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Department of Chemistry September 2022 Newsletter

Editor's Notes

Greetings Chemistry!

This month the national celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month began on September 15th and will run through October 15th. The Department of Chemistry, in collaboration with the Eberly College of Science, has made efforts to recognize our Latinx students and faculty and their continuous and important contributions to science.

You can read more about some of our Latinx students and faculty and what motivates them to do science on the Eberly College of Science's Diversity Initiatives website.

This edition of the newsletter includes a message from the Department Head, an alum interview, department happenings, a message from the GSA, and Jackie Bortiatynski's Teaching Corner. If you wish to have a story shared in a future newsletter, please contact me at chemcommunications@psu.edu.

Kathryn Harlow, Communications Coordinator

A Message From The Department Head

The World's Beauty

Dear Chemistry Colleagues,

Lately I’ve been traveling quite a bit for work. I didn’t intend for all my travel to happen at once, but somehow it did. I just returned from an RNA meeting in Orford Quebec, and before that I was at Northwestern University as a student-invited speaker. Earlier, I was at ACS Chicago and that was preceded by a workshop on Nucleic Acids Chemistry in Telluride Colorado. And then earlier in the summer I was in Boulder Colorado for the RNA Society Meeting and before that in Titisee Germany for an International RNA meeting. My little world tour ends soon -- I’m off to Fort Myers to visit my parents this weekend, and after, a short two-day trip to Cleveland in mid-October with my research group. However, it's good to be back home to take on important items around the department; the faculty search, our strategic plan, and writing a grant renewal.

Yet it has been stimulating, and I dare say productive, to go on these trips. Emerging from the pandemic, it feels good to see old colleagues and make new friends, and to share some of the new research from the group with the rest of the world. My travel has inspired a creative burst for me as well, with new ideas and potential research directions coming. It makes me remember how important community and communication are in our pursuit of new knowledge.

My travels have also reminded me of the beauty in the world. Each place I visited this summer has been special. I stumbled on a quote from Toni Morrison during the pandemic, and now seems like the right time to share it. Morrison wrote, “At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough.” When I think about what fills me up, perhaps this is the answer -- the beauty of the natural world, which I had the privilege to experience in the places I went, the people I met, and the stories we shared. Oddly enough, what made me remember this quote was an otherwise unremarkable evening on one of my trips. When I was leaving Telluride, I spent the last night in Montrose where I visited a bar, and there a man was singing to just three of us. He sang Everything’s Beautiful by Dolly Parton, and it goes,

Words can't describe what I feel inside | When I see the beauty in each coming day | What my eyes behold can't be bought or sold | And everything's beautiful in its own way

Best Regards,

Phil Bevilacqua

Eric Schwarz

Alumni Interview Series

Eric Schwarz discusses how his interests in nuclear and radiochemistry inspired a memorable experience as an undergrad.

Department Happenings

this article is courtesy of ASBMB Today

Faculty Awards

Susan Sinnott recognized with 2022 AVS Medard W. Welch Award.

Student News

The Nittany Chemical Society receives an "Outstanding" in their local ACS Student Chapter Report.

Alumni News

Penn State chemistry alumnus Alain Bonny named 2022 Hanna H. Gray Fellow.

Staff Updates

We welcome Taylor McCracken as our new Graduate Program Assistant and Christina Stover as our new Undergrad Program Administrative Staff Assistant.

Our department is now fully staffed for the first time since before the pandemic!

left: Taylor McCracken right: Christina Stover

A Message from the Graduate Student Association (GSA)

On behalf of Vice-President Kara Pytko:

Happy spooky season, everyone! As we enter the month of October, let’s take a look at what the Chemistry GSA has accomplished this past month in terms of social gatherings, outreach opportunities, and professional development events! In September, we kicked off football season at our tailgate (Lot 11 near Arboretum), named Erica Graff as the winner of our annual T-Shirt Contest for her awesome lion scientist design, began our Lion Lecture series, held a networking and poster session, executed a departmental coffee hour, hosted a financial literacy overview for graduate students, held an informal discussion with ExxonMobil recruiter, Scott Berkhous PhD, and more!

In October, look forward to many more tailgates, coffee/happy hours, professional development events, and outreach! Our first Fall GSA outreach event was held at the Schlow Library (on Allen St in downtown State College) on September 8th. To find out more about our tailgates, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook! We will be posting our exact location each game day on Facebook.

left: Chemistry graduate students enjoy a coffee hour hosted by the GSA. right: Chemistry students tailgate at the first Penn State Football home game.

Follow us on Instagram (psuchemgsa), Twitter (@ChemGSA_PSU), Facebook (PSU Chemistry GSA) and LinkedIn (Penn State Chemistry Alumni) for more updates.

GSA Executive Board 2022-2023: Ryan Szukalo, President | Kara Pytko, Vice President | Theresa Buckley, Secretary | Maddy Helm, Treasurer | Mary Kate Caucci, Professional Development Chair | Haley Young, Outreach Chair | Olivia Peduzzi, External Liaison

top (left to right): Haley Young, Theresa Buckley, Maddy Helm, Olivia Peduzzi bottom (left to right): Mary Kate Caucci, Ryan Szukalo, Kara Pytko

The Teaching Corner with Jackie

Wise Feedback

We have reached that time in the semester when the first mid-term exams have been given and our students are in need of feedback. We focus on making our feedback SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-orientated, and Time bound) but we also need to make it WISE. Wise in this case does not mean smarter or better feedback. Wise is referring to psychological interventions, and they are attuned to how people make sense of things and social situations. Wise feedback statements are key after major assignments and have been shown to develop a student's trust in their instructors. Studies have shown that when instructors use wise feedback framing statements, students interpret these as “my instructor has a growth mindset regarding my abilities and there is no negative stereotyping or discrimination of my work."

When you give wise feedback you need to include 3 key elements in your statements. First, you acknowledge that you have set high expectations for performance. Second, you affirm that the student is capable of meeting these expectations and you and your instructional team are there to help them learn and grow. Finally, you provide specific strategies or behaviors that the student can use to increase their learning. You will want to refresh your statements throughout the semester. Repeating the same statement after each key assignment can become stale or come across as disingenuous. When creating WISE feedback statements, it is a great idea to ask your instructional team for feedback. It is also important for your team to know that you are sending these statements to students because they can help to affirm that they are genuine. In CHEM 500, we discussed wise feedback statements and the TAs had great suggestions to help create the most effective statements attuned to specific assignments. I know they would be happy and ready to help in craft them with you. I have provided some references to help guide the use of wise feedback. I hope you find this approach helpful in building trust and rapport with your students.

References:

SMART Feedback: https://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2017/4/19-1

https://www.learningscientists.org/downloadable-materials

https://collegetransitioncollaborative.org/wise-feedback-statement/ Cohen, G. L., Steele, C. M., & Ross, L. D. (1999). The mentor's dilemma: Providing critical feedback across the racial divide. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25(10), 1302–1318.

Yeager, D. S., Purdie-Vaughns, V., Garcia, J., Apfel, N., Brzustoski, P., Master, A., Hessert, W., & Williams, M. (2014). Breaking the Cycle of Mistrust: Wise Interventions to Provide Critical Feedback Across the Racial Divide. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143, 804–824.

Take care,

Jackie

Jackie Bortiatynski is a teaching professor for the Department of Chemistry at Penn State. She also serves as Director of the Center for Excellence in Science Education (CESE). Visit the CESE website for more information.
Created By
Kathryn Harlow
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