Discovering the Scientist Within is a program designed to nurture 6th, 7th and 8th grade girls’ interest in STEM. The event will be virtual this year with all activity supplies shipped directly to participants. It will be held Saturday, March 6, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Pre-registration is required. Registration is open now and closes Feb. 18. Contact Emily Nicholson in Precollege Programs with questions.
Author Archives: Luanne Johnson
Cayuse and the OSU Process – why, when, how
Interested in submitting a grant, but not sure how to navigate university approvals and submission? Join college-level grant personnel to learn how the grant submission process works at OSU and what you need to know about “Cayuse” research administration software. Cross-college Monthly Grant Training Sessions are open to all faculty, staff and graduate students. RSVP for all sessions in the series. Tuesday, Feb. 23, 3-4 p.m.
Chemical Biology Course
PNNL-OSU Distinguished Graduate Research Program – Accepting Nominations in January 2021
This is a reminder that we are accepting nominations for the PNNL-OSU Distinguished Graduate Research Program (DGRP) through February 26, 2021. The program will provide fellowship opportunities for up to five students for the 2021 cohort.
Nominees must be first year and second year STEM and related science and engineering Ph.D. students at OSU. We are particularly interested in attracting outstanding new students that represent the existing and emerging areas of collaboration with PNNL.
Since our various Ph.D. programs have a variety of recruiting and admission timelines, we have set the priority deadline for applications to the DGRP as February 26, 2021. Interested faculty should identify a potential student applicant, PNNL collaborator, and complete the application. The program guidelines are available on the Graduate School website.
The DGRP targets a four-year graduate study in which the coursework stage (years one and two) is funded by OSU faculty, department or college for stipend, tuition, health insurance and mandatory fees. Subsequent to the completion of the coursework (years three and four), PNNL will fund the student’s stipend and benefits, the OSU Graduate School will provide a tuition waiver, and the student will be primarily located at PNNL.
An essential requirement of the program is that the co-advisors from the two institutions must be willing to support the student in the proposed collaboration research topic. In addition, the OSU advisor must have a full-time faculty appointment at OSU. During the review and selection of student applications for this program, the PNNL and OSU points of contact will confirm the availability of research funding from the individual co-advisors before OSU sends formal letters of award to the selected students.
DGRP students will work with faculty at Oregon State and scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory while completing their graduate coursework and subsequently transfer to PNNL for the remaining years of their Ph.D. program to gain hands-on research experience with PNNL scientists. As students’ ability to relocate fully to the PNNL site may vary, PNNL and Graduate School staff will consider flexibility in this requirement under appropriate and compelling circumstances.
Anticipated award notification: April 2021
If you have any questions, please email pnnl-osu.dgrp@oregonstate.edu
Workshop for faculty on student career mentoring, accepting applications until March 15
I’d like to bring to your attention a workshop that aims to introduce faculty (preferably teams of two from an institution) to career planning and mentoring resources, and to position faculty to implement change on their campuses. The first COMPASS workshop was held in 2019, and the second will be held virtually on May 19-21, 2021 (with an application deadline of March 15). If you think your department would benefit from this workshop, I hope you will pass along this information to interested faculty (advertisement attached).
The workshop will cover a range of topics including:
– career planning,
– culturally aware mentor training and effective communication,
– crafting an action plan for faculty to implement on their campuses,
– promoting professional development,
– changing departmental culture about the need for student mentoring.
Prior to the workshop, participants will research the resources available locally to their students for professional development. During the workshop, participants will craft an action plan to implement a programmatic change at their respective institutions. After the workshop, participants will implement and assess their programs.
Priority will be given to teams of two faculty members from the same institution, preferably with at least one senior faculty member, who are committed to improving the career mentoring of students at their institution. A complete application must include a letter of institutional support from a department chair, dean or chief academic officer. The registration fee is waived thanks to generous sponsor support. The participants are expected to make themselves available for the entire duration of the workshop, which will be three synchronous half-days beginning at 11 AM EDT, May 19-21.
For more information and to apply, please visit https://www.trinity.edu/sites/compass
Get to know Zoom with Media Services
Adding flair: Friday, Feb. 19 from 2-3 p.m. Location: Zoom. To register for this event and for more Zoom information from Media Services,
go to https://uit-at.oregonstate.edu/media-services-zoom/.
Winter 2021 Undergraduate of the Quarter – Citlali Nieves Lira
Citlali Nieves Lira has been named one of our Winter 2021 Undergraduates of the Quarter and we couldn’t be prouder.
Citlali grew up near the Mexican desert, in the middle of Queretaro. When she was 14 or 15, she moved to Tigard with her father. It was a big change for her, going from the desert to the big forest. She graduated from Tigard High School, home of the Tigard Tigers. Citlali has always liked the state of Oregon. She enjoys that there are so many places to go and so many things to see. She knew she wanted to stay in state to go to college. Citlali reported that she’s a Ford Scholar, so it’s more financially beneficial to stay in Oregon, she also heard Oregon State had a strong STEM program. It was an easy decision at that point.
