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Monthly Meeting ACS President-Elect Joseph S. Francisco to Speak at the Brookline Holiday Inn 2009 Chair’s Statement By E. Joseph Billo Summer Scholar Report Chemical Weathering Along the Greenland Ice Sheet Margin By Sam Beal, Wheaton College Weinberg Lecture Report Biotech Leader Calls for More Aggressive Fact-gathering in Clinical Research By Robert Levy 9OU´LL ½ND THE WHOLE LABORATORY SCIENCE COMMUNITY HERE
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2 The Nucleus January 2009 The Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society, Inc. Contents Office: Marilou Cashman, 23 Cottage St., Natick, MA 01360. 1-800-872-2054 Notable New England Chemists 4 (Voice or FAX) or 508-653-6329. ______e-mail: mcash0953(at)aol.com Part 3: from Myron S. Simon Any Section business may be conducted 2009 Chair’s Statement 4 via the business office above. NESACS Homepage: ______http://www.NESACS.org By E. Joseph Billo David Cunningham, Webmaster Monthly Meeting 5 ACS Hotline, Washington, D.C.: ______1-800-227-5558 Joseph S. Francisco, ACS President-Elect to Speak, “Everything Flows, Officers 2009 Nothing Stands Still:” A Future for the Chemical Sciences Chair: Announcements 6,11 Dr. E. Joseph Billo ______13 Shattuck Street NSYCC Brewing Competition, Aula Laudis request for nominations, Natick, MA 01760 508-653-3074, joseph.billo(at)verizon.net Grants-in-Aid Chair-Elect: Reports 6,14 John McKew ______Wyeth Research Connections to Chemistry, Northeast Regional Undergraduate Day 200 Cambridge Park Drive James Flack Norris Award Introductory Remarks 7 Cambridge, MA 02140 ______Immediate Past Chair: By Morton Z. Hoffman Marietta Schwartz Summer Scholar Report 8 Chemistry Department, UMass-Boston Boston, MA 02125 ______617-287-6146; marietta.schwartz(at)umb.edu Chemical Weathering along the Greenland Ice Sheet Margin Secretary: By Sam Beal, Wheaton College, Norton, MA Michael Singer 12th Annual Weinberg Memorial Lecture Report 10 Sigma-Aldrich ______3 Strathmore Rd., Natick, MA 01360 By Robert Levy 508-651-8151X291; msinger(at)sial.com Request for Nominations by NEIC 12 Treasurer: ______James Piper 19 Mill Rd., Harvard, MA 01451 For 2009 Secondary School Chemistry Teacher Award 978-456-3155, piper28(at)attglobal.net January Historical Events in Chemistry 13 Auditor: ______Anthony Rosner By Leopold May Archivist: NESACS Committee Chairs for 2009 15 Myron S. Simon ______20 Somerset Rd. Photos from the 2009 Norris Award Meeting 16 Newton, MA 02465; 617-332-5273 ______Romysimon(at)mindspring.com Cover: Trustees: NESACS 2009 Chair, Dr. E. Joseph Billo (Photo by Gary Gilbert) Joseph A. Lima, Esther A. H. Hopkins, Deadlines: Michael E. Strem March 2009 Issue: January 12, 2009 Councilors Alternate Councilors April 2009 Issue: February 13, 2009 Term Ends 12/31/2009 Catherine Costello Julia H.Miwa Patricia Mabrouk Alfred Viola Michaeline F. Chen Jerry P. Jasinski Dorothy J. Phillips Eva B. Binnun Amy Tapper Barney Grubbs The Nucleus is published monthly, except June and August by the Northeastern Section of the American Term Ends 12/31/2010 Chemical Society, Inc. Forms close for advertising on the 1st of the month of the preceding issue. Text Thomas R. Gilbert Timothy B. Frigo must be received by the editor six weeks before the date of issue. Pamela Nagafuji Mark Froimowitz Robert Lichter David Cunningham Editor: Michael P. Filosa, Ph.D., ZINK Imaging, Inc., 16 Crosby Drive, Building 4G, Michael Singer Erik Rozners Bedford, MA 01730 Email: Michael.filosa(at)zink.com; Tel: 508-843-9070 Term Ends 12/31/2011 Associate Editors: Myron S. Simon, 20 Somerset Rd., W. Newton, MA 02465, Tel: 617-332-5273 Doris I. Lewis C. Jaworek-Lopes Sheila E Rodman, Konarka Techologies Inc., 116 John St. Suite 12, Lowell, MA Mary Burgess Patrick M. Gordon 01852 email:srodman(at)konarka.com tel 978-569-1414 Morton Z. Hoffman Lawrence Scott Board of Publications: David Cunningham (Chair), Mary Mahaney, Vivian K. Walworth Michael P. Filosa Donald Rickter Kathi Brown Liming Shao Business Manager: Karen Piper, 19 Mill Rd., Harvard, MA 01451, Tel: 978-456-8622 Advertising Manager: Vincent J. Gale, P.O. Box 1150, Marshfield, MA 02050, All Chairs of standing Tel: 781-837-0424 Committees, the editor Contributing Editors: Morton Hoffman, Feature Editor; Dennis Sardella, Book Reviews of THE NUCLEUS, and Calendar Coordinator: Sheila Rodman, email: srodman(at)konarka.com the Trustees of Section Photographers: Morton Z. Hoffman and James Phillips Funds are members of the Board of Directors. Any Proofreaders: Donald O. Rickter, Myron S. Simon, Vivian K. Walworth, E. Joseph Billo, Councilor of the American Chemical Society Stefan G. Koenig residing within the section area is an ex officio Webmaster: David Cunningham, webmaster(at)nesacs.org member of the Board of Directors. Copyright 2008, Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society, Inc. The Nucleus January 2009 3 Notable New 2009 Corporate Patrons ($2000+) Abbott Bioresearch Genzyme England Chair’s Lyophilization Service of New England Merck National ACS Chemists Statement Novartis By Myron S. Simon Pfizer By Joe Billo Schering Corporation Parker Cleaveland Greetings to all former, current, and Sepracor 1780-1858 future NESACS members! And there Serono Reproductive Institute are a lot of you – well over 6000 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Parker Cleaveland was born in Row- Wyeth Pharmaceuticals ley, Mass. He entered Harvard College chemists at last count. The section in 1795, had Aaron Dexter as his membership covers all walks of life, Patrons ($1000-$1999) teacher in chemistry, and graduated in from industry to academia and every- Aptuit 1799. In 1805 he was appointed Pro- thing in between, as well as people at Astra-Zeneca R&D Boston fessor of Mathematics and Natural Phi- all career stages, from college students Broad Institute losophy at Bowdoin College, began to to retired chemists. I am looking for- Creagen Biosciences ward to my year as Section Chair, and teach when he was scarcely twenty- Estate of Wallace Gleekman hope that you all will continue to par- five years old, and continued without Irix Pharmaceuticals ticipate fully in the variety of NESACS intermission until his death. Cleaveland Millennium Pharmaceuticals activities that will be taking place over PCI Synthesis began voluntary lectures in chemistry the next twelve months. During my Shasun USA and mineralogy in 1808 and at first time as program chair and chair-elect, I Sirtris Pharmaceuticals called upon Aaron Dexter for assistance have continued to explore possible col- Strem Chemicals in constructing furnaces and procuring laborations with area special-interest ZINK Imaging apparatus. Subsequently he secured groups, and am pleased to report that Ziopharm Oncology, Inc. apparatus devised by Robert Hare, and BAGIM (the Boston Area Group for used this kind, ponderous as it was, for Donors ($300-$999) Informatics and Modeling) has ex- many years. One reason he gave for Cambridge-Major Laboratories pressed an interest in formally allying declining to deliver popular lectures Medicilon Inc themselves with NESACS in a manner after 1818 was the necessity of trans- Occidental similar to that of the Medicinal Chem- porting his apparatus by an ox-team. In Organix istry Group. We are also looking into 1820 the Medical School of Bowdoin Peptech Corp the formation of a local Silver Circle College was established and Parker Royal Society of Chemistry group for retired chemists, and former Cleaveland was appointed Professor of SAFC Pharma section chair Pam Mabrouk is explor- Chemistry and Materia Medica. He SAPA-NE ing the possibility of creating a local was soon made Dean of the School. In branch of the Women Chemists’ Com- 1828 his title