ACS recognizes CSUN CHEM CLUB again!

For the second year in a row, our ACS Student Chapter has been recognized with an Honorable Mention. The photo below is our current president, Fernando Ortega, posing with the kids from 4th grade at Canoga Park Elementary School. Fernando is holding the jumbo test tube showing how it is possible to layer saltwater solutions by density (Celebrating Chemistry, page 5, Saltwater Rainbows).

For the 2017-2018 school year:

We reported 7 Service Events

• Meet the Clubs (Fall)
• Chemistry and Biochemistry Spectacular
• Family Science Night
• Meet the Clubs (Spring)
• I Heart Science Day
• I'm Going to College Day #1
• I'm Going to College Day #2 *

We reported 8 Professional Development Events

• Research Panel (Fall)
• Meet the Speaker (Fall)
• ACS Program-in-a-Box
• Meet the Speaker (Spring)
• Research Panel (Spring)
• Make-and-Take at the ACS National Meeting *
• ASBMB Regional Research Symposium
• Chasing Coral Film Screening *

We reported 3 Chapter Development Events

• Movie Night
• Pizza Rev Fundraiser
• End of Semester Bash

* Green Chemistry Events.

We were also awarded a green chemistry award for our I'm Going to College Day #2 program on FRI, APR 27, 2018 using the Chemists Celebrate Earth Week (CCEW) edition of Celebrating Chemistry.

The activity we did with kids is green chemistry because when we were working on the “Oil Spill!” activity (page 9), we measured what material was the best at cleaning up an environmental disaster. The fabrics tested were natural (cotton, linen) and synthetic (nylon, rayon, polyester). This is green chemistry because we should consider the entire energy burden to produce the materials used for remediation. Cotton and linen require energy for cultivation, harvesting and processing into fiber. The polymers (nylon, rayon and polyester) require energy for synthesis and processing into fiber. A discussion on the merits and drawbacks to different materials balanced with the materials’ abilities to absorb spilled oil in simulated ocean water is definitely a topic under the umbrella of green chemistry.

Vanessa's Aha! Moment

As a child, I remember playing with how-to science kits and models of the different systems in our body. I had always been curious as to why humans behave the way that we do and the science behind some of our natural body processes. I think the kits were my parents way of getting me to stop asking “why” all the time and for them to get educated as well. During my AP psychology class in high school, there was a “Neuroscience” unit and a lot of my childhood questions soon became answered. I had learned that our brains are wired differently, our memories and our environment greatly influence the substance in our brains, and most importantly, neuroscience would not be what it is today if it were not for all the advances made in other sciences like chemistry, biology, and psychology. I knew that if my dream was to become a neurologist, I would have had to master the basics in every science subject in order to fully understand how powerful our brains truly are.

Meet a Board member! This is Vanessa Peña. She is a Biology major pursuing an MD degree. Fun facts: "I like to eat, workout, and dance". She currently works in Dr. Banner's lab examining the pathways that link stress to the onset of pathogenesis in the nervous and immune system. Meet Vanessa and the other club members at our next event on Oct 26! #CSUN #CSUNchemclub #ChemClub #ChemistryandBiochemistryClub #STEM #scientistswhoselfie

A post shared by CSUN Chemistry Club (@csunchemclub) on Oct 12, 2017 at 6:06pm PDT

Sanda's Aha! Moment

Growing up I never thought I would be as involved with science as I am today. My mentality when it came to science was that I couldn't do it because it was too hard. When I decided I wanted to be a veterinarian I had no choice other than conquer my fears. I ended up learning that science isn't hard, it just takes time and effort to understand and be able to put everything into one big picture. Once I learned that, I learned how to get through any struggle that came my way. Now here I am in my last semester before graduating with a degree in Biochemistry, looking forward to applying to vet school and becoming a DVM.

 

⚠️ meet a board member ⚠️ This is Sanda Delgado, one of our current Treasurers. She is a senior majoring in Biochemistry. After graduation she will be applying to vet school. She currently works for AS sustainability and recycling on campus and for Studio City Animal Emergency Centre. Her favorite snack is hot Cheetos with lemon and cucumber. Meet Sanda and more club members at our next event ❤️ #CSUNChemClub #CSUN #Stem #WomenInSTEM #involvement

A post shared by CSUN Chemistry Club (@csunchemclub) on Oct 1, 2017 at 10:54am PDT

Fiorella's Aha! Moment

Through my high school career, I never enjoyed subjects such as history and english. But when it came to science and math, I loved it. I took Biology, Chemistry, and Calculus. Chemistry stuck out the most to me. My high school chemistry teacher influenced me to be a science major. As I made my way through university, my Chemistry 100 professor really showed me how amazing and beautiful the subject is. Although many aspects of chemistry are difficult, the labs for the classes really make everything worth it. One thing that I have learned from taking difficult chemistry classes is to be persistent and do what you love. I look forward to what the future has in store for me.

