Area students invited to Chemistry Nights

Many area high school juniors and seniors will perform hands-on chemistry projects during upcoming Chemistry Nights at Saint Mary’s, which will run 5 to 9 p.m. Thursdays, Oct. 27 and Nov. 3.

Chemistry Night, sponsored by the SMU Department of Chemistry and the La Crosse-Winona local section of the American Chemical Society, is an annual event designed to help students explore the discipline of chemistry and appreciate the positive role that chemistry plays in our everyday world.

Each year students solve a challenging but fun chemical problem, based on the National Chemistry Week (Oct. 16-22) theme; this year’s theme is “Chemistry — Our Health, Our Future” — exploring the positive impacts of chemistry as it relates to nutrition, hygiene, and medicine.

Students will work in small teams, using wet chemistry and working with chemical instrumentation in the SMU Department of Chemistry, under the guidance of SMU chemistry majors.

Prizes will be awarded to the teams that have the greatest success in solving the chemical problems. Prizes will include SMU scholarships of $2,000 and $1,000.

For more information, contact Dr. Brett Bodsgard at Ext. 6972.

Chemistry nights draw area students

Many area high school juniors and seniors will perform hands-on chemistry projects during upcoming Chemistry Nights at Saint Mary’s, which will run 5 to 9 p.m. Thursdays, Oct. 28 and Nov. 4.

Chemistry Night, sponsored by the SMU Department of Chemistry and the La Crosse-Winona local section of the American Chemical Society, is an annual event designed to help students explore the discipline of chemistry and appreciate the positive role that chemistry plays in our everyday world.

Each year students solve a challenging but fun chemical problem, based on the National Chemistry Week (Oct. 17-23) theme; this year’s theme is “Behind the Scenes with Chemistry” — the special effects chemistry of movies and television.

Students will work in small teams, using wet chemistry and working with chemical instrumentation in the Department of Chemistry, under the guidance of SMU chemistry majors.

Prizes will be awarded to the teams that have the greatest success in solving the chemical problems. Prizes will include SMU scholarships of $2,000 and $1,000.

Eight area schools and approximately 45 students are participating this year.

For more information, contact Dr. Brett Bodsgard at Ext. 6972.

Kugel, Weiner publish article in chemical education journal

In an example of interdisciplinary collaboration, Roger Kugel, Chemistry Department, and Paul Weiner, Mathematics and Statistics Department, have co-authored an article that appeared this week in the Journal of Chemical Education (web edition). The paper, titled, “Energy Distributions in Small Populations: Pascal versus Boltzmann,” describes a novel way to compute how energy distributes among a small number of molecules. The study promises to have a direct impact on student learning regarding the important concept of energy distribution, and could lead to new insights into the molecular energetics of real nanoscale systems.

The article can be viewed at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ed1003838. A print edition of the paper will appear in the November issue of this journal.

Five students take a ‘summer vacation’ in the research lab

SMU students, from left: front, Thomas Briese, Jennifer Koezly; back, Brian Kasel, Timothy McDonald and Luke Baertlein are spending their summers doing research at laboratories.

Two sophomore physics majors, two junior physics majors, and a senior biochemistry major will spend their summer doing research at laboratories in Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois:

• Jennifer Koezly, a junior double major in Chemistry and Engineering Physics from Ham Lake, was accepted into the Lando/NSF Summer Research Program in the chemical sciences at the University of Minnesota;

• Brian Kasel, a junior Biophysics major from Saint Anthony, landed a position in the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center Summer Fellowship Program;

• Luke Baertlein, a sophomore Biophysics major from Mazeppa, will work at the Mayo Clinic in the Department of Health Sciences Research - Epidemiology Division, funded through Mayo’s Undergraduate Research Employment Program (UREP); and

• Timothy McDonald, a sophomore double major in Chemistry and Engineering Physics from Ham Lake, and Thomas Briese, a senior Biochemistry major from Rochester, will both be working with Paul Nienaber SJ, associate professor and chair of physics, as part of the MicroBooNE neutrino experiment at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, IL. Funding for these students is provided by a Research at Undergraduate Institutions grant from the National Science Foundation.