When Citlali was in high school she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. The plan in Mexico was that she wasn’t going to go to college because it’s very hard for women, especially, to get into school and find support there. It wasn’t until her family got to Oregon that she started thinking maybe she could actually go to college and get a degree. She wasn’t sure what that was until she had a chemistry class. She reports having an amazing teacher, who was able to relate Chemistry to everyday life. “Everything has a reason for happening, and because of chemistry we can explain it.” Citlali’s teacher told her about an internship program with the ASE. Her teacher helped her apply for it and she interviewed with OSU Professor Marilyn Rampersand Mackiewicz, and was awarded the internship. That amazing experience was what made Citlali fall in love with Materials chemistry. “I got to learn a lot about how to actually work in a lab, what a researcher did, what the obligations of a P.I. were, and I just fell in love with the lifestyle. I liked the work you had to put in. I liked the little puzzles chemistry brings every day, although sometimes it was really frustrating because I didn’t get the results or I didn’t get what I was looking for. But at the end of the day there’s always a solution, and there’s always a way to find one, and I really liked and enjoyed that. You can always complete the puzzle, it just takes a while to gather and assemble all the pieces. Besides learning so much about chemistry, I also learned so much about managing my time in the lab, working with others, and sharing ideas, I learned a lot from Dr. Mackiewicz.”
Citlali continued working with Dr. Mackiewicz when she started at OSU. She works with silver nanoparticles and is tuning the shape and size of them. So, they make different shapes of nanoparticles: triangles, spheres, cubes, rods, and different things that could be used for more applications in chemistry.
After graduation, Citlali wants to attend graduate school for inorganic Chemistry, start working at a university and become a PI of her own lab. Her back-up plan is to work in industry, as long as her chemistry topic is fun.
Outside of school, Citlali plays tennis. She admits she’s not that good, but she loves the sport all the same. She also spends a lot of time on the Equity, Justice and Inclusion committee for the chemistry department, working to make the department more inclusive to under-represented students. She also enjoys hanging out with her friends and watching movies. Her favorite book is 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Her favorite food is Sushi.
When asked if there was anything else Citlali thought we should know, she said, “I would like to add that OSU is a pretty great community. There are many resources for people to get help and get to the place they want to be. I had a lot of help getting to school, with people advising me and telling me what to do. If you can just reach out to people that would be great, and also creates a community. Especially for all of my girls in STEM, it can be hard, and we all have got to stick together.”
We are incredibly proud of our students, and especially of Citlali for being an Undergraduate of the Quarter, and we wish her the best of luck with her future.
Science Pro
Science Pro is coming (Feb 23-25)! We’re giving away portfolios to the first 100 students who sign up and attend any of the events.
We’re bringing out a great group of professionals over the course of three evenings. There’s a panel for life sciences, and another one for pursuing careers in math, physics, and chemistry. In the night in between we have Career Pathways conversations which will give students direct contact with some awesome humans (some from across the country).
Feel free to use this blurb or cut and paste portions of the email below:
Science Pro is coming to the College of Science. Make connections with alumni and community professionals. Discover what’s out there, and get the inside scoop on what it’s like to work in industry, government agencies, national labs, or for your own company. We’re giving away free portfolios to the first 100 students who sign up (and attend) a Science Pro event. Check out the schedule and who will be there, and register today. Email gabs.james@oregonstate.edu if you have any questions.
Thanks for your support and increasing access to our students to help them grow their network and getting closer to being career-ready.
Oregon Tech: Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Oregon Tech is searching for a tenure-track assistant professor of chemistry to be a core member of our intro chem/gen chem team here in beautiful Southern Oregon (Klamath Falls), within our interdisciplinary Natural Sciences Department.
https://jobs.oit.edu/postings/3911
We have a uniformly fantastic, innovative, and forward-thinking chemistry team, we have motivated students who know what they’re about, and we are moving into shiny new teaching and student research spaces over the next couple of years. The position is open area, with a preference for candidates who can connect with Oregon Tech’s existing programs and strengths (health sciences, engineering, environment), and opportunity to support undergraduate research, but with excellence in *teaching* being the primary consideration.
Application Deadline Extended for the MEM-C REU Summer Program
I am writing to announce that the application deadline for the Molecular Engineering Materials Center (MEM-C) Research Experience for Undergraduates has been extended to Friday, March 5, 2021. Please share the following information with your community and let me know if you have any questions!
University of Washington’s Molecular Engineering Materials Center (MEM-C) aims to accelerate the development of future energy conversion, information processing, and sensing technologies through design, discovery, processing, and application of complex electronic and photonic materials. The summer REU program is focused on exposing veterans and under-represented minorities to a viable and relevant career pathway focused on materials and energy research. Students will learn about relevant, state of the art content in future energy conversion, information processing, and sensing technologies through design, discovery, processing, and application of complex electronic and photonic materials.For more information on the program and how to apply, please visit: http://uwmemc.org/education/programs/reu/
Thank you,
Danica
DANICA HENDRICKSON (She/Her/Hers)
Associate Director of Education & Workforce Engagement
Clean Energy Institute (CEI)
Molecular Engineering Materials Center (MEM-C)
MolES-NanoES Building | Box 351653
Seattle, WA 98195-1653
danicah@uw.edu | 206-685-2029