Weyandt 240 at 3:30pm.

For both seminars, light refreshments will be served.

CHEM 281: Food Chemistry Offered for Fall '09

A special topics course on the chemistry of food is being offered for Fall 2009 in the Chemistry Department.

CHEM 281: Food Chemistry

Food Chemistry is a 3-credit, non-lab chemistry course focusing on basic and organic chemistry as it applies to food. This class is appropriate for chemistry, biochemistry or biology majors wanting an elective chemistry course; for food & nutrition majors who plan to take FDNT 362; and other students with an interest in food chemistry who meet the prerequisite requirements. The course will include lectures on topics including but not limited to: carbohydrates, protein, fats, grains, fruits & vegetables, meat & dairy, fermentation, chemical processes in food preparation, molecular gastronomy, coffee & tea, flavor & aroma, food additives, and more. This course is not eligible as a liberal studies non-lab science course. PREREQUISITES: Successful completion of CHEM 102, CHEM 112, or CHEM 114, or completed credits that were accepted for transfer by IUP to count as one of the aforementioned courses.

For more information on the course, contact Dr. Nate McElroy.

Biochemistry Seminar - 3/27

On Friday, March 27, two biochemistry seniors will present their seminar topics.

Ms. Olivia McGovern will present "Targeted siRNA Nanoparticle Drug Administration in Primates: A New Hope In Cancer Treatment".

Ms. Caitlin Williamson will present "Biocatalytic Reduction of Alpha-chloro-beta-keto Esters".

Please join us at 2:30 in Weyandt 127.

Chemistry Seminar - 3/27

Please join us on Friday, March 27 for a research seminar by Mr. Theppawut Ayudhya (University of South Carolina) at 2:30pm in Weyandt 149.

The talk is titled "Synthesis of Highly Functional Poly(thiophene)s and Progress Towards Generating Solid State Chemosensors."