“This is a singular contribution to undergraduate research in the sciences at Saint Mary’s,” noted Dr Nienaber. “These students are talented and well-motivated, and they’ve worked hard to get where they are. Placing this many students in these sorts of research projects at major universities and laboratories speaks volumes about the quality of the science program at Saint Mary’s University.”

Physics, Chemistry clubs host Girl Scout troops

On March 11, the Physics Club and Chemistry Club hosted two Girl Scout Troops to assist them in earning the Science Wonders Try-It Badge. The professors and college students planned an array of science experiments and demonstrations. Fifteen second- and third-grade girls learned through hands-on activities about recycling paper, magnetism, static electricity and the formation of crystals. There were also three exciting demonstrations: how a stir plate works, elephant’s toothpaste, and the magnetism flyer.

A special thanks to Professor Brett Bodsgard, Father Paul Nienaber, and Professor Robyn Wanberg and the following students: Jen Koezly, Brian Kasel, Tim McDonald, Renee Custer, Tom Briese and Mary Glenski.

Students celebrate National Chemistry Week

Many area high school juniors and seniors (and their teachers) will learn how the elements are an important part of everyday life. through hands-on experiments at Saint Mary’s. Area classes are invited onto campus from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29.

Chemistry Night, sponsored by the SMU Department of Chemistry and the La Crosse-Winona section of the American Chemical Society, is an annual event designed to help students explore the discipline of chemistry and appreciate the positive role that chemistry plays in our everyday world.

Each year students solve a challenging but fun chemical problem, based on the National Chemistry Week (Oct. 18-24) theme. This year’s theme is “Chemistry — It’s Elemental!”

Students will work in small teams, using wet chemistry and working with chemical instrumentation in the SMU Department of Chemistry, under the guidance of SMU chemistry majors.

Prizes will be awarded to the teams that have the greatest success in solving the chemical problems. Prizes will include SMU scholarships of $2,000 and $1,000.

Students celebrate National Chemistry Week

Many area high school juniors and seniors (and their teachers) will learn how the elements are an important part of everyday life. They will be conducting hands-on experiments during two Chemistry Nights at Saint Mary’s. Area classes are invited onto campus from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursdays, Oct. 22 and 29.

Chemistry Night, sponsored by the SMU Department of Chemistry and the La Crosse-Winona section of the American Chemical Society, is an annual event designed to help students explore the discipline of chemistry and appreciate the positive role that chemistry plays in our everyday world.

Each year students solve a challenging but fun chemical problem, based on the National Chemistry Week (Oct. 18-24) theme. This year’s theme is “Chemistry — It’s Elemental!”

Students will work in small teams, using wet chemistry and working with chemical instrumentation in the SMU Department of Chemistry, under the guidance of SMU chemistry majors.

Prizes will be awarded to the teams that have the greatest success in solving the chemical problems. Prizes will include SMU scholarships of $2,000 and $1,000.

The event is free, and there are still openings. Students who are interested should have their high school science teachers contact Dr. Roger Kugel at Ext. 1556.

Students celebrate National Chemistry Week

Many area high school juniors and seniors (and their teachers) will learn how the elements are an important part of everyday life. They will be conducting hands-on experiments during two Chemistry Nights at Saint Mary’s. Area classes are invited onto campus from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursdays, Oct. 22 and 29.

Chemistry Night, sponsored by the SMU Department of Chemistry and the La Crosse-Winona section of the American Chemical Society, is an annual event designed to help students explore the discipline of chemistry and appreciate the positive role that chemistry plays in our everyday world.

Each year students solve a challenging but fun chemical problem, based on the National Chemistry Week (Oct. 18-24) theme. This year’s theme is “Chemistry — It’s Elemental!”

Students will work in small teams, using wet chemistry and working with chemical instrumentation in the SMU Department of Chemistry, under the guidance of SMU chemistry majors.

Prizes will be awarded to the teams that have the greatest success in solving the chemical problems. Prizes will include SMU scholarships of $2,000 and $1,000.