was changed to Professor mittee. There is a lot going on this year! you with your thoughts and ideas. of Chemistry and Mineralogy. By NESACS as a whole is a vibrant What would make YOU come to a accident he had found some sparkling and active section. This past year, the monthly meeting? Would a different minerals and failing to get satisfactory section received three ChemLuminary day be better? Different time? Differ- information about them from Chaptal’s awards at the national meeting in ent format? We need your perspective; “Chemistry” (the only book available, August, and was runner-up for three after all, it is your section! and still in the library at Bowdoin Col- more. This is an amazing accomplish- You can keep track of upcoming lege), he sent them to Aaron Dexter, ment, and a great deal of credit goes to events by reading The Nucleus. You who not only named them but added the section members responsible for can also check the section website other specimens. This incident was the organizing the relevant activities and (newly redesigned) at http://www. beginning of Parker Cleaveland’s putting together the award packets. nesacs.org for breaking news (as well career as a mineralogist. He wrote a NESACS has a long history of out- as to read The Nucleus in PDF format “Treatise on Mineralogy and Geology” standing service, and I hope to con- when you can’t find your paper copy). in 1816, which made him famous the tinue that practice in the next year. You can also read our outstanding blog world over. This book is of peculiar Currently, attendance at the at http://blog.nesacs.org/. I hope to see interest to chemists because in it monthly section meetings averages less more and more of you attending the chemical composition of minerals is than 50 members. We are exploring many and varied events that we offer, the basis of arrangement. His continu- ways to make meetings more attrac- and wish you all the best in the upcom- ous service of a half century exerted a N continued on page 14 tive. I would love to hear from any of ing year.
4 The Nucleus January 2009 Monthly Meeting Biography The 893rd Meeting of the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society Thursday – January 15, 2009 Holiday Inn, 1200 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA. 4:30 pm Board Meeting 5:30 pm Social Hour 6:30 pm Dinner 7:45 pm Evening Meeting Dr. E. Joseph Billo, 2009 NESACS Chair, presiding Joseph S. Francisco completed his Evening Lecture: Dr. Joseph Francisco, 2009 President-Elect, undergraduate studies in Chemistry at American Chemical Society, “Everything Flows, Nothing Stands the University of Texas at Austin with Still”: A Future for the Chemical Sciences honors, and he received his Ph.D. in Chemical Physics at the Massachusetts Dinner reservations should be made no later than noon, Thursday, January 8, Institute of Technology in 1983. Fran- 2009. Please call or fax Marilou Cashman at 800-872-2054 or e-mail at cisco spent 1983-1985 as a Research Mcash0953(at)aol.com. Please specify vegetarian. Reservations not cancelled at Fellow at Cambridge University in least 24 hours in advance must be paid. Members, $30; Non-members, $35; England, and then returned to MIT as a Retirees, $20; Students, $10. Provost Postdoctoral Fellow. In 1986 THE PUBLIC IS INVITED he was appointed Assistant Professor Directions at Wayne State University. In 1991 he From the Mass Pike East/Route 90: was a Visiting Associate in Planetary Take the Mass Pike East to exit 18, Allston/Cambridge, the exit will be on the Science at California Institute of Tech- left. Bear right, following signs towards Cambridge. Turn right on to Storrow nology. He accepted an appointment as Drive. Follow Storrow Drive to the Boston University exit. Off the exit follow Professor of Chemistry and Earth & Carlton Street approximately one block to Commonwealth Avenue and turn Atmospheric Sciences at Purdue Uni- right. Follow Commonwealth Avenue west and turn left at the second traffic versity in January 1995, and in 2006 light onto Saint Paul Street. The hotel is six blocks down on the left, on the cor- was appointed the William E. Moore ner of Beacon Street and Saint Paul Street Distinguished Professor of Earth and From 93 North or South: Atmospheric Science and Chemistry at Take Exit 26, Storrow Drive. Follow Storrow Drive to the Kenmore Square exit, Purdue University. the exit will be on the left. Off the exit, turn right at the first light onto Beacon Dr. Francisco has received a St. The hotel is one mile up on the right at 1200 Beacon St. National Science Foundation Presiden- The Holiday Inn is conveniently located at the Green C Line “St. Paul Street” T tial Young Investigator Award, an Stop. Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, and a Parking Camille and Henry Dreyfus Founda- Meter parking is available on Beacon Street as well as Holiday Inn garage park- tion Teacher-Scholar Award. He has ing (It is $6 for unlimited parking. Guests can pick up a voucher from the hotel received the National Organization for N and pay when they leave.) the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers Outstanding Teacher Award. In 1993, energy-requires skilled scientists work- Dr. Francisco was a recipient of a John ABSTRACT ing together. Do we have that new Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, which workforce and its leadership that are he spent at the Jet Propulsion Labora- Societal and financial drivers are push- capable of working with and across tory at the California Institute of Tech- ing U.S. chemical enterprises to go different cultures to tackle these global nology. He received an American global. But what does globalization societal challenges? The U.S. has been continued on page 16 mean for the domestic employee in a leader in the fields of chemistry and terms of job security and early retire- chemical engineering because of its compromising our leadership in dis- ment? The solution to a number of commitment to and strength in covery and innovation. I will lay out my vision for how the chemical enter- global issues-such as clean water, research and innovation. However, N global climate change, and sustainable declining funds for basic research are prise can address these challenges. The Nucleus January 2009 5 NSYCC Connections Honor an Brewing to Chemistry Outstanding By Ruth Tanner Competition The Ninth Annual Connections to High School Chemistry program took place at We wish to thank all the scientists (and Burlington High School (Burlington, Teacher friends) from across the Northeastern MA) on Thursday, October 16th, 3:30– Section Younger Chemists Committee, 8:00 PM. Each registrant participated The Aula Laudis society was created as well as NSYCC who attended our in two of the four different scheduled by the section to honor outstanding first event of the semester, a beer-tast- workshops. These included a workshop teachers who teach in our geographical ing at Cambridge Brewing Company on forensics, a pharmacy workshop, a area. Awardees are selected for dis- (http:// www.cambrew.com, One National Chemistry Week workshop playing any of several criteria, includ- Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA). on baseballs, and a computer workshop Lead Brewster Megan Parisi was ing teaching Avery-Ashdown winners, for searching several data bases for publishing articles in Journals such as J very willing to entertain all questions high school chemistry information and from the attendees while providing CHEM ED or NEACT JOURNAL, for the Journal of Chemical Education. leading workshops for colleagues, or insightful commentary on the beers, The computer workshop was led by approaching retirement after many both on and off the tasting list. We Liana Lamont, the Assistant Editor