September Meet & Greet: Susan Odom

We are pleased to kickoff the semester with our first Meet & Greet!

Prof. Susan A. Odom will be visiting our campus on Monday September 23rd. We encourage any interested individuals to join us for coffee & cookies at 10 am in E4-43 as we chat about her journey in chemistry! Prof. Odom’s research seminar, titled “Organic Molecules as Charge Storage Materials for Redox Flow Batteries,” will follow at 1 pm in E3-25.

Dr. Odom is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky, the same
institution from which she obtained a B.S. in Chemistry in 2003. Prof. Odom moved to Atlanta, GA, where she received a Ph.D. from Georgia Institute of Technology, studying electronic delocalization in organic radical cations. Prof. Odom then took position as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign where she developed self-healing electronic materials and damage-indicating microcapsules, after which she joined the faculty at the University of Kentucky in 2011. Her independent research first focused on overcharge protection of lithium-ion batteries. More recently, her research scope expanded to include new materials for redox flow batteries. After receiving tenure in 2017, she took sabbatical leave to further delve into flow battery research with collaborators at MIT and Harvard. Outside of research, Prof. Odom serves as a co-organizer of the Expanding Your Horizons Conference at the University of Kentucky and is in the process of creating an open source textbook for undergraduate organic chemistry.

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#LGBTSTEM Day

UAlberta WIC, in collaboration with Pride in STEM, held our 1st Annual Door Decorating Contest for #LGBTSTEM Day on July 5. Our goal was to raise awareness and support of diversity and inclusion in STEM (and of course, to win a ‘door’ prize – *cue the drums*)!

Thank you so much to all ten of the groups who decorated their doors! The department halls were very bright, and you put up some very creative and chemistry-filled displays. Thank you also to everyone who participated by voting on the awesome doors! The competition was tight, but our winning door belongs to the Serpe Group!

Most of the door decorations are still up, so if you missed seeing the decorated doors, don’t forget to take a wander to the Serpe, Lundgren, Vederas, Rivard, Styler, Veinot, Michaelis, Gibbs, Harynuk, and joint theoretical chemistry group offices!

As always, UAlberta WIC is dedicated to increasing visibility and support for under-represented groups in Chemistry – if you have an idea for an event or initiative, please reach out to us!!

Wicked WIC Welcome

Classes may be starting but don’t forget to also become involved in your university community! Come on out to WIC’s first fall event, a variety night full of games, snacks, and good fun. Meet your current exec team and find out how you can become involved.

Hope to see you there!

If not, drop by our next meeting: Wednesday September 11th in W3-60 at noon.

Welcome to Our 2019/2020 Exec Team!

We wish to introduce the new WIC Executive Team for 2019/2020.

LR: Juli, Caley, Alea, Iris, Laura, Brittany, Jocelyn, Meagan, Sorina, Kleinberg, Karen, Michelle, Hansol, Rochelin, Sarah, Florence

We are excited to see WIC grow and look forward to welcoming new members if anyone is interested. Our current meetings are biweekly in E3-60 on Wednesdays at 1 pm. The next meeting will be on Wed Aug 14 so come check us out!

Pie-ing Around!

WIC had the pleasure of hosting Pi Day on March 14th, 2019. The event was hosted in our very own Chemistry Lounge and had a huge turnout, for both people and pies! With a total of 75 of undergraduate and graduate students, professors, and support staff of all genders – we managed to have a pie-errifc day!

This opportunity allowed all members of our Chemistry department to come together and foster a sense of community and well-being, encouraging communication between all members of our department. Our attendees were happy for a short break in their day, a delicious snack baked by our talented chefs, and viewing or participating in the pie-in-the-face silent auction, where several brave people volunteered to be pied in the face in the spirit of 3.14! We hope this event allowed people from all backgrounds to come together to share and talk about their experiences in a friendly and fun environment. 

We would like to thank all our amazing volunteers who helped out for this fundraising event from setting up, baking a pie, or getting pied! This event was such a success thanks to your efforts and we look forward to hosting it again next year. 

