Current News Around the Department
Chemistry Department gets 'WIRED'!

Research being conducted by Dr Shannon Davis and student Christopher Riley was cited recently in WIRED Magazine as one of the Top 5 Amazing Chemistry Projects in their article on the recent ACS meeting. This is an unusual place to see chemistry referenced, but neat to see the application chemistry research can have in the everyday lives of all people. You can see the article at this link:
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/04/top-5-amazing-c.html.

Relay For Life

The Georgia Southern Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society ("ChemClub") were again at this year's Relay for Life walk-a-thon fundraiser to raise awareness and money needed toward finding a cure for cancer. This annual event is still one of the largest charitable fund-raisers in the local area. Participants walking past their shelter saw demonstrations (and explosions! of course) of chemistry that always seem to be a highlight for younger children present. They also grilled hamburgers and hotdogs behind their tent for the faculty and student members who came.

A 'COMMENDABLE' Club!

Several faculty and members of the Georgia Southern Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society ("ChemClub") were at the National ACS Meeting in New Orleans to accept their award as an 'Commendable SAACS Chapter' in recognition of their extra activities to present chemistry in the local community throughout the year. Holding the award is the club's faculty advisor, Dr. Michele McGibony.

GSU students earn President’s Volunteer Service Award
Forty-seven students at Georgia Southern University have been selected to receive the President’s Volunteer Service Award, among them two chemistry majors. Senior Robert Morgan (Blackshear, Ga) and junior Kimberly Dickerson (Lawrenceville, Ga) were recognized for their contributions in community service. You can read more about the award HERE. CONGRATULATIONS Robert and Kimberly!

Biology & Chemistry REU 2008
The Chemistry and Biology departments are pleased to welcome 11 participants to the Georgia Southern University Research Experiences for Undergraduates program this summer. While we had over 250 very strong applicants we had to do our best to pick the top eleven. We are delighted to host these eleven for the summer and look forward to their participation in summer research with our faculty. The eleven winners are listed below along with their home institution:
Raymond Bogdon Georgia Southern University
Kia Burch Georgia Southern University
Nicole Christian Columbus State University
Yesenia De León Humboldt State University
Ebonni Fisher Clark Atlanta University
Juliette Jordan Georgia Southern University
Esther Kibakaya Tennessee State University
Eladio Mendez Florida International University
Shakir Saud City College of NY
Abram Townsend University of Maryland Eastern Shore


Excellent Education

Dr. Laura Frost and her husband, Baxter, attended the 4th Annual Regents Awards for Excellence in Education Celebration where she was awarded one of seven Board of Regents' 2007 Awards for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Laura is a leader in incorporating process-oriented, guided-inquiry learning into introductory chemistry courses. The news release of her award can be viewed on the USG website.
Outstanding!

Congratulations to Jessica Gunn, the first GSU winner of a 2008 Eli Lilly Women Chemists Committee Travel Grant, shown here with Dr. Dawn Brooks, Director, Exploratory R&D, Eli Lilly Company. Jessica presented a poster on her research into the cobalt catalyzed oxidation of cyclohexane at the recent ACS National Meeting in New Orleans. Her research mentor is Dr. Shannon Davis.
Taking Care of Students
Please join us in congratulating Jessica Orvis for being named Georgia Southern's Outstanding First Year Advocate! Jessica is richly deserving of this award for her extensive work with the First Year Experience Task Force, leadership with the Conversations with Professors initiative and Chemistry ELEmentS Residential Interest Group. Jess's dedication to her students was evident through her nomination by one of the RIG students.

New Research Brewing
The Research Committee in the GSU Faculty Senate was very generous to COST Faculty this year. We are delighted to announce that there were several Chemistry Faculty honored with awards:
David Kreller Application of Novel Chromatographic Method to the Study of the Adsorption of Waterborne Humic Substances on Mineral Surfaces
Karelle Aiken Synthesis of Three-ring Spiroketal Units using Gold Salts as Catalyst
Michelle McGibony Novel Photo Dynamic Therapy Agents: An application of Metals in Medicine

Saddened By Loss
We are deeply saddened to announce news that one of our recent alumni, Laura Kirlkland (Class of '05) was killed in a car accident on the FJ Torras Causeway that connects St. Simons Island to Brunswick. Both she and a passenger in the other car were killed. It seems particularly tragic to loose someone at such a young age. Laura was a very warm and friendly student we were pleased to have in our program. Our hearts go out in sympathy to Laura's family.


Congratulations Professor!!
Please join us in congratulating Jeff Orvis on his promotion to the rank of Full Professor. Jeff is an outstanding scholar and a valuable member of our department. We are very delighted to have his hard work reconized.

Dr Christine "Energizer" Whitlock!
(She keeps going, and going, and....)
Wow!!! Over the holidays, while the rest of us considered how we had consumed way too much food, our very own Dr Christine Whitlock completed the Disney Marathon in Orlando, Florida: 26.2 Miles!!! Almost 13,000 people particpated in the race, and she completed it in 6hrs 37min 10sec. Congratulations Christine!

Best of all, she wore her GSU visor!


Good News Just Keeps Coming!
The USG Board of Regents has announced that our very own Dr. Laura Frost will soon receive a Board of Regents' 2007 Award for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. She is receiving one of only three awarded within the entire University System of Georgia. This is quite an achievement! The news release of her award can be viewed on the USG website.

Please join us in congratulating Laura on receiving this prestigious, and well-deserved award.