of years in the high-school classroom. We wish to thank Megan and owner Phil the Journal of Chemical Education, will be pleased to send a complete list Bannatyne for arranging this excellent from the Department of Chemistry at of possible criteria if requested. event. the University of Wisconsin-Madison. If you know of such a high-school In the spirit of our fall event, we Registrants, totaling 114, were from teacher, please feel free to contact the are planning a friendly brewing compe- high schools in five different states: selection committee with a half-page or tition among amateur scientist-brewers! Massachusetts, Maine, New Hamp- more description of their contribution. Because so many of our colleagues shire, Connecticut and Rhode Island. It may be sent to [email protected], showed such an interest in brewing Dr. Thomas Lane, President-Elect of the committee chair. beer, we’ve decided to host a contest. the ACS and Director of Global Sci- We’re calling on the home-brew- ence and Technology Outreach at Dow Awardees each year are given a plaque ers and beer-aficionados among us to and are guests of the Section at the Corning Corporation, welcomed the N show their stuff. This will be a social participants on behalf of the American annual awards dinner in May. event where brewers and non-brewers Chemical Society and Steve Lantos, will be welcome. Details on the Chair of the NESACS High School to rethink our traditional education upcoming NSYCC Brewhaha will be Education Committee, welcomed the models. He stressed that competency forthcoming, including the require- participants on behalf of NESACS. is no longer the ticket to success; it is ments and fees for entry, dates, judging Dr. Lane gave the evening address simply the price of admission. To be criteria and prizes, so please keep an entitled And Now for Something Com- successful, we must be masters of what eye on our website, www.nsycc.org. pletely Different. He discussed the his- were once the softer skills, but what The current plan is to hold this tory of research at Dow Corning are now, in fact, the Essential Skills. competition in early April 2009. So,º through the good times and the bad His address was followed by our plan your brewing accordingly! Feel times. As the essential component in traditional raffle of American Chemi- free to email any comments or ques- the survival and growth of Dow Corn- cal Society items and subscriptions to tions about the event to leland.johnson N ing, he stressed the continuing faith the Journal of Chemical Education (2 (at)nsycc.org. and backing of the management of the of which were donated by the Journal) company in the research efforts and and memberships in CTC (Chemistry creativity of its chemists. Teacher Connection). In addition, He reminded us that the chal- Thomas Lane donated 5 Visa cards Looking for seminars N lenges and demands are high given that worth $100 each for the raffle. in the Boston area? chemistry supports 25% of the US Check out the GDP. Jobs are increasingly more com- Your one-stop source to career-related plex and require new and more highly links in the Chemical Sciences NESACS Calendar developed skills, as well as better- www.nesacs.org/seminars trained and educated workers. He told WWW.NESACS.ORG/CAREERS the high school-Chemistry teachers that they are the front line and we need
6 The Nucleus January 2009 Mort Hoffman’s Introductory Remarks The James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry Presented at the November 13, 2008 Monthly Meeting of NESACS Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. and universities were becoming cisco meeting in April 1992, which It is very appropriate that the 2008 increasingly more poorly prepared in was followed by a paper in the Journal James Flack Norris Award for Out- chemistry and mathematics, which of Chemical Education. standing Achievement in the Teaching resulted in a dramatic increase in the The collaborative nature of PLTL of Chemistry, which is being made in percent of poor grades in general and led to the organization of partnerships recognition of the creation of a peda- organic chemistry and the resulting with other institutions. Jack Kampmeier gogy of teamwork among students, is dropout rate. David Gosser at CCNY introduced PLTL into the sophomore being given to a collaborative team: a concluded that there was something organic chemistry course at Rochester, team of educators that has worked wrong with the way chemistry was and Pratibha Varma-Nelson, (and later together as leaders in the creation, being taught at the tertiary level, and as chair of the chemistry department at development, implementation, and dis- saw the possibility of enhancing stu- Northeastern Illinois University), semination of the Peer-Led Team dents’ understanding through their applied the pedagogic technique to the Learning Workshop model (or PLTL) greater participation in the educational general/organic/biochemistry (GOB) for the teaching of chemistry and, by process and the development of leader- course. Together, the three emerged as extension, biology, physics, mathemat- ship skills. In the early 1990s, he the de facto leadership team that soon ics, and many other subjects. I am per- introduced the Workshop model into included another 10 or so schools in sonally very pleased and honored to his classroom, and spoke about it at the implementation of PLTL. have been asked to introduce the win- ACS national meetings and other Significantly, the PLTL Workshop ners of this award. They are my per- chemical education forums. A quick model was chosen in 1995 by NSF as sonal friends and colleagues, and were scan of the collection of programs one of the five systemic change initia- the role models for my own application from those ACS meetings in my office tives to receive significant funding for of PLTL to general chemistry at B.U., shows an early paper in the Division of its further development and dissemina- which I was able to demonstrate at this Chemical Education by Gosser with tion. In the opinion of many in the same forum in 2005 when I was fortu- Woodward and Weiner at the San Fran- Continued on page 14 nate to be presented with the Norris Award. The honorees tonight are David K. Gosser, Jr., Professor of Chemistry at the City College of the City University of New York; Jack A. Kampmeier, Pro- fessor of Chemistry Emeritus at the University of Rochester; and Pratibha Varma-Nelson, Professor of Chemistry and Executive Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Indiana University-Purdue University Indi- anapolis. As with many educational devel- opments, PLTL was created in response to a real need. Some of you may remember that through the decade of the 1980s, the number of undergrad- uate students majoring in chemistry decreased significantly, such that Paul Gassman, the president of the ACS in 1990, predicted that the needs of industry and academia would soon out- strip the supply of qualified chemists from domestic academic programs in chemistry. At the same time, the stu- dents who were entering our colleges
The Nucleus January 2009 7 Summer Scholar Report
