Section News & Happenings
May 2023 Issue of The Crucible
May 2023 Issue of The Crucible
We are pleased to provide the May 2023 Issue of The Crucible. If you have something you would like included in future issues, please email Alysia Mandato or Niharika Botcha at [email protected].
April 2023 Issue of The Crucible
April 2023 Issue of The Crucible
We are pleased to provide the April 2023 Issue of The Crucible. If you have something you would like included in future issues, please email Alysia Mandato or Niharika Botcha at [email protected].
Call for Symposia Sessions for 2024 Central Regional Meeting (CERM)
Call for Symposia Sessions for 2024 Central Regional Meeting (CERM)
The Pittsburgh ACS Local Section will be hosting the Central Regional Meeting (CERM) in the Fall of 2024.
We are finalizing our dates with ACS National, but we anticipate the conference will be late October or early November 2024.
We are seeking proposals for technical sessions at this time including names of possible symposium organizers.
Please complete the Google Form to submit your ideas to us by March 31st for full consideration.
Please contact Kim Woznack ([email protected]) and Kevin Noonan ([email protected]), CERM 2024 Program Co-Chairs, with any questions.
Get to Know a Member – Niharika Krishna Botcha Ph.D.
Get to Know a Member – Niharika Krishna Botcha Ph.D.
1. What is your work and ACS (if applicable) title?
ACS Pittsburgh section 2023 Treasurer-elect, Webmaster and soon to be Newsletter Editor. Special Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University
2. How many years have you been in the ACS?
6 years
3. What is the biggest benefit of ACS Membership?
Getting to meet people from all walks of chemistry and life. ACS also played an instrumental role when I was a graduate student providing me with much needed help and resources.
4. What did you want to be when you were a child?
A Teacher!
5. What made you fall in love with Chemistry?
The periodic table in eighth grade! When my after school chemistry teacher introduced the periodic table and asked us to memorize it, I was at once surprised and fascinated. That was the start of my love affair with chemistry and I hope it never ends.
6. How did you get into your current position?
I came to Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon as a postdoc in 2021 and when they had an opening for a teaching position I took the chance to transition. Teaching chemistry to curious students is my dream job so I’m totally in love with my current job and position.
7. What is your favorite book and why?
Tough question! Too many to choose from but I’ll go with my all time favorite and top choice, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
March 2023 Issue of The Crucible
March 2023 Issue of The Crucible
We are pleased to provide the March 2023 Issue of The Crucible. If you have something you would like included in future issues, please email Niharika Botcha at [email protected].
Environmental Group Lecture
Environmental Group Lecture
Process Development for Nutrients Removal and Recycle from Rural and Agricultural Wastes
Bo Hu, PhD
Professor, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
University of Minnesota
April 5, 2023 7 – 8 pm (EST)
Click here to download the event flyer
How to join:
Microsoft Teams Meeting ID: 424 735 174 880 Passcode: 2h4Bjb
or contact [email protected] to receive a link.
Call for Nominations
The Pittsburgh Section of the American Chemical Society
Pittsburgh Award 2023 and Distinguished Service Award 2023
Pittsburgh Award
Purpose: To recognize outstanding leadership in chemical affairs in the local and larger professional community.
Eligibility: Members of the Pittsburgh Section, or in exceptional cases, nonmembers, who have done work worthy of recognition toward increasing chemical knowledge, promoting the chemical industry, benefiting humanity, or advancing the Pittsburgh Section, are eligible for consideration.
Distinguished Service Award
Purpose: To recognize outstanding volunteer service to the Pittsburgh Section of the American Chemical Society.
Eligibility: Members of the Pittsburgh Section, past or present, who have provided outstanding service in advancing the Pittsburgh Section, are eligible for consideration.
Call for Nominations
Submitting a nomination: Submit each of the following: (1) respective nomination form, (2) up to two support forms, and (3) biographical sketch (or curriculum vitae) by August 15. All nomination materials should be emailed to the Pittsburgh Section Chair-Elect, Alysia Mandato, [email protected].
For more information and the previous recipients please visit the Pittsburgh Award and the Distinguished Service Award or email Alysia Mandato at [email protected].
Pittsburgh Section Employment
LABORATORY INSTRUCTOR & AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY – STUDENT AFFILIATE FACULTY ADVISOR (9-month term; renewable)
The Department of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh (Oakland Campus) invites applications for a Laboratory Instructor position, with an anticipated start date of August 1, 2023. This position is on a 9-month contract, is outside of the tenure stream, and is contingent on administrative and budgetary approval. Review of applications will begin March 15, 2023, and will continue until the position is filled.
Please find more information here.
Get to Know a Member – Alysia Mandato
Get to Know a Member – Alysia Mandato
1. What is your work and ACS (if applicable) title?
I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh. I am advised by Professor Sunil Saxena, and I study the biophysical chemistry of proteins and DNA using electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. I served as the Secretary of the Pittsburgh Section in 2021 and 2022. I have been The Crucible newsletter editor since 2020, but I’m excited to be passing it on to serve in my new role as 2023 Chair- Elect!
2. How many years have you been in the ACS?
4 years
3. What is the biggest benefit of ACS Membership?
The biggest benefits are the variety of people I get to meet with interests in science and chemistry – chemists, students, and the general public!
4. What did you want to be when you were a child?
A Disney princess!
5. What made you fall in love with Chemistry?
My research experiences in college with a wonderful mentor. He taught me that chemistry gives us the ability to solve large problems at the atomic levels!
6. How did you get into your current position?
I thought I was going to be a medical doctor throughout high school and most of college until I became involved in research with my undergraduate professor. I fell in love with the process of research and loved being in the lab, but I didn’t know that graduate school was an option until near the end of my junior year of college! I ended up applying to many PhD programs, and I chose Pitt because I loved being in Pittsburgh. I’m very grateful for the people I’ve met and experiences I’ve had by being a part of Pittsburgh.
7. Which chemist, part or present, would you like to meet and why?
Marie Curie! It would be incredible to hear about her resilience and passion for chemistry. I would be so nervous though!
February 2023 Issue of The Crucible
February 2023 Issue of The Crucible
We are pleased to provide the February 2023 Issue of The Crucible. If you have something you would like included in future issues, please email Niharika Botcha at [email protected].