The event is free, and there are still openings. Students who are interested should have their high school science teachers contact Dr. Roger Kugel at Ext. 1556.

Bodsgard publishes article on decontamination materials

Dr. Brett Bodsgard, Department of Chemistry, had an article published in Dalton Transactions titled “Silica-bound copper(II)triazacyclononane as a phosphate esterase: effect of linker length and surface hydrophobicity” (Dalton Trans., 2009, 2365–2373). The article details the study of a family of insoluble copper-containing materials that may be useful in the decontamination of chemical warfare agents.

Chemistry faculty/students attend ACS national meeting

Drs. Jaime Mueller and Roger Kugel and four senior chemistry majors, Bethany Kaufmann, Emily Mason, Jim Mazzuca and Justin Steinke, attended the 237th American Chemical Society national meeting in Salt Lake City March 22-24.

Dr. Mueller presented a poster titled: “Chemistry Night: Formula for a Successful Program of Outreach and Recruitment,” and Dr. Kugel presented a poster titled: “Deriving the Boltzmann Distribution from Simple Combinatorics.” Both posters generated considerable interest among chemists in the Chemical Education Division’s poster session. The group also attended many of the more than 7,000 technical papers presented at this national conference and also benefited from the informal interactions and professional networking opportunities. Student travel was subsidized by Student Senate and by a grant from the Fugere Family Foundation.

Area students invited to SMU Chemistry Night

Many area high school juniors and seniors (and their teachers) will be experiencing the importance of chemistry in an athlete’s life via hands-on experiments during upcoming Chemistry Nights at Saint Mary’s. Interested students are invited onto campus from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30.

Chemistry Night, sponsored by the SMU Department of Chemistry and the La Crosse-Winona local section of the American Chemical Society, is an annual event designed to help students explore the discipline of chemistry and appreciate the positive role that chemistry plays in our everyday world.

Each year students solve a challenging but fun chemical problem, based on the National Chemistry Week (Oct. 19-25) theme. This year’s theme is “Having a Ball with Chemistry – The Chemistry of Sports.”

Students will work in small teams, using wet chemistry and working with chemical instrumentation in the SMU Department of Chemistry, under the guidance of SMU chemistry majors.

Prizes will be awarded to the teams that have the greatest success in solving the chemical problems arising within the sports area. Prizes will include SMU scholarships of $2,000 and $1,000.

For more information, contact Dr. Jim Vogel at Ext. 1558.

Area students invited to SMU Chemistry Nights

Many area high school juniors and seniors (and their teachers) will be experiencing the importance of chemistry in an athlete’s life via hands-on experiments during upcoming Chemistry Nights at Saint Mary’s. Interested students are invited onto campus from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursdays, Oct. 23 and 30.

Chemistry Night, sponsored by the SMU Department of Chemistry and the La Crosse-Winona local section of the American Chemical Society, is an annual event designed to help students explore the discipline of chemistry and appreciate the positive role that chemistry plays in our everyday world.
Each year students solve a challenging but fun chemical problem, based on the National Chemistry Week (Oct. 19-25) theme. This year’s theme is “Having a Ball with Chemistry – The Chemistry of Sports.”

Students will work in small teams, using wet chemistry and working with chemical instrumentation in the SMU Department of Chemistry, under the guidance of SMU chemistry majors.

Prizes will be awarded to the teams that have the greatest success in solving the chemical problems arising within the sports area. Prizes will include SMU scholarships of $2,000 and $1,000.

The event is free, and there are still openings. Students who are interested should have their high school science teachers contact Dr. Jim Vogel at Ext. 1558.

Area students invited to SMU Chemistry Nights

Many area high school juniors and seniors (and their teachers) will be experiencing the importance of chemistry in an athlete’s life via hands-on experiments during upcoming Chemistry Nights at Saint Mary’s. Interested students are invited onto campus from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursdays, Oct. 23 and 30.

Chemistry Night, sponsored by the SMU Department of Chemistry and the La Crosse-Winona local section of the American Chemical Society, is an annual event designed to help students explore the discipline of chemistry and appreciate the positive role that chemistry plays in our everyday world.

