Students Needed for the EPA Summer Program

We need your help in recruiting current 7^th grade students in the Washington, DC Metro area, including Maryland and Virginia, for the 2009, Student Environmental Development Program (SEDP). SEDP is a fun, no cost, science based, academic enrichment, summer environmental leadership development program for culturally diverse rising eighth grade students in underserved, low income, inner city neighborhoods and surrounding areas, in Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Wilmington, Delaware, and a new 2009 program scheduled for Wheeling, West Virginia. The SEDP website is:

http://www.epa.gov/region03/ee/sedp.htm

The dates for the 2009, Washington, D.C. SEDP are July 7 through August 13, and it is tentatively scheduled to be held at George Washington University.

There is no cost to participate in SEDP. Students participate in hands-on learning activities and fieldtrips, receive a small prorated stipend during the program and at Graduation, as well as, METRO passes and or tokens to facilitate their daily commute.Please visit the website for the application and more info.

Thank you for your help in this worthwhile effort,

Larry A. Brown

Team Leader, Environmental Information, Education, Inreach and Outreach
Team Office of Public Affairs Environmental Protection Agency 1650 Arch Street Philadelphia, Pa 19103
(215) 814-5527    Fax (215) 814-5102
www.epa.gov/enviroed

All entries must be received by Monday, April 6, 2009

National Chemistry Week
NCW-2008 Theme: "Having a Ball with Chemistry"
Celebrate: October 19-25, 2008

2008 is an Olympic year, and this year's National Chemistry Week theme is "Having a Ball with Chemistry," and will focus on chemistry and sports with an emphasis on chemistry/chemical principles or concepts in different sports and sporting equipment.

Each year the American Chemical Society's (ACS) National Chemistry Week (NCW) campaign reaches millions of people with positive messages about the contributions of chemistry to their daily lives. It is the one time during the year that chemists, regardless of background, unite with the common goal of spreading the word that chemistry is good for our economy, our health, and our well-being.

The Chemical Society of Washington (CSW), along with the ACS Office of Community Activities, is planning several NCW events. We would like to expand the number of events and their locations this year, but in order to do that we need you. More volunteers are needed for this outreach activity. Some ways that you can contribute to the NCW campaign are: performing chemical demonstrations at a neighborhood school; conducting hands-on activities with children at museums, malls, or libraries; or writing articles or letters to the editor of your local paper. If you would like to lead an activity at your local school or library, CSW will provide you with some grade specific materials to hand out to the students, as well as some simple demonstrations that you could use.

As part of the NCW 2008 celebration, CSW will be sponsoring a local NCW poster contest. All entries must be received by the local NCW coordinator no later than Monday, October 27, 2008. Winning entries from each grade category will be forwarded to the ACS for the national competition. Additional information on the poster contest, as well as NCW, is available on the ACS web site (www.acs.org/ncw ).

More information about local activities will be posted the CSW web site (www.csw-acs.org ) as they become available. For further information, or to volunteer to help at one of these events, contact the CSW NCW coordinator, Kim M. Morehouse via e-mail at Kim.Morehouse@FDA.HHS.GOV or by phone at 301-436-1889 (day) or 301-384-7311 (evening).

Chemagination!

Chemagination 2006 Report

Mentors Wanted!

The U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad
A Program Sponsored by the American Chemical Society
Invites You to Apply for the Mentor Position

Local High School Students Receive Research Grants through Project SEED

CSW is looking for Mentors for high school students during the Summer 2008

If you wish to help the Chemistry profession, submit a proposal for a student research project. Three 2007 mentors will be applying again to Project SEED with new proposals for bright but economically disadvantaged high school students that have one year or more of chemistry. Research projects may be in many forms but must be accomplished in 8-10 weeks. It can be a part of a larger project, but must be suitable for a student with minimal science background. Project SEED is a program administered by the ACS that offers a unique opportunity to spend a summer conducting hands-on research with a scientist in an academic, a government or an industrial laboratory setting. Students are awarded a $2,500.00 fellowship. Working together provides both student and mentor a rewarding partnership, school references, learning of new analytical techniques, opportunities for developing creativity, writing skills, and paid work within the science field. Help start a person on a path to help the world through a profession in Chemistry. For more details contact: Projectseed@acs.org Research project proposals are due in early February 2008.

Interested in being a mentor? Please contact the CSW Project SEED Committee so we can represent you.

• Dr. Walter R. Benson, WBenson270@aol.com
• Dr. Anne Leslie, aleslieipm@aol.com
• Rolf Renner, westriverpoet@yahoo.com

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Through the efforts of CSW's Project SEED volunteers, three local students were recently awarded Project SEED grants to perform chemical research in the DC Metropolitan area. The American Chemical Society's Project SEED Summer I program provides $2,500 fellowship to economically disadvantaged students to participate in summer research at an academic, government, or industrial laboratory. An important feature of the Project SEED program is its emphasis on career development and its motivation of students to pursue higher education in the natural sciences.

• Miss Caroline Jackson, a 2007 graduate of Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, was selected to perform chemical research at George Mason University, Dept of Environmental Sciences and Policy. She will work under the direction of Dr. Changwoo Ahn who is investigating the "Characterization of an ecosystem development in a created wetland in Northern Virginia case of North Fork mitigation bank." Dr.Changwoo Ahn has served as a mentor for many years. Although the ACS provides no monetary compensation for researchers who work with SEED students, Dr.Ahn feels that helping students is worth the effort.
  
  Miss Caroline Jackson was nominated to do research with Project SEED by Ms. V. Colbert, chemistry teacher at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in the Washington, DC. She was encouraged to take technically interesting subjects in a school club by her guidance counselor, Mrs. Vernita Jefferson, among others. She is taking engineering courses at a university in the fall of 2007 based on her success in a school club.
  
  
• Mr. Jun Mo Wang, Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, was selected to perform chemical research at Geogetown University Department of Chemistry. He will work under the direction of Dr. Sarah Stoll who is investigating "Hydrothermal Synthesis of Luminescent Copper Crystals." Dr. Sarah Stoll, a member of the ACS, has served as a mentor for Project SEED students for several years. She has launched several students into a chemistry based career.
  
  Mr. Jun Mo Wang was nominated to do research with Project SEED by Ms. V. Colbert, chemistry teacher at Banneker Academic High School. Mr Wang was also encouraged by the US Dept. of Energy as a 2006 summer web designer employee and by Mrs. Jernita Jefferson, guidance counselor.
  
  
• Mr. Dien Nguyen, a 2007 graduate of High Point High School, has been selected to perform chemical research at Agriculture Research Service's USDA Fruit Laboratory in Beltsville, MD. He will work under the direction of Dr. Shiow Y. Wang who is investigating Antioxidant Capacity in Berry Fruit. Dr. Shiow Y. Wang has served as a mentor for many years but this is her first Project SEED student. Mr. Dien Nguyen was nominated to do research with Project SEED by Mrs. Yuanjun Liu, chemistry teacher at High Point High School in Prince Georges County. She was encouraged by members of the ACS local section (CSW) who attended with her and her team of students the University of Maryland's annual competition for high school students, Chemathon.