And last, but not least, lets meet our President for the 2017-2018 academic year! This is Fiorella Dainah She is a senior majoring in Biochemistry. Her goal is to go into the medical field and open her own office. During her free time, she loves watch movies and listening to music. Get to know Fio and all the other club members THIS WEEK at our Osmosis Jones movie night (6pm in the Santa Susana Room in the usu).

A post shared by CSUN Chemistry Club (@csunchemclub) on Oct 24, 2017 at 1:00pm PDT

Khadija's Aha! Moment

I am relentlessly pursuing a degree in biochemistry because of my high school teachers. As cliche as it sounds, my high school chemistry and biology teachers had the magic to keep me engaged and interested in the respective topics no matter how difficult they became. When the time came to pick a major; I chose biochemistry because it was a combination of my favorite subjects. Biochemistry is an extremely complex subject that painstakingly explains how biological systems work.

Like most decisions I make; I was not absolutely sure if I had chosen the right major. There have been a few moments that reassured me.

The first was when I finally understood my research. Research is such an impactful learning tool because it takes in class lessons and applies them to a scientific issue. It challenges you to think critically. Practically you are getting to use all that information you've been gathering; it gives a purpose to all that biology and chemistry in my head.

The other significant moment was when we covered hemoglobin in class. It is hard to not be in awe at the intricacy of the simple act of breathing after learning it. Don't even get me started on glycolysis and the TCA cycle.

The conclusion from this should be, whatever you end up choosing to do with your life; make sure it captivates you and you'll have fun.

This is my journey thus far. Wish me luck!

MEET A BOARD MEMBER: This is Khadija Moctar! "Hello! My name is Khadija Moctar and I am your trusted co-treasurer. I am a 4th year biochemistry major, graduating in 2019. I aspire to obtain my Ph.D. in the sciences. Currently I am doing research with Dr. Jheem Medh on expressing wild-type lipoprotein lipase to determine the structural components that are implicated in modulating cholesterol efflux. My job as treasurer is to fully realize and execute fundraisers that will finance our work in promoting the importance of science at local schools. We do this through year round scientific demonstrations." Meet Khadija and more club members at all our events! #CSUN #CSUNchemclub #ChemistryandBiochemistryClub #Chemclub #STEM #scientistswhoselfie

A post shared by CSUN Chemistry Club (@csunchemclub) on Oct 10, 2017 at 5:51pm PDT

Brandon's Aha! Moment

I’m a senior at CSUN majoring in chemistry and looking back, I have to say that I was first introduced to chemistry back in high school. I knew that I was always interested in science, but my high school chemistry class was definitely one of the first stepping stones that lead me to where I am today. Over the course of that first year learning chemistry, the concepts were just “clicking” for me and I knew that I definitely wanted to pursue this path to see where it ended up. I followed up with chemistry classes in college and I was fascinated with all the different types of chemistry fields out there. Organic, inorganic, analytical, synthetic, and others got me excited to see what options there were out there for me. To this day, I’m still excited to see where chemistry takes me!

⚠️Meet a board member ⚠️ Brandon Marion is a Chemistry major and our current secretary! He hopes to one day work in industry after graduation. If you like to play video games or go on adventure, then he is your guy! In his free time he likes to explore LA and play video games. Meet Brandon (and the other board members) tomorrow at our FIRST MEETING OF THE SEMESTER at 6pm in EH2225. #CSUNchemclub #CSUN #STEM #Chemistry #Biochemistry #CSUNmic #StudentInvolvement #Leadership

A post shared by CSUN Chemistry Club (@csunchemclub) on Sep 20, 2017 at 4:11pm PDT

#ACSBOSTON

Club members Andrew Zlatkin and Khadija Moctar will attend the 256th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Boston, MA from August 19th to August 23rd, 2018. Khadija is a Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) scholar at CSUN. Andrew has recently transferred to CSUN from Pierce College.

CSUN’s ACS Student Chapter was honored at the 255th ACS National Meeting in New Orleans, LA. We were among the 139 honorable mention chapters (3rd place) in 2016-2017. There were 435 chapters in total; 52 outstanding (1st place), and 114 commendable (2nd place). You can see our award in the display case on 3rd floor of Citrus Hall.

ACS Chapter Award

Khadija and Andrew will be sharing what we do at a poster session titled "Successful Student Chapters." The ACS National Meeting draws over 15,000 chemists and chemistry students. The American Chemical Society is the world’s largest scientific society with nearly 157,000 members. 

Our ACS Student Chapter received a $300 National Meeting Travel Grant from the ACS to help defray travel costs for Andrew and Khadija. We are planning other fundraising activities, as well as applying for funds from CSUN's Student Travel & Academic Research (STAR) program.

Each CSUN student pays the $90 Associated Students (AS) fee every semester. Fifty cents of that fee is put in the STAR, totaling approximately $200,000 for the academic year. Examples of covered expenditures include conference registration fees, airfare, hotel and ground transportation.