Each year students solve a challenging but fun chemical problem, based on the National Chemistry Week (Oct. 19-25) theme. This year’s theme is “Having a Ball with Chemistry – The Chemistry of Sports.”

Students will work in small teams, using wet chemistry and working with chemical instrumentation in the SMU Department of Chemistry, under the guidance of SMU chemistry majors.

Prizes will be awarded to the teams that have the greatest success in solving the chemical problems arising within the sports area. Prizes will include SMU scholarships of $2,000 and $1,000.

The event is free, and there are still openings. Students who are interested should have their high school science teachers contact Dr. Jim Vogel at Ext. 1558.

Saint Mary’s Chemistry Night awards announced

The Saint Mary’s University Chemistry Department has announced the award winners for the Chemistry Night events, held on Thursday, Oct. 25, and Thursday, Nov. 1. Area high school students participated in chemistry activities involving departmental instrumentation and wet chemistry under the guidance of Saint Mary’s chemistry majors.

Based on the National Chemistry Week theme of “The Many Faces of Chemistry,” the high school students were able to simulate many roles of a chemist.
Read more... They worked as environmental chemists, food chemists, nanotechnologists, film critics and artistic chemists. The high-school student teams were evaluated on their use and interpretation of experimental results. Based on those evaluations, the following awards were made:

First-place winners: Joe McMartin, Matt Schultz and Emily Kronebusch of Lewiston-Altura High School; and Luke Ward, Robert Kim and Christine Pulido of Lourdes High School in Rochester.

Second-place winners: Hannah Flatten, Joel Hanson and Tia Thompson of Winona Senior High School; and Amy Yin and Sharon Christopher of Onalaska High School.

Third-place winners: Mark Lower, Emily Monk and Mark Painter of Lourdes High School; and Maja Kanebley and Leah Wooden of LaCrescent High School.

The SMU Chemistry Department would like to congratulate these students and thank the 50 students — and their dedicated teachers — who participated in Chemistry Nights.

SMU Chemistry Nights planned for Oct. 25 & Nov. 1

Area high school juniors and seniors (and their teachers) will learn the importance of chemistry in everyday life via hands-on activities 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday Nov. 1 during Chemistry Night at Saint Mary’s.

Chemistry Night, sponsored by the SMU Department of Chemistry and the La Crosse-Winona section of the American Chemical Society, is an annual event to help students explore the discipline of chemistry and appreciate the positive role chemistry plays in the world.
Read more...

Each year students solve a challenging but fun chemical problem based on the National Chemistry Week theme; this year’s theme is “The Faces of Chemistry.”

Students will be distributed into small teams and will work with instrumentation in the SMU Department of Chemistry, under the guidance of chemistry majors.

During the event, students will have hands-on exposure to various chemical instrumentation and wet chemistry. Prizes will be awarded including 12 SMU scholarships of $2,000 and $1,000.

For more information, contact Dr. Jim Vogel at Ext. 1558.

SMU Chemistry Nights planned for Oct. 25 & Nov. 1

Area high school juniors and seniors (and their teachers) will learn the importance of chemistry in everyday life via hands-on activities 5 to 9 p.m. Oct. 25 and Nov. 1 during Chemistry Nights at Saint Mary’s.

Chemistry Night, sponsored by the SMU Department of Chemistry and the La Crosse-Winona section of the American Chemical Society, is an annual event to help students explore the discipline of chemistry and appreciate the positive role chemistry plays in the world.
Read more...

Each year students solve a challenging but fun chemical problem based on the National Chemistry Week theme; this year’s theme is “The Faces of Chemistry.”
Students will be distributed into small teams and will work with instrumentation in the SMU Department of Chemistry, under the guidance of chemistry majors.

During the event, students will have hands-on exposure to various chemical instrumentation and wet chemistry. Prizes will be awarded including 12 SMU scholarships of $2,000 and $1,000.

The event is free, and there are still openings. Students who are interested should have their high school science teacher contact Dr. Jim Vogel at Ext. 1558.