University of Alaska Fairbanks Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
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AlasChemist University of Alaska Fairbanks Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry June 2011 Volume 29 A Note From The Department Chair This is my first year as the chair of We began a new search for a In May 2011, we held a departmental the Department of Chemistry and biochemist, joint with the Institute of retreat, facilitated by former Provost, Biochemistry, and I'm excited about Arctic Biology, and that search Dean, and Department Chair Paul what we have done as well as grateful continues this summer. Reichardt. The retreat helped us to for the positive efforts of faculty and understand better our current staff at making the department a great We made major changes to our department state and where we want place. The help of past chairs, John department website, increasing to be in the next years. I think it was Keller and Tom Clausen, has been information that we put forward and a great success in identifying where instrumental in surviving this first allowing students to express interest to focus efforts. year. I truly am grateful to them. in our programs through an online system, which we hope will help Sadly for the department, Tom recruiting efforts. We also sought to Clausen is going to be retiring in highlight research efforts and summer 2011. We will miss his successes of the department. We contributions to all areas of the have been trying to serve students department but look forward to better by streamlining the laboratory seeing him around often in the future. sections of general chemistry, We conducted a search for an organic allowing students to register for any chemist and hired Dr. Fenton lab/lecture combination, as opposed Heirtzler, who will start in the Fall of to a very complex system that we had 2011. We also searched for an earlier. We also created a new MADJG by Photo environmental / analytical chemist organic chemistry laboratory that Bill Simpson and hired Sarah Hayes, who will simplifies enrollment for students and complete another year of her better serves pre-professional Mendenhall (USGS) postdoctoral students. fellowship and join us in Fall 2012. Lawrence K. Duffy ~ Neurochemistry & Biochemistry My appointment as Interim Dean of the Graduate School On the research side, our studies on mercury in fish is continues and I continue to expand my research interests. moving forward as realization of food security in rural Dr. Anna Godduhn has finished her data analysis for the Alaska gains state and national attention. I developed an “Northway Health Project” and found a correlation between environmental justice independent study course and will proximity to the old Haines – Fairbanks Pipeline area and teach it again to engineering graduate students in Fall past history of illness in the community. Anna completed 2011 along with the “Macromolecules” course for her Ph.D. thesis and graduated May 2011. biochemistry and biomedical science students. Dr. Greg van Doren also finished his Ph.D. thesis in In the area of service, I am working with Mary van which he compared student learning gains related to Muelken of the Alaska Basic Neuroscience Program to cultural and local issues in chemistry courses for non- incorporate summer research in neuroscience and majors. He demonstrated that previous knowledge of topics biotechnology into the Effie Kokrine Charter School. We like pH and the location of instruction are important factors will focus on the bioactivity of traditional Native Alaska in student retention and synthesis of the information. Greg subsistence plants like blueberries and integrate research is now the Academic Dean at the White Earth Tribal and activities into the summer component of Effie Kokrine’s Community College in northern Minnesota. innovative four year “spiral” curriculum. Ph.D. candidate Linda Nicholas-Figueroa is teaching at the Ilisagvik Last summer I taught CHEM 100X in RAHI and in the Tribal College in Barrow. She is designing a program second summer session co-instructed CHEM 100X with that examines community knowledge of radar health Dr. Dunlap. Dr. Dunlap, over the last year, has developed effects and exposure on Alaska’s North Slope. In a distance delivery lab for CHEM 100X. This summer I Anchorage, Lisa Schwarzburg is beginning to write her will again co-instruct in the RAHI program. thesis on the social impacts of pre-natal policies on tribal culture. Page 2 AlasChemist June 2011 Tom Clausen ~ Organic and Natural Products Well in a few weeks I will be riding into the sunset and start spending more time with Dawn in retirement. My years at UAF have undergone quite an evolution from being a student, safety officer with risk management, instructor for