Khadija and Andrew at "I'm Going to College Day #1"

Students must submit proof (invitation or receipt) that he or she will be presenting or speaking at the conference. Currently enrolled students may submit requests for STAR funding throughout the academic year at least one month in advance. New funding for is available starting July 1, 2018. STAR funding is available on a first-come, first served basis.

The CSUN Chemistry & Biochemistry Club hosted 7 service events (sharing chemistry with over 200 elementary, middle and high school children), 9 professional development events (with a combined total of over 160 attendees), and 3 chapter development events in the 2017-2018 school year. This is what Khadija and Andrew will be sharing with other ACS Student Chapters at the National Meeting next month.

Chem Club Hosts Second Q&A Session For Department Seminar Speaker At CSUN

Deepali Bhandari came to CSU Northridge from CSU Long Beach to give her research seminar on February 28, 2018. She was kind enough to set aside 30 minutes for students to interact with her to learn a little bit about her research field and also about research as a career path.

We had a great turnout with 7 undergraduate students, 1 graduate student, 1 staff member, and 1 faculty member from CSUN. We sat around the table in the Chemistry & Biochemistry conference room EH 2102B. After a round of introductions, where each student shared their major and who (if anyone) they were doing research with. Then Deepali told us more about her career.

She was educated in India, completing her undergraduate and Master's degree in microbiology by the time she was 22 years old. The system in India requires that students choose in the 10th grade whether they want to do down a medical path or a non-medical path (leading to engineering).

Deepali found her first job in industry through her department chair. The company was looking to start a lab from scratch. Her advisor was the only molecular biologist in her department. She had experience with thermostable restriction enzymes and the company wanted her to design a DNA ladder, as well as easy kits (like Qiagen MiniPrep) for RNA purification.

When she arrived at the company, she was given a completely empty room and she was able to choose all the equipment, reagents, and coworkers (she interviewed candidates and built her team). Another aspect of her job was to be a liason to her former university. She was tasked with arranging the curriculum and instructional labs, which fostered a love of teaching. This motivated her to go back to school after working in industry for 2 years, because she needed a PhD to teach at university.

She studied molecular biology at Loyola University in Chicago, which took her 5 years to complete. For her post-doc she came to University of California San Diego, for another 5 years. During that time she studied cellular traffic in both yeast and cancer cells. She became interested in how cancer cells survive lack of oxygen and lack of nutrients. Healthy cells undergo programmed cell death under the same conditions. This is termed ER stress which arises in misfolded proteins.

One question that came from the students was, "Why do a PhD?" Deepali explained how her PhD experience taught her resiliency in the face of months of failure in the lab. She now has a poster hanging up in her lab that encourages her students to be persistent when faced with adversity.

A special thanks goes out to everyone who helped make this a great "Student Time" with the speaker. The next outside speaker is Dr Gregory Fu from Caltech who will be visiting CSUN on Wednesday, April 4th.

Learn about Opioids 2/27/18 at 3:45pm in JR 354

You're invited to attend our American Chemical Society (ACS) Program-in-a-Box (PIB) where we will learn about opioids on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 from 3:45 pm - 5:15 pm in JR 354.

Program-in-a-Box is a fun event because you get to network with other chemists, learn about a topic, and win raffle prizes. Use the hashtag #ACSPIB to have your questions answered via social media.

opioid molecular structures

Some of the past PIB events we've hosted here at CSUN include:

• October 11, 2016 Chemists' Code for Success: 3 Essential Skill Sets for Your Career
• October 20, 2015 Tales of Lab Safety: How to Avoid Rookie Accidents
• February 24, 2015 Chemistry on the Silver Screen
• October 7, 2014 Speaking Simply: Communicating Your Science

It's called Program-in-a-Box because if you RSVP your group, the ACS will send you a box filled with goodies and games. And we've RSVP'd for the opioid event, so join us!

October 2015, LO1231

October 2016, SH286

iHeart Science Day 2018

When? February 16 from 9AM to 1 PM
Where? on CSUN campus, rooms TBA
Who? One-hundred twenty 6th graders from Patrick Henry Middle School 
What? walk the 3 miles to CSUN

Four classes rotate through four activities (chemistry, biology, physics, geology) in four different classrooms here at CSUN. 

Botanical Bingo

Each room is a hands-on science event with a somewhat competitive aspect. 

Aluminum Foil Boats

There’s a winner in each room. Prizes are Valentine’s day candy. 

Borax Glue Slime

Why? If you plan to apply to medical, dental, pharmacy or graduate school, outreach activities will set you apart as an applicant. Good grades aren't everything. Applicants who have outreach on their resume will be noticed. Applicants who have no outreach experience may be excluded from the search for scholarships or admission.

We NEED VOLUNTEERS!!!!! Signup here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v2QZzFUEW8J8ZAeGsomtfTkVP7w0lUMDO3XmnoXnQDg/edit?usp=sharing