Chemical Weathering along the Greenland Ice Sheet Margin Sam Beal, Department of Chemistry, Wheaton College, Norton, MA Introduction The products of Equation 2 are then carried by rivers to the ocean where they can be used by marine organisms to form Chemical weathering is vital to life in two basic ways: it breaks down rock surfaces to provide the minerals for soil, biogenic carbonate, with a molecule of carbon dioxide as a and it regulates global temperature over geologic time by byproduct (Eq. 3): removing carbon from the atmosphere.1,2,3,4 Chemical 2+ - ↔ weathering is defined as a “spontaneous thermodynamic Ca (aq) + 2HCO3 (aq) CaCO3 (s) + CO2 (aq) + H2O (l) process” involving the reaction of acidic, oxidizing waters (3) 5 with minerals contained in rocks and soils. The ionic and The degassing of the molecule of carbon dioxide formed aqueous products of chemical weathering cycle major ele- during calcite precipitation (Equation 3) balances with the ments to be incorporated as nutrients in soils. molecule removed from the atmosphere (Equation 2), yield- Crucial to the climate-related role of chemical weather- ing no net change in the amount of carbon dioxide in the ing are the carbonation reactions involving silicate and car- atmosphere. The carbonation of silicate minerals, however, bonate minerals. Carbonation reactions involve the is thought to eventually remove carbon dioxide from the diffusion of atmospheric carbon dioxide into solution to atmosphere-ocean system (Eq. 4): form carbonic acid (Eq. 1):
CaAl2Si2O8 (s) + 2H2CO3 (aq) + H2O (l) ↔ CO2 (aq) + H2O (l) ↔ H2CO3 (aq) (1) 2+ - Ca (aq) + 2HCO3 (aq) + Al2Si2O5(OH)4 (s) This carbonic acid then reacts with the minerals at the (4) Earth’s surface to produce alkalinity and calcium ion in In Equation 4, the mineral anorthite reacts with carbonic solution (Eq. 2, calcite is used as an example): acid to form bicarbonate ions and the secondary clay min- eral kaolinite. Of the two bicarbonate ions formed, each one ↔ 2+ - CaCO3 (s) + H2CO3 (aq) Ca (aq) + 2HCO3 (aq) (2) contains a carbon originally from carbon dioxide, as opposed to only one from calcite in the carbonate carbona-
8 The Nucleus January 2009 tion of Equation 2. Although one of the bicarbonate mole- anion and cation analyses were 4.5 mM Na2CO3 / 1.4 mM cules will be reduced to carbon dioxide in precipitation as in NaHCO3 and 20 mM methanesulfonic acid respectively. A Equation 3, the other bicarbonate will be sequestered into 100-µL sample loop was used for increased sensitivity. marine calcite, effectively removing carbon from the atmos- Concentration values were calculated using standard curves phere-ocean system. It is due to these carbonation reactions with R2 values greater than 0.99. The detection limits were that chemical weathering of carbonates can affect carbon 0.4, 0.25, 0.07, 0.17, 0.48, and 0.15 µM for Na+, K+, Mg2+, 2+ - 2- balances on timescales of the residence time of bicarbonate Ca , Cl , and SO4 respectively. (~100,000 years), but silicate weathering can have longer 5 Results and Discussion term effects on atmospheric carbon dioxide. Major ions are plotted in Figure 1 for each sample to Chemical weathering rates in glacial environments are qualitatively compare major ionic species. Figure 1b shows traditionally thought to be reduced by orders of magnitude that all the sites are relatively balanced between calcium and due to cold temperatures that yield slower reaction rates and 6 the sum of sodium and potassium. This indicates equal the near absence of organic matter, liquid water, and soils. amounts of carbonate and silicate rock denudation, which is However, a direct correlation between physical erosion rates 3 surprising considering the much slower reaction rates of sili- as well as studies that 3 and chemical weathering fluxes, cates compared to carbonates. This near equivalence of show some glaciated areas can produce solute fluxes greater 7 carbonate to silicate may be a result of exhausted carbonate than the global mean indicate that the global contribution of continued on page 17 chemical weathering from glacial environments may be severely underestimated. The ice sheet margin is an impor- tant place to study chemical weathering because this loca- tion encounters great amounts of physical weathering and water discharge. In this research, stream waters from a pre- viously unstudied area of Greenland will be examined to determine the extent and types of chemical weathering that are taking place at the ice sheet margin. Methods A common method of examining a river system for the amounts and types of chemical weathering is to analyze for Figure 1: Ternary plots of (a) anions and (b) cations for the stream waters major ions in solution. Samples were collected during July of 2008 along a roughly 5.4 kilometer stretch of a stream exiting the Greenland Ice Sheet on the southwestern side. Duplicate samples were taken from seventeen sites and stored in acid washed HDPE bottles after filtering through 22-µm mixed ester filters. The cooled samples were trans- ported back to Wheaton College where they were analyzed for alkalinity, the sum of bicarbonate and carbonate concen- trations (in the absence of organic bases), and for the major + + 2+ 2+ - 2- ions Na , K , Mg , Ca , Cl , and SO4 . Alkalinity was determined by potentiometric titration of a 25.00-mL aliquot of sample with 9.436 mM hydrochloric acid, using the Gran method to accurately determine the endpoint. Major ion concentrations were determined using a Dionex ICS-1000 Ion-exchange Chromatography system Figure 2: Major ion concentrations in stream waters as a function with anion and cation specific columns. The eluents for the of distance from the glacial terminus
Table 1: Chemical compositions of stream waters
The Nucleus January 2009 9 Biotech Leader Calls for More Aggressive Fact-gathering in Clinical Research The 12th Annual Andrew H. Weinberg Memorial Lecture, April 9, 2008 by Robert Levy (Reprinted with permission by the Dana Farber Cancer Institute) hit minute bull’s eyes in tumor cells, mysteries of cancer “remains a huge “the pace of progress in developing technical problem, but nothing more new therapies for patients is not satis- than that,” he said. factory,” biotech company president While physicians have effective David R. Parkinson, MD, told an over- treatments for some rapidly growing flow crowd in a Smith building confer- tumors, progress against slow-growing ence room at the 12th Andrew H. tumors has itself been disappointingly Weinberg Memorial Lecture on April slow. Measured against the scale of the 9. Then he offered some ideas for pick- effort to understand and defeat cancer, ing up the tempo. the output of new therapies has been Noting that in just 50 years, oncol- inadequate, Parkinson commented, James Weinberg (L), father of Andrew ogists have gone from believing that echoing a critique often voiced inside Weinberg, for whom the lecture is named, some people have “cancer-prone per- and outside the world of cancer sci- and David Parkinson (Photo by Sam sonalities” to knowing the genes that ence. Ogden) underlie many forms of the disease, Case in point, although more can- Parkinson said that cancer is today cer drugs were approved by the U.S. Despite the cavalcade of discoveries understood in purely physical terms, Food and Drug Agency between 1996 about the basic machinery of cancer, rather than the superstitious, mystical and 2005 than during the previous and the creation of molecules able to ideas of an earlier era. Unraveling the decade, the numbers aren’t as high as continued on page 11
