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Honors

CSN Graduate Student Becky Curtis Receives Prestigious Sea Grant Fellowship

UWM PhD Graduate Student Becky Curtis Receives Prestigious Sea Grant Fellowship. Becky Curtis’ research in the Klaper lab analyzes how nanoparticles are affecting aquatic organisms. She will be a fisheries management specialist in NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, where she will monitor and report on highly migratory species such as tunas, sharks, swordfish, and billfish, in the U.S. Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. She will learn about fisheries reporting/monitoring, rulemaking, and presenting data and policy information to stakeholders.

Dr. Theresa Gaines is CSN’s Scholar-in-Residence

The CSN is delighted to announce Dr.Theresa Gaines as the Scholar-in-Residence for the 2021 summer. Dr. Gaines will focus her work on educational chemistry games. Dr. Gaines is currently an Assistant Professor at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi where she teaches primarily organic chemistry. She also founded Big Magnet Games to develop fluency in chemistry through card and tabletop games. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Dixie State University. Before this she completed a Bio-Bus Fellowship at Georgia State University. In addition, she is an amateur cheesemaker and writes the occasional blog on the subject found here. Dr. Gaines is also known as @gathwaegl on social media.

Jaya Borgatta and Zack Jones Awarded McCoy Award (Jaya) and Roger Carlson Award (Zack)

Congratulations to Jaya Borgatta and Zack Jones (UW-Madison) for receiving the Mike McCoy Award (Jaya) and the Roger Carlson Award (Zack). The Roger Carlson Award is given to an analytical student who best uses instrumentation and research at the intersection of physics and chemistry. The Mike McCoy Award is given to a student who is doing materials-related research who best exemplifies “Mike’s love of chemistry and love of life! Mike was a student in Bob Hamers’ group who passed away 11 years ago from a heart condition. Both awards come with nice cash awards and a nice entry on the vita. Congrats to Zack and Jaya!

CSN Graduate Student Leslie Sigmon Chosen for SciPol Scholars-in-Residence Program

Congratulations to CSN graduate student Leslie Sigmon who was chosen for the Science Policy Scholars program! “The Science Policy (SciPol) Scholars-in-Residence Program provides hands-on training and experiential learning opportunities for early-career scientists and engineers seeking to build and use their skills in policymaking. Scholars are selected from a competitive applicant pool to participate in a six-week boot camp where they learn key skills in science policy, communication, and professional development. Scholars who complete the boot camp are then eligible to be matched with host offices for a remote “residency” (internship) in which they can put their skills into practice.” (NSPN, 2021) See Leslie and all the other cohorts that were accepted into this program here on Twitter and the SciPol… Read More »CSN Graduate Student Leslie Sigmon Chosen for SciPol Scholars-in-Residence Program

Bob Hamers & Jaya Borgatta Awarded Patent

A CSN patent entitled “Compositionally and Morphologically Controlled Nanostructures for Delivery of Micronutrients and Suppression of Disease in Agriculture” was issued by the US Patent Office on November 3. The abstract of the patent is: “Provided are compositions which may be used in agricultural applications. Also provided are methods of making and using the compositions. In embodiments, a plant fungicide or plant bactericide is provided comprising a nano structured chemical compound, the chemical compound comprising a metal and a coordinating anion, wherein the nanostructured chemical compound is in the form of a plurality of planar, two-dimensional nanostructures.” Congrats, Bob Hamers & Jaya Borgatta!

Graduate Student Becky Rodriguez Receives WCC Merck Research Award

Becky Rodriguez, a 4th-year graduate student in the Haynes group, has received the Women Chemists Committee (WCC)/Merck Research Award, which recognizes research excellence. Eight female chemists in their third or fourth year of graduate school were chosen to receive this award and present their research at the 2020 WCC Merck Research Awards Symposium at the fall American Chemical Society national meeting. Congrats, Becky! Read more

Graduate Student Beza Tuga Receives Robert L. Ferm Outstanding TA Award

Graduate Student Beza Tuga (Haynes group) received the Robert L. Ferm Outstamnding TA Award. In the words of one of her students: “Simply put, Beza has been the best TA of any subject during my time here at the University of Minnesota. No other TA had the ability to clearly explain tasks, make chemistry interesting, or relate to her students as well as Beza did.” Congratulations, Beza!

Graduate Student Stephanie Mitchell Receives Tim Salo Leadership Award

CSN Graduate Student Stephanie Mitchell (Carlson group) received the Tim Salo Leadership Award, granted every year by the University of Minnesota Council of Graduate Students “to recognize the recipient’s leadership and service to fellow graduate students.” Congratulations, Stephanie!

Graduate Student Kelly Zhang Wins Excellence in Research Award

Congratulations to Kelly Zhang (Hamers group) for winning the Richard and Joan Hartl Excellence in Research Award from the Department of Chemistry at UW-Madison! The award is given annually to the graduate student who conducted the most outstanding research in Materials Chemistry.