Department
of Chemistry
Undergraduate
Advising Office
Orbitals
104 Chemistry
Building
Issue 144
The Department of Chemistry threw open its doors to
the community on Saturday
as it held the annual Chemistry Open House and Science
Exploration Gallery to celebrate National Chemistry
Week. Hundreds of people,
some of whom drove from
hours away, attended the
event designed to showcase
the wonder of chemistry.
Important Dates:
●
October 19, 2009
Chemistry Open House Held October 17
979-845-0520
●
What’s Happening in Chemistry Circles
The Q-drop
deadline is
November 6
The College
of Science
December
graduation
will take
place Friday,
December 18
at 7:00 p.m.
Inside this
issue:
Spring Registration
2
Kayla Lammert
and Dr. Romo
Receive College
Awards
3
ACS News
4
Group).
Other student groups that led
activities included CHEM116
students and TAs, PLU
(Chemistry Graduate Student
Honor Society), AIChE,
BioGSA, Student Engineer’s
Council, Mr. Jose’s chemistry
class from Blinn College, and
the TAMU student chapter of
the American Nuclear Society.
Students and faculty from the
several research groups also
led hands-on activities and
demonstrations, including Dr.
D. Darensbourg, Dr. M.
Darensbourg, Dr. Dunbar, Dr.
Hilty, Dr. North, Dr. J.P. PelThe ACS Student Affiliates
lois, and Dr. Perez. Ms. Nichalso led guided lab tours that ols from the organic laboratofeatured glass blowing (Bill
ries also volunteered.
Merka), organic compounds
from organisms, (Dr. Romo’s A new feature of the Open
Group) and fire and sound in House this year was public
a Ruben’s Tube (Justine Gei- lectures by Dr. Lindahl and
dosch from Dr. North’s
The Chemistry Open House
featured three showings of
the popular Chemistry Road
Show, led by Dr. Jim Pennington with several student
volunteer assistants.
Dr. Simanek.
The Brazos Valley Museum of
Natural History was on hand with
reptiles. Several other departments including Biochemistry,
Biology, Physics, and Computer
and Electrical Engineering also
participated in the Chemistry
Open House, making it a true
celebration of science.
The event is organized every year
by Dr. Wendy Keeney-Kennicutt,
who begins planning in the Spring.
Please contact her if you’d like to
be involved in next year’s event.
Glassblower Bill Merka showcases
his skills for a group of students as
part of the Chemistry Open House.
The photo is courtesy of Kathy
Lepley, Science Department Head at
New Waverly High school. Ms.
Lepley notes, “All agreed that the
glass blowing demonstration was
awesome!”
Page 2
Orbitals
Registration for Spring Courses
the honors courses they might want
to take before completing the form.
Honors Early Registration policy and
procedure can be found online at:
http://honors.tamu.edu/curriculum/
HonorsCourses_Registration.shtml
Registration for the Spring semester will
occur Nov. 19-Dec. 8. Class schedules
should be available soon. Registration
will again take place in your Howdy portal.
wishes to be assigned an Honors Early
Registration start time must make application no later than October 26,
2009 at : https://honors.tamu.edu/
HER/default.aspx
Note that there are some registration
changes for Honors Students. As of Fall
2009, any honors-eligible student who
Please note that students must log on
to this form using NetID and password
and should do some research about
Upper Division Courses Offered Next Semester
Four 400-level chemistry courses will be
offered next semester. CHEM470, Industrial Chemistry, will be taught by Dr.
Rosynek on MWF at 10:20-11:10. The
course coverage includes applications of
organic and inorganic chemical reactions
in the manufacture of commercial products; chemistry of petroleum refining
and petrochemical processing; industrial
polymerization processes; commodity
and fine chemical production; influence
of kinetics and thermodynamics on economics of industrial chemical production; pollution abatement technology.
Prerequisites: CHEM 228; junior or senior classification.
A special topics course, CHEM489,
Green Chemistry will be offered by Dr.
Don Darensbourg. Green chemistry
differs from previous approaches to
many environmental issues. Rather than
using regulatory restrictions, it
unleashes the creativity and innovation
Need Advice?
Please call 979-845-0520 to
schedule an appointment
with Dr. Gaede or Dr. Tiner
to talk about course schedules, undergraduate research, and career plans.