10 The Nucleus January 2009 Biotech Leader Natalie Dogal, Stonehill College Grants-in- (Prof. Louis Liotta) 3-(hydroxy - Continued from page 10 methyl)hexahydro-1H-pyrrolizine- they could or should be, Parkinson Aid 1,2,6,7-tetraol synthesis from asserted, adding the problem isn’t con- D-glucose fined to cancer drugs. Last year, for The Education Committee has Henry Kells, University of Massa- example, across the entire spectrum of awarded Grants-in-Aid of $350 each to chusetts Lowell (Prof. Daniel human diseases, only 16 new therapeu- three undergraduates at colleges and Sandman) Polymerization of tic entities gained FDA approval. universities within the Northeastern Ethynylpyridines with Electrophilic “Even though we have great Section to enable them to attend the Carbohydrate Reagents insight at many levels into the biology ACS National Meeting in Salt Lake Applications for the travel stipend are of cancer and the effect of some treat- City, Utah, to present papers at the ments, we haven’t been breaking this accepted from students majoring in Undergraduate Research Poster Ses- chemistry, biochemistry, chemical field open as fast as we’d like,” said sion in the Division of Chemical Edu- Parkinson, who is president and CEO engineering, or molecular biology who cation on Monday, March 23, 2009. are in good standing with at least jun- of San Francisco-based Nodality, Inc., Matching funds have been committed and has tackled the cancer problem as ior status and are currently engaged in by the institutions to support the stu- undergraduate research. Abstracts for an academic and government scientist. dents’ travel. The recipients are also Part of the problem lies in the cur- the Undergraduate Research Poster required to participate in the Northeast Session were required to be submitted rent focus on individual cell compo- Student Chemistry Research Confer- nents – DNA, RNA, and proteins – by electronic transmission to the ACS ence (NSCRC) in May 2009. National Headquarters by October 20, involved in cancer. While this “reduc- N The awardees, their research 2008 (11:59 pm EST). tionist biology” approach has resulted supervisors, and the titles of the papers in the development of targeted thera- are as follows: pies that act against specific genes, it Daniel Abbott overlooks the perhaps more important , Framingham State question of the relationship between College, (Prof. Catherine Dignam) genes. Design and Synthesis of New Chi- In concentrating on the individual ral Diketimine Complexes for “parts” of cell division machinery, Asymmetric Catalysis Parkinson said, cancer biologists are following in the steps of physicists who, in the late 19th century, embarked on a search for the fundamental build- ing blocks of matter, an effort that resulted in the discovery of quarks, leptons, bosons, and the other sub- atomic particles of the quantum world. But just as physicists realized that such a narrow focus was insufficient to understanding the properties of matter, oncologists are coming to recognize that what’s important in cancer is how genes interact with one another. “Studying the role of individual cell components isn’t enough,” Parkin- son said. “We have to get past thinking that the answer lies in creating the right molecule for a single target, and that simply understanding a target is the key to more effective therapies.” In place of this approach, Parkin- son proposed a new, more intensive form of clinical research: using cut- ting-edge technology to glean more precise information about the genetic continued on page 15
The Nucleus January 2009 11
NEW ENGLAND INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTS
Officers: Lisa A. Zuccarelli, Ph.D., President, (401) 341-3158. [email protected] Officers: Lisa A. Zuccarelli, Ph.D., President, (401) 341-3158. lisa.zuccarelli(at)salve.edu Ralph A. Buonopane, Ph.D., Past-President, (781) 762-3078, [email protected]. Ralph A. Buonopane, Ph.D., Past-President, (781) 762-3078, rbuo(at)comcast.net. Timothy L. Rose, Ph.D., Secretary, (978) 369-1567, fax: (978) 369-9575, [email protected]. Timothy L. Rose, Ph.D., Secretary, (978) 369-1567, fax: (978) 369-9575, teerose(at)worldnet.att.net. Jerry Jasinski, Ph.D., Treasurer, (603) 358-2563, fax: (603) 358-2897, [email protected]. Jerry Jasinski, Ph.D., Treasurer, (603) 358-2563, fax: (603) 358-2897, jjasinski(at)keene.edu. www.neichemists.org www.neichemists.org
SECONDARY SCHOOL CHEMISTRY TEACHER AWARD SECONDARY SCHOOL CHEMISTRY TEACHER AWARD REQUEST FOR NOMINATIONS FOR 2009 REQUEST FOR NOMINATIONS FOR 2009 The New England Institute of Chemists (NEIC) is now seeking nominations for its annual The New England Institute of Chemists (NEIC) is now seeking nominations for its annual Secondary School Chemistry Teacher Award. The award recognizes outstanding secondary Secondary School Chemistry Teacher Award. The award recognizes outstanding secondary school chemistry teachers in New England who have also fostered an interest in chemistry through outreachschool chemistry programs andteachers extracurricular in New Englandactivities. who have also fostered an interest in chemistry through outreach programs and extracurricular activities. The candidate must be currently teaching chemistry in a secondary school in one of the six New The candidate must be currently teaching chemistry in a secondary school in one of the six New England States. We are seeking teachers who have encouraged an interest in the field of chemistry England States. We are seeking teachers who have encouraged an interest in the field of chem- through innovative and inspirational teaching, improved the image of chemists and chemistry, promotedistry through extracurricular innovative activitiesand inspirational relevant toteaching, chemistry, improved and offered the image opportunities of chemists to students and chem- who mightistry, promotedotherwise miss extracurricular the "chemistry" activities experience. relevant to chemistry, and offered opportunities to students who might otherwise miss the “chemistry” experience. The awardee will receive a plaque and be honored at the annual NEIC Awards Dinner, which will be The awardee will receive a plaque and be honored at the annual NEIC Awards Dinner, which held this year at Brandeis University on Thursday, April 23, 2009. At the dinner the NEIC also presentswill be heldthe Americanthis year atInstitute Brandeis of UniversityChemists Foundation on Thursday, Student April Award 23, 2009. to outstanding At the dinner college the seniorsNEIC also and presents graduate the studentsAmerican at Institute the departments of Chemists of Foundation chemistry, Student chemical Award engineering, to outstanding and biochemistrycollege seniors from and New graduate England students colleges at andthe departmentsuniversities. of chemistry, chemical engineering, and biochemistry from New England colleges and universities. To facilitate the nomination process, the nominator need only mail or e-mail a letter with the candidate'sTo facilitate mailing the nomination address and process, telephone the nominator number, where need onlyhe/she mail heard or e-mailabout thea letter award, with and the up can- to onedidate’s page mailing describing address why andthe telephonecandidate number,is deserving where of he/shethe award. heard Theabout NEIC the award, will contact and up the to candidateone page directlydescribing to obtain why thesupporting candidate bibliographic is deserving information. of the award. The TheNEIC NEIC State will Council contact and theits committeecandidate directlychairmen to will obtain select supporting the awardee. bibliographic Nominations information. are requested The NEICby March State 1, Council 2009. Theand NEICits committee may, at chairmenits discretion, will selectselect theone awardee. awardee fromNominations each New are England requested state. by March The NEIC 1, 2009. has limitedThe NEIC funds may, available at its discretion,to offset out-of-pocket select one awardeetravel expenses from each to attend New theEngland dinner state. if the awardeeThe NEIC is fromhas limited outside funds the Boston available area. to offsetNominations out-of-pocket should travelbe mailed expenses to Dr. to Lois attend Robblee, the dinner Chairman if the Secondaryawardee is Schoolfrom outside Awards the Committee, Boston area. 101 NominationsBrooksby Village should Drive, be mailed Unit TG408, to Dr. LoisPeabody, Robblee, MA 01960,Chairman or e-mailed Secondary to [email protected] School Awards Committee,. 101 Brooksby Village Drive, Unit TG408, Peabody, MA 01960, or e-mailed to lsrob408(at)verizon.net.
