Could YOU be an EXROP nominee?

The Exceptional Research Opportunities Program (EXROP) links the resources of HHMI's Science and Science Education departments to provide bright, motivated undergraduate students from disadvantaged backgrounds (from an under-performing high school or low income family) and groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences (such as Hispanics, Blacks, and Native Americans) with outstanding summer research experiences. HHMI continues to work with EXROP students after their summer study programs to encourage them to pursue careers in academic science.

St. Olaf chemistry faculty members are currently looking for interested and eligible students for possible nomination for an EXROP position. Students should be current sophomores or juniors and fit the eligibility requirements highlighted above.  Talk to any chemistry faculty member if you are interested.

3M "Regulatory Analyst" Positions Available

Job Summary
3M Medical Department Material EHS is searching for individuals to be part of a team that provides product EHS business process support globally to 3M business units and international subsidiaries. The primary duties for a Regulatory Analyst include completing human health hazard assessments and authoring material safety data sheets, labels, and transportation documents.

Candidate Profile
 Have excellent written and verbal communication and customer service skills.
 Self motivated, highly productive and result‐oriented.
 Must be a team player.
 Possesses problem solving skills.
 Must have excellent computer and database skills.
 Must have the ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously.
 Ability to follow standard operating procedures to provide support to product EHS business processes.

Education
 Bachelor’s degree in a natural science with at least two years of chemistry coursework including organic chemistry.

Experience
 The following are not required but will be considered a plus:
     o 0 – 1 years of experience in product EHS.
     o General knowledge and understanding of regulatory compliance at local, state, federal, and international levels.
     o Advanced degree in a discipline related to product EHS (toxicology, industrial hygiene, safety, environmental health, etc.).
     o Knowledge of 3M laboratory, manufacturing and EHS related information sources or data systems.

Contact
 These positions are contingent worker positions located at the corporate headquarters in St. Paul, MN.
 Accepting candidates now. Interviews will start the first week of October with start dates in early November.
 Contact Ann Thompson, Ph.D, Technical Manager, for additional information on the hiring process and vendor contacts
     o athompson@mmm.com
     o 651‐736‐8089

Student Contractor Position at USEPA - Duluth, MN

The US EPA Mid Continent Ecology Division laboratory in Duluth, MN has posted a student contractor position.  

The Mid Continent Ecology Division (MED), National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL), Office of Research and Development (ORD) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking individuals, at least 18 years of age who have completed a Bachelors degree with biochemistry, molecular biology, environmental science, toxicology, pharmacy, physiology, neuroscience or a related fields of study to provide services under a contractual agreement to assist in aquatic toxicology research such as: developing methods and models for assessing and predicting the bioaccumulation and effects of chemicals in aquatic organisms.

For more information about this position, click here.

For more detailed information regarding the Mid Continent Ecology Division, visit the MED home page.

A job opportunity at 3M

I need to hire 9 new contingent workers into my group at 3M in the next couple of weeks. I just hired two Oles from the recent graduating class and have other Oles on my staff as well. Due to the timing, we need to hire people who have already graduated with a degree in a natural science with at least two years of chemistry through organic and will likely not be able to wait for someone who is finishing mid-year.

Thank you for your help!

Best regards,

Ann '76

---

Ann Thompson, Ph.D. | Technical Manager - Material EHS
3M Medical Department
3M Center, Building 220-06-E-03 | St. Paul, MN 55144-1000
Office: 651 736 8089 | Mobile: 612 207 8030 | Triminet: 736 8089
athompson@mmm.com | www.3M.com

This week's chemistry seminar (Sept 19th), Regents Hall 310 at 3:00

This week's chemistry seminar, Thursday Sept. 19th, Regents Hall 310 at 3:00

Science of Rock ’n’ Roll 

- Single Molecule and Nanoparticle Imaging in Biophysical, Surface, and Photocatalysis Studies 

Prof. Ning Fang 

Ames Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy and Iowa State University 

The research in the Fang Laboratory aims to open up new frontiers in chemical and biological discovery through the development and use of novel optical imaging platforms, which provide sub-diffraction-limited spatial resolution, high angular resolution, excellent detectability, and/or nanometer localization precision for single molecules and nanoparticles. 

• Rotational Tracking: The knowledge of rotational dynamics in and on live cells remains highly limited due to technical limitations. The single particle orientation and rotational tracking (SPORT) technique has been developed for visualizing rotational motions of anisotropic plasmonic gold nanorods under a differential interference contrast (DIC) microscope. The SPORT technique is capable of extracting important information (including rotational rates, modes, and directions) on the characteristic rotational dynamics involved in complex biological processes, such as endocytosis and intracellular transport. 

