C2C turns 1!

Commitment to Catalysis turns 1 today!

Thanks to everyone who is following. My goal for this next year is to post more frequently--I am aiming for 2-3 times per week. Watch your feed for more updates from the wonderful field of chemical biology and exciting commentary from a graduate student.

Betabrand's Smart Fashion

I'm not usually one to write about clothing or pay much attention to fashion (1). But I will make an exception to discuss San Francisco-based Betabrand. Back in January, Betabrand sent out an open casting call for a photoshoot that would highlight their spring clothing collection. The call specified the company wanted women with advanced degrees or who were working towards advanced degrees. 

Over 60 women Ph.D.s and doctoral candidates responded to the call, including my own classmate, Nicole. 

If you have time, visit Betabrand's website and check out the collection. Even if the clothing is not your style, I think we can all agree that these women are rockstars. 

              

1) In fact, I tend to wear my clothing until it is literally falling apart. 

2) Disclaimer: I am in no way being paid to endorse Betabrand. 

Science Questions from Second Graders

The following is a partial list of the questions asked to me and my classmate today while teaching 2nd graders about the 5 senses:

1. Do we get to try all the [5 senses] stations?
2. Do you like candy? Do you like sour patch kids?
3. Do you like lemonade?
4. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
5. Why are we eating paper? [When passing out the taste test strips]
6. Are you poisoning us?!! [After eating the bitter-tasting PTC test strip]
7. What's on your face? [Pointing to a handful of pimples on my forehead]
8. Can you still taste if you are death [sic]? [I think this student meant 'deaf']
9. How does hair grow?
10. Why do stars glow?
11. What is a shooting star?
12. Does Pluto still exist?
13. Do you have fun?
14. Do you still live with your parents?
15. Do you have a boyfriend?
16. How old are you?
17. Are you two [myself and my classmate] sisters?
18. How do tornados get strong enough to throw houses and basketballs and stuff?
19. Why do we get storms?
20. When are you coming back?

Can't wait to see what they come up with for the next time I visit!

Happy Beryllium Aniversary to Me

The Toast: Search for a Gal Scientist

For those of you who are up on the blogosphere, The Toast is searching for a female, PhD-level scientist to author a regularly occurring science column. As part of the search process, they have been running a series of one-off posts from female scientist contributors. 

To read the full archive, follow this link or look for the tag 'gal science' on their website. 

Physicist Kerstin Nordstrom is the author of the most recent Gal Science post. She addresses the frequently asked question 'So what is it you do?' and offers tips for interacting with scientists. If you have time, the entire post is a wonderful read. To paraphrase her advice, don't treat us like magical creatures, don't say things like "Oh, you must be really smart," and don't put us on the spot about our research topics unless you are genuinely interested in the answer. 

And most importantly, do not compare me to Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory.

SEP Volunteering: Year 3

I've written about UCSF's Science-Education Partnership (SEP) program previously.  Since arriving at UCSF in 2011, I've been involved with two semester-long programs. My first year I was involved with the Bio&Chem Teach program, where I was partnered with a 7th grade life-science classroom. Last year I participated in the STAT program and was placed with a 4th grade classroom. 

This is my third year volunteering with SEP. After some scheduling difficulties, my classmate and I were placed in a pair of 2nd grade classrooms. Although both teachers are new to the SEP program, they brought a lot of great ideas to our first planning meeting and I am incredibly excited to be working with their students. 

Our first visit to the classroom to meet the students was last week. Both classrooms had great questions for us and were excited to hear we were coming back four more times over the course of the semester. We've planned a series of lessons progressing from good/bad bacteria to human intestines, with lots of interesting experiments along the way. Hopefully by the end of the school-year I can convince some of them to stick with science!

Seminar

It's always really fantastic to attend seminar and listen to the amazing research being performed at other institutions. It's even cooler when you and a classmate are able to host the speaker.