12 The Nucleus January 2009 NEIC Information see www.neichemists.org; sponsorship and gifts contact Mr. Ken Brody at [email protected]. January Historical Events in Chemistry by Leopold May, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC January 1, 1907 on this date, was a researcher in phys- was born on this date. She shared the Aluminum Company of America was ical organic chemistry, the calculation Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medi- (ALCOA) renamed on this date. It of electronic effects in chemistry, and cine in 1988 with James W. Black was founded as the Pittsburgh Reduc- developed the idea of photoaffinity and George H. Hitchings for their tion Company in 1888. labelling of the active site of proteins. discoveries of important principles January 2, 1947 January 16, 1767 for drug treatment. US Atomic Energy Commission took Anders G. Ekeberg, who discovered January 26, 1939 over from the wartime Manhattan tantalum in 1802, was born on this Niels Bohr reported the discovery of Engineer Commission District. date. nuclear fission by Otto Hahn and January 4, 1905 January 18, 1861 Fritz Strassman at Fifth Washington Seventy-five years ago in 1934, Aris- Hans Goldschmidt invented the alu- Conference on Theoretical Chemistry tid V. Grosse isolated protactinium mino-thermite process (Goldschmidt on this date. metal from the pentoxide that he iso- Process) on this day. January 27, 1926 lated in 1927. He was born on this January 20, 1834 Chevron was incorporated on this date. One hundred and seventy-five years date. January 6, 1872 ago, Adolph Frank was born. He January 31, 1963 John V. N. Dorr, inventor and chemi- made calcium cyanamide from cal- The first manuscript on the solid cal engineer, was born on this date. cium carbide and nitrogen in1898. phase synthesis of peptides by R. B. He developed the Dorr classifier for January 21, 1845 Merrifield was received on this date extracting ore, which became a prac- The founder of the Mallinckrodt by the Journal of the American tical method for the separation and Chemical Works, Edward Mallinck- Chemical Society [85, 2149 (1963)]. chemical treatment of fine solids sus- rodt, was born on this day Additional historical events can be pended in liquid. January 23, 1918 found at the CSW website or Dr. January 7, 1941 Gertrude B. Elion who was a May’s website, faculty.cua.edu/may/ N John E. Walker, who was born on this researcher on the synthesis and history.htm. day, studied the amino acid development of therapeutic agents, sequences in protein units of ATP synthetase. He shared the Nobel Prize in 1997 with Paul D. Boyer for eluci- dation of the enzymatic mechanism underlying the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and Jens C. Skou for the first discovery of an ion-trans- porting enzyme, Na+, K+-ATPase. January 10, 1916 Sune K. Bergström, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medi- cine 1982 with Bengt I. Samuelsson and John R. Vane for their discover- ies concerning prostaglandins and related biologically active substances, was born on this date. January 12, 1916 Ruth R. Benerito, who was the first woman to win the Southern Chemist Award for research in cotton chem- istry, was born on this day. January 14, 1895 Armstrong World Industries incorpo- rated as Armstrong Cork Co. on this day. January 15, 1912 Frank H. Westheimer, who was born The Nucleus January 2009 13 Northeast Notable Chemists Mort Hoffman Intro Continued from page 4 Continued from page 7 Regional wholesome, stabilizing influence on chemical education community, the New England chemistry. Workshop model has been, by far, the most successful of the systemic change Undergrad - Oliver Payson Hubbard initiatives. The project received a 1809-1900 National Dissemination Award from uate Day Oliver Payson Hubbard was born in NSF in 1999 and again in 2003. It is Pomfret, Conn. After two years of estimated that currently 1500-2000 The Fifteenth Annual ACS Northeast study at Hamilton College, he entered peer leaders are engaged on more than Regional Undergraduate Day was held Yale College and graduated in 1828. 150 college and university campuses to at Simmons College on Saturday, While at Yale he studied chemistry facilitate workshops for more than November 1, 2008. It was attended by under Benjamin Silliman. The chair of 20,000 students per year in chemistry, 67 students from colleges and universi- chemistry in Dartmouth College was biology, physics, mathematics, and ties including Baldwin-Wallace College abolished in 1835— perhaps to settle a computer science, and possibly many (Ohio), Boston University, Bunker Hill religious controversy. However, it was other subjects. Community College, Gordon College, re-established the next year, and Hub- We honor this evening the creators Keene State College, Massachusetts bard was made Professor of Chemistry, and leaders of a national partnership of College of Pharmacy and Health Sci- Pharmacy, Mineralogy and Geology. faculty, learning specialists, and peer ences, Simmons College, Stonehill He taught chemistry and allied subjects leaders that have worked together to College, Suffolk University, University in Dartmouth College until 1883— help students build conceptual under- of Connecticut, University of Massa- nearly fifty years. standing and problem-solving skills in chusetts – Amherst, University of Ver- Hubbard was one of Silliman’s their science and mathematics courses. mont, Wellesley College, and private students and laboratory assis- For those who are not yet acquainted Worcester State College. tants. Of him Silliman says,”—“his with the technique, let me say that the An inspirational keynote address knowledge of science in all the model introduces a new structure, the by John Warner entitled “Green Chem- branches that belonged to the depart- peer-led workshop, where students istry: Designing a Sustainable Future ment qualified him to render efficient work together in groups to solve chal- with Beakers and Flasks” started the assistance.” He married Silliman’s lenging problems that have been day. He challenged undergraduates, as daughter. When Hubbard came to designed by the faculty in order to the future of chemistry, to incorporate Dartmouth he not only brought a mind engage them with the subject material the principls of green chemistry into and hand trained in good chemistry, and with each other. The team is their daily laboratory practices. but he also transferred the good will of guided by an experienced student, per- Other program highlights included Yale to Dartmouth at a time when Yale haps one who had taken the course ear- research talks, presentations, and pan- was strong and Dartmouth was grow- lier and who is trained to lead the els on applying to Research Experience ing. These men were associated for workshop. In short, PLTL provides an for Undergraduate (REU) programs, several