SCU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

The faculty and staff celebrated Lourdes Barretto, our administrative assistant, who will be retiring after 15 years of dedicated service to the SCU Chem & Biochem department. We will miss her but are so grateful for all her hard work and the kindness she has shown to her colleagues and the SCU students.

Last Friday, Drs. Paulette Vincent-Ruz (U Michigan), Rigoberto Hernandez (Johns Hopkins U), and Ningkun Wang (SJSU) joined our Chem/Biochem students and faculty for a discussion of the recent PBS documentary, Picture a Scientist (https://tinyurl.com/hw3swbke). After introducing themselves, our guest panelists led a spirited discussion about the biases that persist in STEM, barriers to entry within the sciences for underrepresented groups, and the proactive steps our community can take to increase diversity. We look forward to continuing this essential dialog and identifying ways to increase diversity and inclusion within STEM.

Our own Adriana Gutierrez Ramirez '22 was recognized as a Beckman Scholar for her work in the Abbyad lab. Well deserved, Adriana! We can't wait to see what comes from the next stage of your research.

Bronco chem alumnus Eyouab Tadesse (2017) and friends started Chibo, an organization dedicated to the next generation of Black STEM professionals in a position for success through altruistic mentorship from current members of the industry. Read more in his post on Medium here: http://shorturl.at/fuOV1 And, if you're #BlackandSTEM, consider joining Chibo as a mentor or mentee. Connect and help light the way for others! Start with this survey: https://lnkd.in/geJThqR

Check out our very own Dr Fuller in an interview with Father O’Brien!

Thanks to all the Chem 12 TAs this quarter! They helped make general chemistry lab a fun and safe learning environment! Photo credit: Dr. Megan Tichy

Curious about life after getting a chem/biochem degree from SCU? Check out what Morgan MacKenzie has been doing as a SynBio Apprentice with OctantBio. https://www.octant.bio///29/fu88qhkloph7ia6smlyvb7pmzuo7r8

Katherine (Kat) Xia '20 (Tillman Lab) received the first place award for Physical Sciences at the Harvard College Undergraduate Research Association Conference (HCURA Conference). This came with a cash prize of $200, and the conference had over 200 undergraduates from 81 different universities present across several categories. Kat's poster described methods to drastically reduce the need for toxic metals in reactions that lead to new polymer shapes and structures. She works in Eric Tillman's (Chemistry & Biochemistry) research lab.

Two students who work in Dr. Grace Stokes's physical chemistry research lab--Ayush Kris (Biochemistry '21, left) and Cameron Read (Bioengineering '21, right)--made poster presentations at the Pacific Conference on Spectroscopy and Dynamics (PCSD, https://www.westernspectroscopy.org) in San Diego, CA in early February. Ayush and Cameron both received travel awards from the organizers of the conference and were two of the only undergraduate students in attendance. PCSD is one of the longest-running spectroscopy conferences in the U.S. and attracts grad students, postdocs, faculty and top researchers from around the world. Great job representing SCU, Ayush and Cameron!

Today four chemistry alumni returned to campus to participate in the grad student panel discussion and shared with current students about their experiences in their respective Ph.D. programs at Univ. of Chicago, UC Merced, Oregon State and Stanford. Thanks, Erik ('13), Vince ('18), Madeleine ('18) and Fritz ('12)! And thanks to Dr. Paul Abbyad for moderating the discussion.

Last Thursday, Dr. Linda Brunauer and the American Chemical Society Silicon Valley Section, co-organized a "Speed Networking" career event with scientists from around the Bay Area. SCU students talked with each scientist about their careers, interviewing, internships, etc. for about 10 minutes and then "switched"! It was an exciting, fun and productive experience! Next year, we hope to include even more local science professionals--get in touch if you'd like to join us!

The ACS Scholars Program awards renewable scholarships to underrepresented minority students majoring in undergraduate chemistry-related disciplines, and are also intending to pursue careers in chemistry-related fields. Apply by 3/1! http://ow.ly/FTyJ50yb1I9

Three of your chemistry professors ran a 5K today in downtown San Jose! Any other SCU chem & biochem students/alumni at the Santa Run today?