both mathematics and chemistry, post doc, safety officer and lab coordinator for the department, faculty, department chair and finally director of ANSEP. It has been a fun and rewarding trip and I owe a great deal to others that preceded me in retirement. These include my first organic professor at UAF, Warren Smith, who talked me out of choosing another major and who encouraged me in research and graduate school. Paul Reichardt who was one of my most outstanding professors MADJG by Photo and a great mentor during my post doc years and a great Tom Clausen & Paul Reichardt administrator during many of my years as a faculty member. John Bryant who is a world leader in plant- Most of all I want to thank Dawn who not only has saved animal interactions and an outstanding friend. Claron me from a bee sting gone horribly wrong and an angry Hoskins who was possibly the best supervisor I have ever bear getting a bit close and personal, but also from my seen. And Don Locken and Richard Stolzberg who own faulty judgment. She has been my compass and has instilled into me the idea that teaching is a rewarding never failed me. endeavor to be pursued. So as I ready to clean up my office to make space for my Success as a professor requires the support of many people replacement, I think a lot of my accomplishments over the and graduate students are on top of the list. I was blessed last three plus decades at UAF. Is it my publications that having some outstanding students that made my lab measure my worth? I hope not. The half life of productive. These include Dr. Edward Treadwell, Emily publications, as measured by their citations, is very short. Reiter, Dr. Trent Volz, Chance Riggins, Dr. Chris Whittle, Rather I hope that there are a few students or faculty who Brian Englund and Dr. Colin McGill. will view me as I remember those who have so greatly influence me. I certainly can hope so but I don’t know, I also need to acknowledge some of my role models from my heroes have pretty big shoes! my growing up years including Leo and Agnes Schlofeldt, Bill Stroeker, Pat and Gene Rogge, Jim (Hutch) Good luck to all of you! For those who are early in their Hutchison, Alden and Jack Wilbur, and my father, Edgar careers- hang in there; life tends to get better with time. I (Cy) Clausen. All of these folks are now passed but they now look forward to spending more time with Dawn, my will forever be a huge and positive influence on my life. spouse and true companion of 30 plus years. Environmental Chemistry Ph.D student, Amanda Barker, working in the Trainor Lab. She has been working on analyzing water samples from the North Slope of Alaska to study the geochemical effects a warmer climate in the arctic has on permafrost active layer thaw depth. Photo Provided by Trainor Research Group Research Trainor by Provided Photo AlasChemist June 2011 Page 3 Department Outreach Activities ~ Jacy Pietsch It has been a very exciting first year of its mission. We started off the year the first floor, there was the always for me in the department. My family by participating in the KUAC Fall popular liquid nitrogen ice cream, returned to Alaska in the summer of Fundraiser. Bill Simpson, John slime, and the superconductivity 2010 and I joined the Chemistry team Keller, Emily Reiter, Brian Edmonds, demonstration as well as the all of the in mid-August. My predecessors left Tom Clausen and Tom Green all Physics Department’s hands-on some very large shoes to fill, but, earned a huge ‘thank you’ for helping activities. Activities on the second with assistance and support, I have out by answering phones during the floor included a touch tank, a become familiar with the multiple and What’d Ya Know program. planetarium, rock slicing, and a varied roles that I play in the demonstration of ‘Red Hot Magma’. department. The next event took place over This is just a fraction of the activities Halloween weekend. Brian Rasley that delighted the young and young at The Department of Chemistry and headed down to Salcha to participate heart. There was a huge community Biochemistry continues to view in their Fall Carnival again this year. turn out and we couldn’t have done it outreach events as an important part He was assisted by Zac Carlson, without all of our enthusiastic Mary Curry, Sigourney Walker, volunteers. Thank you. Despite Kyung Ha Kim, Micah Simmerman some frazzled moments, we did it! I and Talal Ahmed. This group am looking forward to working with entertained the Salcha crowd by you all again next year. making slime, handing out UV beads, and demonstrating Memory Wire, This year has held some exciting among other things. outreach successes. It has been an honor to work with a group so We rounded out the year with our dedicated to the community that we biggest event, the 18th annual Science serve.