Career Panel

UAlberta WIC and the CIC Edmonton section invites you to an evening of informal discussions on chemistry careers. Tickets are $5, refreshments provided.

Our panelists are:

Christina Gonzalez, Research Scientist at Applied Quantum Materials

Ronda Gras, Associate R&D Scientist at Dow Canada

Shoma Sinha,
Sr. Advisor in Advance Technologies at Government of Alberta

The event will take place Tuesday, March 5th, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Dewey’s (Old power plant), U of A campus.

Please RSVP and get your online tickets here.

Tickets are redeemable for your choice of beverage.

Thank you so much to our sponsors:

Royal Society of Chemistry                                              CIC Edmonton
                            

 

 

 

International Women’s Day Celebration: Free Pancakes!

Join the UAlberta WIC team in celebrating International Women’s Day with a breakfast for everyone! We are serving free pancakes, coffee and tea. Donations are welcome.

The event will take place on March 8th from 8:30 – 10am in the Chemistry Lounge, E4-43. All are welcome to attend.

Meet and Greet: Dr. Jackie Stewart

UAlberta WIC invites you to our informal Meet & Greet with Dr. Jackie Stewart from the University of British Columbia. Dr. Stewart’s research interests focus on chemistry education. Join us to hear about her career story. Complimentary coffee and cookies will be served.

The event takes place on Wed. March 6th at 10-11am in E4-43.

IUPAC Women’s Breakfast

The University of Alberta Working for Inclusivity in Chemistry (WIC) group hosted Edmonton’s IUPAC Global Women’s Breakfast with inclusivity and open discussion in mind. The event was hosted at the High Level Diner and 30 graduate students and professors of all genders were in attendance.

To break the ice and learn about talented female scientists around the globe, we played  “headbands” where players guessed the female chemist on their headband based on questions and answers from the other players.

WIC leaders also led round-table discussions to encourage communication among peers and share knowledge from unique and diverse perspectives. The topics included: identifying barriers along the chemistry career path, work-life balance and stress management tips, how to build a professional network, and characteristics of a strong mentor and leader.

 

 

Our attendees were happy to meet off-campus and  enjoyed networking with members of the department. We hope that the event helped to foster a sense of community and create an environment where chemists from all backgrounds are welcome to share their perspective. We would like to thank Chem Materials, Chemical Institute of Canada for their sponsorship of this event!

 

Armour Speaker Series: Dr. Geraldine Richmond

We are pleased to welcome Dr. Geraldine Richmond as our inaugural speaker of the Margaret-Ann Armour Lecture Series!

Dr. Geraldine Richmond, Presidential Chair in Science & Professor of Chemistry, University of Oregon

Dr. Richmond is a Presidential Chair in Science and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oregon. She obtained her BSc from Kansas State University and her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley with Professor George C Pimentel. Her current research is focused on using laser-based methods and theoretical simulations to understand chemical processes occurring at the surface of water. Her work has applications in solving important problems related to energy production, environmental remediation and atmospheric chemistry.

Dr. Richmond has been a strong advocate for diversity in all areas of science and is the founder of COACh (Committee On the Advancement of Women Chemists), an organisation aimed at increasing the number of women in STEM and providing individuals with the resources required to build a successful career. As a result of her passion for this line of work, she was appointed by former President Obama to the National Board of Science. She is also a Fellow of the American Chemistry Society, the Association for Women in Science, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Amongst her numerous awards and recognitions, Richmond has received the Linus Pauling Medal, the National Medal of Science, and the Priestley Medal.

She will be visiting the UAlberta Department of Chemistry on Wednesday January 16th and presenting two-talks:

“COACh: Empowering Women as Leaders in the Scientific Enterprise”
11:00 am, CCIS 1-160

“Mulling over Nanoemulsions: Interfacial Molecular Structure,
Stabilization and Assembly”
2:00 pm, CCIS 1-140

We hope you will be joining us for this exciting kick-off event!