years in many investigations, active learning experience for the stu- and graduate schools, a resumé review e.g., in 1832 in an examination of the dents, a leadership role for the under- session, and a graduate school / indus- eastern part of the United States as a graduate peer leader, and a creative try fair. suitable place for the cultivation of the new dimension to faculty teaching. In the afternoon, student affiliates sugar beet. The pages of Silliman’s Gosser, Kampmeier, and Varma- attended green chemistry outreach Journal contain many articles on indus- Nelson have worked with colleagues to workshops, where they were able to trial and practical chemistry by Oliver formulate and implement the critical perform hydrolysis of polylactic acid P. Hubbard. The two men were mutu- components for successful PLTL pro- cups to make lactic acid soap-scum ally helpful in pharmacy, both being grams, to broaden the dissemination in remover, extraction of orange oil using compelled—- shall we say? —- to chemistry teaching and beyond by liquid carbon dioxide, construction of teach this branch of chemistry. Hub- encouraging PLTL leadership, and to solar cells using blackberry juice, and / bard received an honorary M.D. from develop models for the institutionaliza- or production of soap using biodiesel the South Carolina Medical College in tion of PLTL. N glycerin byproduct. 1837 and an L.L.D. from Hamilton I would like to close this introduc- College in 1861. He was a great help tion by quoting the words of Professor What exactly goes on at NESACS’ to Dartmouth College, especially the George Bodner of Purdue University, monthly Board meetings? Medical School, and throughout his who nominated the team for this long term of service kept chemistry in award: “They have brought the PLTL www.nesacs.org/reports N the foreground. Workshop model from a local continued on page 15
14 The Nucleus January 2009 Biotech Leader NESACS Committee Continued from page 11 makeup of each patient’s tumor, iden- Chairs for 2009 tify different cell types within a single tumor, and determine precisely which Archivist Govt. Relations ones respond to treatment and which Myron Simon are resistant it. The emphasis is on Doris Lewis romysimon(at)mindspring.com learning everything possible from each dlewis(at)suffolk.edu patient and each tumor sample. Awards Committee Local Arrangements Adopting such an approach will Michael Dube Mary Burgess enable researchers to enroll fewer dubem(at)aol.com MbrBURGESS(at)aol.com patients in clinical trials, obtain more Board of Publications Medicinal Chemistry Group nuanced, definitive results, and plan David Cunningham S. B. Rajur, Liming Shao follow-up trials more quickly ¬– pro- david_cunningham(at)uml.edu rrajur(at)creagenbio.com, ducing fewer experimental “dead liming.shao(at)sepracor.com ends” and speeding the development of Budget Committee effective, safe new therapies, Parkin- James Piper Membership son said. “This type of more personal- piper28(at)attglobal.net Michaeline Chen ized therapy is the only way we are Chemical Education mchen(at)wellesley.edu going to move forward.” Ruth Tanner National Chemistry Week The Weinberg lecture was estab- Ruth_Tanner(at)uml.edu Christine Jaworek-Lopes lished by the family of Andrew H. jaworek(at)emmanuel.edu Weinberg, a Dana-Farber patient who Constitution & Bylaws died shortly before his third birthday as Catherine Costello NERM a result of rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cecmsms(at)bu.edu Morton Hoffman muscle tumor. The lectureship is sup- Continuing Education hoffman(at)bu.edu ported by a fund created in 1994 and Alfred Viola Norris Award endowed in 2001 by Weinberg family AViola1(at)comcast.net Morton Hoffman members and friends, the Medicinal hoffman(at)bu.edu Chemistry Group of the Northeastern Esselen Award section of the American Chemical John Neumeyer Professional Relations Society, and Dana-Farber. The fund is neumeyer(at)mclean.harvard.edu Mukund Chorghade dedicated to bringing together scien- Fund-Raising chorghade(at)comcast.net tists from the fields of chemotherapy Dorothy Phillips Project SEED development, biomedical research, and dorothy_j_phillips(at)waters.com Pam Mabrouk clinical care to encourage synergy and N p.mabrouk(at)neu.edu originality in cancer research. Public Relations vacant Mort Hoffman Intro shop model.” PLTL continues to be a national Richards Medal Continued from page 14 partnership that builds on the contribu- Roy Gordon approach to instructional innovation to tions of hundreds of individuals; this gordon(at)chemistry.harvard.edu one of the most respected and highly team of three has provided the essen- Speakers’ Bureau implemented approaches for curricu- tial continuity and leadership, and they vacant lum reform in chemistry across the are recognized for their efforts tonight nation, to the stage where the PLTL by the presentation to them of the 2008 Summerthing model is a sustainable approach to the James Flack Norris Award for Out- Doris Lewis teaching of chemistry that remains in standing Achievement in the Teaching dlewis(at)suffolk.edu place in hundreds of chemistry depart- of Chemistry from the Northeastern Women Chemists ments long after other approaches to Section of the American Chemical Pam Mabrouk innovation have disappeared. I can Society. p.mabrouk(at)neu.edu think of nothing that has transformed Morton Z. Hoffman the teaching of chemistry in the last 15 Younger Chemists Professor Emeritus of Chemistry years more than the work of David N Lee Johnson Boston University N Gosser, Jack Kampmeier, and Pratiba leland.johnson(at)nsycc.org Varma-Nelson with the PLTL Work-
The Nucleus January 2009 15 November Meeting Photos Biography Continued from page 5 (Photos by James Phillips) Association for the Advancement of Science Mentor Award in 1994, and the Percy L. Julian Award for Pure and Applied Research from the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers in 1995. He was a Sigma Xi National Lecturer from 1995 to 1997. In 2007 he was the recipient of the Purdue University McCoy Award; this is the highest research Vivian Walworth - 2008 recipient of the Arno Professor Marilena Hall (R), Stonehill College, Heyn Memorial Book Prize. with her group of PLTL Peer Leaders: (L-R) Ash- award given to a faculty member for ley Lajoie ‘09, Natalie Dogal ‘10, Christopher significant research contributions. He Kelly ‘10, Allison Colthart ‘10, Evan Tallmadge has been elected a Fellow of the Amer- ‘10, Michelle Houle ‘10, and Brian French ’09. ican Physical Society and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was recently awarded an Alexander von Humboldt U.S. Senior Scientist Award by the German government, and was appointed a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Bologna, Italy. Dr. Francisco has been appointed Professor Hannah Sevian, UMass Boston, with