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News

UBC Chemistry: Take Part in the 2013 Shut the Sash Competition!

Background

 

Laboratories consume 10 times as much energy as other types of buildings on campus—from offices and classrooms to dorms. The biggest culprit? Fume hoods. Large amounts of energy are used to warm, cool and move air through fume hoods where researchers run experiments. A single fume hood can use over three times the energy of an entire household.

 

The Competition

 

Camille Gregory's Simple Wish - To Complete a B.Sc. in Chemistry

     This year, the Department of Chemistry has seen just over 100 students receive B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees. This week, as Fall Convocation celebrations take place, 30 of these chemistry students will be recognized. For those students, it has taken years of hard work and dedication; all of the papers are now written, and exams are now passed. It is their time to shine - 15 seconds of academic fame – to walk across the stage and be handed a gold embossed piece of paper.

Special Issue of Coord Chem Rev co-edited by Pierre Kennepohl

Pierre Kennepohl co-edited a massive two-volume special issue of Coordination Chemistry Reviews (volume 257, Issues 1-2) - dedicated to the contributions of Prof Edward I Solomon (Stanford University) on the occasion of his 65th birthday. The issue was co-edited by Peng Chen (Cornell University), Daniel Gamelin (University of Washington) with Pierre. All three were doctoral students in Ed's labs in the late 1990's.

Mark MacLachlan awarded a 2012 Killam Award for Excellence in Mentoring

Congratulations to Professor Mark MacLachlan who was recently awarded a 2012 Killam Award for Excellence in Mentoring. The award recognizes research supervisors who have provided sustained mentorship to numerous graduate students while researching at the mid-career level. Furthermore, the Killam Award for Excellence in Mentoring is quite unique among other faculty awards, as statements provided by referees, such as past and present students, are highly regarded in the nomination process.

Danielle Covelli and Co-workers make Cover of Organometallics

The front cover of the current issue of Organometallics features a paper that resulted from collaboration between recent UBC graduate Danielle Covelli (Kennepohl Group) and Cathleen Crudden (Queen’s University). The paper, entitled “Synthesis and Characterization of Cationic Peroxo Complexes,” explores the factors that control the relative stabilizations of RhIII{O22-} versus RhI{1O2} complexes. A combination of...

Danielle Covelli and Co-workers make Cover of Organometallics

2nd Annual “Chemistry: Beyond the Magic” Open House a Huge Success!

     On Saturday, October 20th, 2012, over 70 chemists of all makes and models came together to host the UBC Chemistry Department’s 2nd Annual Open House, entitled “Chemistry: Beyond the Magic”. The event, which saw over 200 visitors from the Greater Vancouver Area, included 9 different chemistry-themed demo shows, a full hands-on experiment room, and a complete C.S.I laboratory – not to mention a liquid nitrogen ice-cream parlour!

Roman Krems awarded the 2013 Keith Laidler Award

Congratulations to Professor Roman Krems who was recently awarded the 2013 Keith Laidler Award. The award recognizes early-career researchers who are working in Canada and who have made outstanding contributions to the fields of physical, theoretical or computational chemistry. Professor Krems will be presented with this award at the 96th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition taking place in Quebec City from May 26-30th, 2013, where he will also present this work...

Mark MacLachlan awarded the 2013 Strem Chemicals Award for Pure or Applied Inorganic Chemistry

Congratulations to Professor Mark MacLachlan who was awarded the 2013 Strem Chemicals Award for Pure or Applied Inorganic Chemistry this last month. The award recognizes researchers who have demonstrated exceptional promise while working in Canada and who have made outstanding contributions to the inorganic chemistry community. Professor MacLachlan will be presented with this award at the 96th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition taking place in Quebec City from May 26-30...

Renee Man and co-workers make cover of Angewandte Chemie International Edition

A paper entitled “Mechanism of Formation of Palladium Nanoparticles: Lewis Base Assisted, Low-Temperature Preparation of Monodisperse Nanoparticles” has been highlighted and featured as the back cover artwork in the November edition of Angewandte Chemie International Edition. The communication authored by R. Man, A. R. C. Brown, and Michael Wolf of the Chemistry Department reports for the first time how capped palladium nanoparticles are formed at low temperature, and with excellent control...

Gregory Dake awarded UBC “Sustainability Teaching & Learning Fellowship for 2012/13

Congratulations to Professor Gregory Dake who was recently awarded a UBC “Sustainability Teaching & Learning Fellowship” with the USI Teaching & Learning Office for the 2012/13 academic year. Fellows of this program include UBC faculty members who are exceptional leaders in sustainability education, and are tasked with advancing the education future generations of sustainability leaders while following UBC’s Sustainability Academic Strategy.

Congratulations to Chemistry staff member Brent Gawryluik!

Congratulations to Chemistry staff member, Brent Gawryluik, System Analyst and Computer Support Specialist on the UBC-TRIUMPH WestGrid Project, who just completed his Masters of Science in Information Systems at Athabasca University.

UBC Job Action

During job action, the university makes every effort to remain open and maintain normal operations. Updates are only provided for services affected by job action.  If you are aware of a service disruption, please contact Alert.PA@ubc.ca

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UBC Chemistry ranks top in Canada

According to the 2012 QS World University Ranking by Subject, the University of British Columbia has ranked top in Canada for Chemistry.

UBC Chemistry made #26 on the list for 2012, ahead of the University of Toronto at #34 and McGill at #46. Rounding out the top three are the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at #1, followed by UC Berkeley and Harvard.

UBC also ranked highest in Canada for Physics, and Earth and Marine Sciences.

Stanislav Konorov and coworkers make cover of Analyst

A paper entitled “Raman microspectroscopy of live cells under autophagy-inducing conditions” has been highlighted and featured as the cover artwork in the most recent issue of Analyst. The article, authored by S. Konorov, M. Jardon, J. Piret, Michael Blades (Department of Chemistry), and Robin Turner (Michael Smith Laboratories), focuses on the detection of autophagy in cells. Autophagy is a phenomenon exhibited by cells in response to various kinds of stress that allows cells to...

Michael Wolf awarded Peter Wall Major Thematic Grant

Professor Michael Wolf was recently awarded a Major Thematic Grant from the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies. Dr. Wolf received the 5-year grant valued at $500,000 for the project “Nanomaterials for Alternative Energy Applications”.

Chemistry grad student wins Vanier scholarship

UBC Chemistry graduate student Léanne Racicot has won the prestigious Vanier scholarship for her work on the total synthesis of thiopeptides, a family of antibiotics with potent activity against drug-resistant pathogens.

Summer camp 2012 students solve murder mystery in Chemistry’s “CSI Lab”

UBC Chemistry welcomed summer camp students to the Department on July 25 and August 1 2012 for a full day of forensic investigations in the UBC Chemistry “CSI” lab. The children, aged 13-15, took on the role of newly recruited forensic chemists who were tasked with the job of solving a fictional Chemistry Department murder mystery.

Postdoc receives UBC Science Travel Award

Congratulations to Ruth Webster, a Postdoctoral Fellow under Laurel Schafer, who has received a Faculty of Science Postdoctoral Travel Award.

Graduate students share love for chemistry at Science World

On a busy Saturday afternoon a group of graduate students from the Chemistry Department stand behind several activity tables, oozing enthusiasm and a passion for chemistry as they captivate children with giant bubbles and beakers filled with slime. Since 2011 this group of volunteers, headed by graduate student Susan Vickers with support from JM Lauzon, spend one afternoon a month at Vancouver’s TELUS World of Science running hands-on activities that entertain and educate kids of all ages....