It is especially important to
check in with us if you plan
to graduate in May.
of our scientists and engineers in designing and discovering the next generation of chemicals and materials so
that they provide increased performance and increased value while meeting
all goals to protect and enhance human
health and the environment.
The prerequisite for this course is
CHEM228, with CHEM362 recommended. It will be offered TR at 9:3510:50.
will also meet TR at 9:35-10:50.
Dr. Watanabe will teach a third section
of special topics called Chemical Biology. Chemical biology is an emerging
interdisciplinary field involving the application of chemical principles to biological phenomena. This course will
serve as a capstone course for advanced undergraduates integrating organic chemistry with biology. Topics
Dr. Marcetta Darensbourg will offer
covered will include natural product
another special topics course called
biosynthesis, drug design and mechaMetals in Biology and Medicine. A case
nism. The prerequisites for this course
study approach will highlight the chemiis CHEM228. It will meet TR from 8cal basis for transition metals in biology
9:15.
and medicine. A foundation of structure and bonding of coordination comAll four courses will count toward
plexes will be followed by subjects
advanced chemistry electives for the
such as cis-platin (chemotherapeutic);
chemistry major and minor. Course
oxygen-carriers and storage
adjustments (substitutions) will have to
(hemoglobin and myo-globin); nickel
enzymes' active sites; etc. The prereq- be filed for the CHEM489 courses.
uisite for this course is CHEM362. It
Majors-Only Sections of Chemistry Courses
First-year chemistry majors enrolling in
CHEM112 should enroll in one of our
two special sections reserved for chemistry majors.
They are section 531 (CRN 115577),
which meets Tuesday afternoons from
2:20-5:10 or section 549 (CRN 11574),
which meets Wednesday afternoons
from 3-5:50.
The majors section of organic chemistry is section 501, offered by Dr. Romo
on MWF from 9:10. All chemistry majors are expected to enroll in this section of CHEM228, unless they are enrolled in Honors or have spoken with
an advisor.
Page 3
Orbitals
Old Ags
Sarah (Banton) Wood
(B.A. 2008) Sarah wrote in
after the last issue of Orbitals
was posted with this news: I
just started my first year as a
high school chemistry teacher
in San Antonio and I love it! I
think I am exactly where I
should be and I want to help
my students see that science
is something they can be successful at. Sarah’s friends can
reach her at
sarahjane.wood@yahoo.com.
Roxanna (Schaffino)
Brian Cole (B.A. 2006)
Moore (B.A. 2004)
wrote recently, “I haven't
sent in an update for Orbitals brought four students from
since I graduated in 2006. I her AP Chemistry class to
the Chemistry Open House
am starting my 4th
last weekend. She drove 6
year teaching at Clear Lake
hours from Harlingen in the
High School in Houston and
Rio Grande Valley. Friends
am currently teaching AP
may reach her at roxanChemistry. My wife and I just
nas@harlingen.isd.tenet.edu.
had our 2nd future Aggie,
James Scott Cole, on 9/10/09
weighing in at 7.0 lbs and 19
inches.” Friends may congratulate Brian at
bcole@ccisd.net.
Chemistry Majors Serving as TAs
Several chemistry majors are serving as teaching assistants
in undergraduate laboratories. The students serving as
TAs this term are Alisha Bohnsack, Stephanie Bowman,
David Crochet, Jeffery Depue, Ryan Fort, Joshua Hunt, Ian
Kissell, and Andrew Tindall. Becoming a TA is an excellent opportunity for students to review chemistry (GRE,
MCAT prep!) and strengthen their resumes. The demand
for undergraduate TAs is usually strongest in the Fall semester, when laboratory enrollment is the highest. Students must have a 3.0 overall GPA and As and Bs in general and organic chemistry.
James Scott Cole, born September 10, 2009. He weighed in at
7.0 lbs at 19 inches. Check out
the bib! News from Dad Brian
(2006) can be found in Old Ags.