Amy Tapper, past NESACS Chair, with Professor to and served on committees for the her post-doctoral associate, Dr. Marilyne Stains. J. Don Smith, UMass Dartmouth, of the Norris National Research Council, National Award Committee. Science Foundation, American Chemi- cal Society, and the National Aeronau- tics and Space Administration. He has been a member of the Naval Research Advisory Committee for the Depart- ment of Navy (appointed by the Secre- tary of the Navy, 1994-1996). He has served as a member of the Editorial Advisory Boards of Spectrochimica Acta Part A, Advances in Environmen- tal Research, Journal of Molecular Structure ( Theochem), and the Journal of Physical Chemistry. He is a co- author of the textbook Chemical Kinet- ics and Dynamics, published by Prentice-Hall. He has also published more than 400 peer-reviewed publica- tions in the fields of atmospheric chemistry, chemical kinetics, quantum chemistry, laser photochemistry and spectroscopy. He served as President of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers from 2005-2007. He has been elected President-Elect of the American Chem- ical Society for 2009, and will become N President in 2010
16 The Nucleus January 2009 DIRECTORY Summer Scholar New Members SERVICES Continued from page 9 6 Invitation to attend a meeting minerals and a predominance of underlying silicate-mineral rich You are cordially invited to attend one bedrock. Figure 1a indicates a signifi- of our upcoming Section meetings as a cant contribution of sulfate to the anion guest of the Section at the social hour load. The presence of sulfate-influ- and dinner preceding the meeting. enced waters can indicate sulfide oxi- Please call Marilou Cashman at dation as a source of acidity in 800-872-2054, 508-653-6329 or: weathering reactions but this requires Mcash(at)aol.com by noon of the first Thursday of the month, letting her further study. N Major ion concentrations, pH, and know that you are a new member. the collection site’s distance from the glacial terminus are presented in Table 1 for each sample site. Preliminary analysis of the results in Table 1 and weathering and CO2 consumption rates Figures 1 and 2 suggest that several deduced from the chemistry of large weathering regimes may be present in rivers. Chemical Geology, 159(1-4), 3- the sampled stream system. Total ion 30. concentrations are very low compared 3 Anderson, S. P. (2007). Biogeochemistry to studies from other glaciers7,8, indi- of glacial landscape systems. Annual cating a strong dilution input by Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 35, 375-399. supraglacial melt water. Of particular 4 interest are the relatively high concen- Berner, R. A., A. C. Lasaga, and R. M. trations of potassium from almost Garrels. (1983). The carbonate-silicate every sample site. A possible explana- geochemical cycle and its effect on atmospheric carbon dioxide over the past tion for these high potassium concen- 100 million years. American Journal of trations is preferential weathering of Science 283, 641-683. sheet silicates (micas). Weathering of 5 Viers, J., Oliva, P., Dandurand, J. L. micas releases potassium from its Dupré, B., & Gaillardet, J. (2003). interlayer site by cation exchange with 9 Chemical Weathering Rates, CO2 Con- protons or metal ions. This process is sumption, and Control Parameters dramatically accelerated when particle Deduced from the Chemical Composi- sizes are small, for instance in fine- tion of Rivers. In Heinrich D. Holland, grain glacial debris, because there is & Karl K. Turekian, Treatise on Geo- greater surface area for ion exchange.9 chemistry, (pp. 1-25). Oxford: Perga- mon. Acknowledgments 6 Tranter, M. (2003). Geochemical Weath- I thank the NESACS and the Nor- ering in Glacial and Proglacial Environ- ris/Richards Summer Research Schol- ments. In Heinrich D. Holland, & Karl arship selection committee immensely K. Turekian, Treatise on Geochemistry, for providing me with this invaluable (pp. 189-205). Oxford: Pergamon. opportunity. I extend many thanks to 7 Anderson, S. P., Drever, J. I., Frost, C. my research and thesis advisor Profes- D., & Holden, P. (2000). Chemical sor Matt Evans, the Wheaton College weathering in the foreland of a retreating Chemistry Department, and Sarah Das glacier. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 64(7), 1173-1189. from Woods Hole Oceanographic 8 Institution. Yde, J. C., Tvis Knudsen, N., & Nielsen, O. B. (2005). Glacier hydrochemistry, References solute provenance, and chemical denuda- 1 White, A. F. (2003). Natural Weathering tion at a surge-type glacier in Kuanner- Rates of Silicate Minerals. In Heinrich suit Kuussuat, Disko Island, West D. Holland, & Karl K. Turekian, Treatise Greenland. Journal of Hydrology, 300(1- on Geochemistry, (pp. 133-168). Oxford: 4), 172-187. Pergamon. 9 McBride, Murray B. Environmental 2 Gaillardet, J., Dupré, B., Louvat, P., & Chemistry of Soils. New York:N Cam- Allègre, C. J. (1999). Global silicate bridge University Press, 1994.
The Nucleus January 2009 17 BUSINESS DIRECTORY SERVICES SERVICES SERVICES
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Jan 23 Calendar Prof. Sam Gellman (Univ. Wisconsin) Looking for seminars TBA Check the NESACS Homepage Boston College, Merkert 130 in the Boston area? 4:00 pm for late additions: Jan 26 Check out the http://www.NESACS.org Prof. John Porco (Boston University) NESACS Calendar Note also the Chemistry Department web TBA pages for travel directions and updates. Brandeis University, Gerstenzang 122 www.nesacs.org/seminars These include: 3:45 pm http://chemserv.bc.edu/seminar.html http://www.bu.edu/chemistry/events/ Prof. Keith Fagnou (University of Ottawa) http://www.chem.brandeis.edu/colloquium.shtml The Eli Lilly Symposium http://www-chem.harvard.edu/events/ TBA http://web.mit.edu/chemistry/ Harvard, Pfizer Lecture Hall www.chem.neu.edu/web/calendar/index.html 4:00 pm http://chem.tufts.edu/seminars.html [CHEM.] Jan 27 http://ase.tufts.edu/chemical/seminar.htm Prof. Mary Beth Williams (Penn State) [CHEM. ENGG.] TBA http://www.chem.umb.edu/ Boston College, Merkert 130 www.umassd.edu/cas/chemistry/seminars.cfm 4:00 pm www.uml.edu/Dept/Chemistry/speakers.html http://www.unh.edu/chemistry/seminars.html Jan 29 Jan 21 Jun Ye, JILA (University of Colorado) TBA Prof. Hao Yan (Arizona State Univ.) Harvard, Pfizer Lecture Hall TBA 4:00 pm MIT, 6-120 4:00 pm Prof. Joe Belbruno (Dartmouth College) Jan 22 TBA University of New Hampshire, Iddles L103 Prof. Hee Cheul Choi (Pohang Univ.Science & 11:10 am Technology, South Korea) TBA Notices for The Nucleus Boston College, Merkert 130 Calendar of Seminars 4:00 pm should be sent to: Prof. Amos B. Smith (Univ. Pennsylvania) George Buchi Lecture in Organic Chemistry: Sheila E Rodman TBA 250 Kennedy Drive MIT, 6-120 Unit #403, Malden, MA 02148. N 4:00 pm E-MAIL: serodman(at)hotmail.com