Bright New Students!
As the quality of incoming freshman continues to rise at Georgia Southern, we are delighted to have incoming freshman chemistry major, Shawnette Estevez. Shawnette is the recipient of the Charles W. Thompson, Jr. Scholarship, a new scholarship which is given annually to a student in COST. We congratulate Shawnette and sincerely look forward to working with her during her time here at GSU.


Congratulations to Jeff Orvis!
Kathy The Department of Chemistry is proud to announce that Dr. Jeff Orvis has been awarded a 2007 Georgia Southern Award of Excellence in Instruction. We are delighted that Jeff's outstanding classroom teaching, strong record in the scholarship of teaching, and commitment to improving K-12 science education was recognized through this award. Jeff constantly strives to make chemistry enjoyable, understandable, and relevant to his students through the development and frequent use of classoom demonstrations.
He even holds a black belt in Taekwondo!



Congratulations Kathy!
Kathy The Department of Chemistry is proud to announce that our very own Kathy Gay was awarded one of this year's GSU Staff Awards of Excellence! She was one of only 8 staff (out of over a 1000 campus employees) to be awarded this recognition. None of us in chemistry could imagine getting things done without Kathy so we are delighted to see her earn this award. Congratulations to Kathy for this well-earned recognition.


Way to go Chem Club!
The GSU Southern Chemical Society (SCS) (the student chemistry club), was awarded "Oustanding" citation by the American Chemical Society for their many extracurricular activities, including evening tutoring sessions, after school science shows for Bulloch County schools, and many other great programs. "Outstanding" status is not easy to obtain, and very few student affiliate chapters nationally receive this level of recognition. This is well deserved recognition for all the extra time and hard work these students have put back into their program. We, the Department of Chemistry faculty, are very proud of them and delighted they have received outside recognition of their efforts. More information about their awards can be viewed in This Week at Georgia Southern
Please join us in congratulating the SCS!


Chemistry Department Chair Receives $1M NSF Grant!
Dr Mary Boyd received a $1,000,000 NSF-STEP grant to support retention and graduation initiatives in the College of Science and Technology (COST). The grant is aimed at promoting student academic achievement and retention in science. Project activities include:
  • formation of a COST advising center
  • creation of science and math Residential Interest Groups
  • freshman undergraduate research opportunities
  • incopration of guided inquiry and supplement instruction in introductory science and math courses
For additional information please see This Week at Georgia Southern


More Outstanding Work by a Chem Major!

Carolynn Chin has been named to the Arthur Ashe Jr 2006 Sports Scholars List. The award, established in 1992 by Black Issues in Higher Education, honors undergraduate students of color who exemplify the standards set by Arthur Ashe Jr. To be nominated, students have to compete in an intercollegiate sport, maintain a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.2, and be active on their campuses or in their communities.
Carolynn also earned first team recognition, and was selected as an Award of Excellence recipient from the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. The $2,000 award, one of only 40 made nationally, is given to students entering the first year of graduate or professional study. Carolynn was selected as the nominee from the Georgia Southern Phi Kappa Phi chapter. She is a Bell Honors Program Scholar and a member of the GSU Varsity Softball Team. Furthermore, Carolynn was named the Female Student Athlete of the Year at Georgia Southern, and won the American Chemical Society Award which recognizes the most academically successful chemistry major.
Where does she find the time??!! Carolynn will be attending graduate school at the University of Colorado following her graduation from GSU.

Chem Major Recieves Research Award!

We are pleased to announce that Trianna McCall, a junior chemistry major, has been awarded a United Negro College Fund - Merck Undergraduate Science Research Scholarship Award! This award will provide a tuition scholarship of up to $25,000 as well as 2 summer internships at a Merck research facility. The Chemistry Department will also receive up to $10,000 to support undergraduate research. Only 15 awards are being made for 2006, so this is a tremendous honor for Trianna and testifies to her hard work and capabilities. Trianna is an undergraduate research student with Dr Michele McGibony and a McNair Scholar in 2005.

Additional information about the program is available at: http://www.uncf.org/merck/default.htm
Please join us in congratulating Trianna.

Chemistry Class Throws Paper Wads?

We all know that Jessica is an excellent teacher and Jeff is an.. "interesting" teacher ;-),
But would you guess that the two of them could turn throwing paper wads in the classroom into a publication?!!
For the exact details see:
Orvis, Jessica N. and Jeffery A. Orvis. Throwing Paper Wads in the Chemistry Classroom: Really Active Student Learning. Journal of College Science Teaching. 2005, 35(3), 23 – 25.
Way to go Jeff and Jess!

Academic Excellence Rewarded

The 2005 COST Academic Excellence Awards have been announced and we are pleased to see chemistry faculty and students take 3 of the 5 awards. All the projects were excellent. Those from chemistry were:

Jessica & Jeffery Orvis
Powered by Popeye’s TM: Teaching Honor's General Chemistry Via the Preparation of Biodiesel Fuel

Phoebe Pletcher
Isolation and Investigation of Novel Bis(Indole) Alkaloids from Local Marine Sponges

Robert Roddenberry
Chelation Studies of the Marine Metabolite Adenochrome


Chemistry Ranks Nationally (again)!

The GSU Chemistry Department has again managed to rank in the top 25 producers of ACS-certified BS degrees. In 2003-2004 we graduated 22 ACS-certified chemistry majors, placing us 22nd in the country (see Chemical & Engineering News Sept. 26 issue, pg. 52). We truly enjoy the opportunity to interest students in chemistry and encourage them in considering chemistry-related careers.