Kayla Lammert and Dr. Daniel Romo
Receive Awards
Kayla Lammert (senior
chemistry major) was one of
two students to receive the
John B. Beckham Award in Science, the highest award bestowed in the College to an
undergraduate student at the
College of Science Annual
meeting held October 14. The
CHEM 100 Visitors
other recipient was William
Melissa Valadez (B.S. 2000) spoke to the CHEM100 O’Gorman, a senior biology
student. The award, named for
class on October 8 about her career at the Texas Dethe former dean in recognition
partment of Public Safety. Melissa gave a very interesting
of his 36 years of dedicated
presentation on her work as a criminalist specializing in
service to Texas A&M Univertrace evidence. Students who have an interest in pursuing sity in teaching, counseling and
this career path should feel free to contact her for advice administration, is bestowed
at Melissa.valadez@txdps.state.tx.us.
based on academic achievement, extra curricular involveMark Mielke and his graduate assistant Ty Thurmond
from Student Scholarships and Financial Aid gave a
Money Wise Aggie Presentation to the CHEM100 class
on October 15. The topic was how college students can
and should prepare budgets. Students interested in learning more about how to manage money should check out
MoneyWise.tamu.edu.
The next scheduled visitor to CHEM100 is Dr. Jim Pennington, who will put on a Chemistry Road Show, right
here in the department!
Future Aggie
ment, leadership, and integrity. The award consists of a
“way cool” medallion and
$1000.
At the same meeting, Dr.
Daniel Romo received an
Association of Former Students College-Level Award
for Distinguished Achievement in Teaching. In additional to teaching the majors’
section of organic chemistry,
Dr. Romo has several undergraduates in his research
group. Mary Kosh in the
Business Office also received
an Outstanding Staff Achievement Award. Congratulations to all award winners!
(Left) Kayla Lammert, Dean H. Joseph Newton, and William O’Gorman
(Right) Dean H. Joseph Newton, Dr. Daniel Romo, and Kathryn Greenwade
Darensbourg ACS Award in Inorganic Chemistry
DEPARTMENT OF
CHEMISTRY
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
77843
Phone: 979-845-0520
Fax: 979-845-2338
E-mail:
hgaede@mail.chem.tamu.edu
Donald Darensbourg has
been selected as the 2010
recipient of the ACS Award
in Inorganic Chemistry. The
award is presented to those
who have accomplished outstanding research in the
preparation, properties, reactions, or structure of inorganic substances.
Dr. Darensbourg’s research
activities focus on synthetic,
structural, and mechanistic
studies aimed at better understanding of important
catalytic processes. Much
attention is directed toward
processes relevant to utilization of carbon dioxide as a
starting material for the synthesis of organic compounds,
including polymers.
Dr. Darensbourg is teaching the first-year
course for
Chemistry majors, CHEM103.
Next semester,
he will again
offer his special
topics course in
Green Chemistry.
Welcome to Recently
Declared Chemistry Majors
Jacy Hodges
Cross Medders
Ashley Raymond
Bridget Tomlinson
American Chemical Society Update
Check out our new
look on the web
http://
www.chem.tamu.edu/
ugrad/
By Kathy M. Webb
This year's American Chemical Society Student
Affiliate Chapter has kicked off with a great start.
Marilyn Yeager, the Senior Life Sciences Career
Coordinator started off the year speaking about
upcoming career fairs and workshops geared to
help students find the right path to internships or
full time jobs. With the beginning of the school
year jumping headfirst into both the Engineering
Career Fair and the Science Career Fair, ACS
was able to host Celanese and Colgate Palmolive.
Both companies were very different: one being
industrial oriented and the other research oriented. Speakers provided an overview of the
companies as well as career opportunities and
future advice. Stephen Kerlegon spoke for Celanese and even facilitated a teamwork-oriented
game in order to demonstrate the working environment of a global company. Natalie Salmon
and Claudio Ortiz spoke for Colgate and passed
out the latest Colgate products to members in
attendance. To give students a break after the
deluge of companies and career fairs experienced
in the past weeks, ACS hosted Bill Merka, the
Chemistry Department Glass Blower expert,
who took members on a field trip to the glass
blowing shop. He demonstrated the technique of using different types of fire to manipulate the glass to what you use in lab as
well as showed how a marble was made. It
truly was a different aspect to chemistry!
Our most recent speaker was Elizabeth
Drake, President of her own chemical company in Clear Lake, TX, CS2. She graduated
from A&M with her master's in Chemistry
and was truly and inspiration speaking on establishing companies as well as process chemistry in the industry. Upcoming events include the Chemistry Open House on Saturday October 17th followed by National
Chemistry Week. ACS will be hosting activities throughout the week so keep a look out
for notifications. Our next meeting will be on
October 20 in CHAN 2122 at 6 pm. We
hope future speakers at our meetings will
include a graduate student panel and other
chemical disciplines. Come out for some free
food and networking!