• Fluorescence Super-Resolution and High-Precision Tracking: A fully automatic calibration and scanning prism-type total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) and scattering (TIRS) microscope has been constructed for high-precision tracking of single molecules and nanoparticles. Stable signals from non-blinking quantum dots under the automated TIRF microscope allows for continuous super-localization of single quantum dots with sub-10-nm precision in both lateral and axial directions. This system is also being used to reveal the nature and photocatalytic properties of the surface active sites on single Au-CdS hybrid nanocatalysts. 

A job opportunity...

This job posting comes from Phil Beardsley-Schoonmaker '13, Green Corps Field Organizer.  He is happy to field any inquiries at
Phillip@greencorps.org or 503-562-9914

Early Fall Application Deadline: October 11, 2014

Click here to learn more about Green Corps’ paid environmental organizing fellowship.

Green Corps is looking for college graduates who are ready to take on the
biggest environmental challenges of our day.

In Green Corps’ yearlong paid program, you’ll get intensive training in the skills you need to make a difference in the world. You’ll get hands-on experience fighting to solve urgent environmental problems — global warming, deforestation, water pollution, factory farming and many others — with groups like Sierra Club and Food and Water Watch. And when you graduate from Green Corps, we’ll help you find a career with one of the nation’s leading environmental and social change groups.

For more information, read on or visit http://www.greencorps.org/findoutmore.

In your year with Green Corps:

Be trained by the best: Green Corps organizers take part in trainings with leading figures in the environmental and social change movements: people like Adam Ruben, Political Director of MoveOn.org, and Bill McKibben, author and founder of 350.org.

Gain experience across the country: Green Corps sends organizers to jumpstart campaigns for groups such as Rainforest Action Network, Power Shift, and Environment America in San Francisco, Chicago, Boston and dozens of other places in between.

Make an impact on today’s environmental challenges: Green Corps organizers have built the campaigns that helped keep the Arctic safe from drilling; led to new laws to support clean, renewable energy; convinced major corporations to stop dumping in our oceans; and much, much more.

Get paid! Green Corps organizers earn a salary of $24,000. Organizers also have a chance to opt into our health care program with a pre-tax monthly salary deferral. We offer paid sick days and holidays, two weeks paid vacation and a student loan repayment program for those who qualify.

Launch your career: Green Corps will help connect you to environmental and progressive groups that are looking for full-time staff to build their organizations and help them create social change and protect our environment.

The application process:
In the next few months, we‘ll invite 35 college graduates to join Green Corps in 2014 -2015. We’re looking for people who are serious about saving the planet, people who have taken initiative on their campus or community, and people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and work for change over the long haul.

If you think you’re one of those people, visit www.greencorps.org to apply to join the 2014-2015 class of Green Corps’ Field School for Environmental Organizing.

Green Corps’ yearlong program begins in August 2014 with Introductory Classroom Training in Boston, and continues with field placements in multiple locations across the U.S. Candidates must be willing to relocate.

For more information, visit www.greencorps.org or contact Charlotte Bartter, Recruitment Director, at jobs@greencorps.org.

A tradition like no other...

Join us today at 2:45 on the plaza outside Regents Hall for the annual

Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Social.















Enjoy chemistry at its best.

Chemistry/Biology/Environmental Studies Seminar

Chemistry/Biology/Environmental Joint Seminar

Thursday in RNS 310 starting at 7:00 p.m. with snacks served during seminar and ICE CREAM SUNDAES after the seminar, (served by SOCS).

Val H. Smith, Ph.D.

Professor

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

University of Kansas

The Ecology of Algal Biofuels

One of the greatest hurdles to algal biofuels scale-up is achieving high yields of the algal feedstock's from which these fuels are created.  The reliable and sustainable mass cultivation of microalgae is a key limiting step for the entire commercial enterprise, and successful crop protection against undesirable biomass losses will be a critically important component of these cultivation efforts.   As is true of the terrestrial plants that are cultivated for domestic agriculture, large-scale algal growth facilities will be susceptible to invasions by a diverse array of highly undesirable competitors, plant-consuming pests, and pathogens that can dramatically reduce achievable yields.  I will identify and discuss several core principles of community ecology that have direct relevance to successful large-scale algal biofuels production:  nutrient limitation of crop production, protection of the crop against losses to invertebrate grazers, and protection of the crop against losses to algal pathogens.

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center offers Summer Undergraduate Research Experiences

Summer 2014 information is already available.  Click these links to read more about these programs:  UT SURF  and  UT QP-SURF.