by running for office this year!

The Executive Committee held a

retreat this summer to develop a

new Strategic Plan for the Local

Section. We are excited to share

it with you in this Newsletter and

on our website. Please feel wel-

come to contact me with your

valued feedback and ideas.

Please join me in thanking our

Past Chair, Dr. Jay Amicangelo,

for the progressive leadership

that he provided to our Section

for more than five years. I am

grateful to our Local Section

officers for their time, creativity

and guidance. I also thank you,

our members, for the important

work that you do as chemists.

We are partners in this Local

Section, and I look forward to a

productive year with you!

—LISA NOGAJ

W elcome to the

2016 Newslet-

ter for the Erie

Local Section of

the American Chemical Society.

It is an honor and a privilege to

serve as your Chairperson, at a

time when the Erie ACS is thriv-

ing. This past year, our Section

hosted nearly a dozen programs,

including speaker meetings, webi-

nars, networking socials, an ACS

Leadership Development Work-

shop and our Awards Banquet.

Our community engagement

ranged from National Chemistry

Week demonstration shows to

the Chemistry Olympiad compe-

titions and our Chemists Cele-

brate Earth Day Illustrated Poem

Contest. Though Erie is a small

local section, we offer a large

selection of programs geared

toward scientists and the public. I

congratulate the section on its

back-to-back ChemLuminary

Awards as the Outstanding Small

Local Section in the U.S.!

I am pleased to announce that we

will be moving to an electronic

balloting system for our elections

this fall. If you are able, please

consider diversifying our program

and sharing your leadership skills

For the second year in a row,

the Erie Local Section is the

recipient of the Outstanding

Performance by a Local Section –

Small Size Category Award. The

ChemLuminary winners were

announced at the 251st ACS

National Meeting in Philadelphia,

PA on August 23, 2016.

The Erie Local Section is one of

185 ACS local sections and one of

52 local sections in the small size

category (50-199 members). The

Executive Committee submitted a

self-nomination with our annual

FORMS report in February to

highlight the successes of our

programming over the past year.

Lisa Nogaj,

Erie ACS Chair

Chair’s Message

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Chem-Luminary

Awards

1

New Erie ACS

Digital Elections

2

New Erie ACS

Strategic Plan

2

Volunteer Op-

portunities

3

Awards and

Highlights

4-5

ACS Leadership

Course in Erie

6

Fall Calendar of

Erie ACS Events

6

Back-to-Back ChemLuminary Awards!

Newsletter S E P T E M B E R 6 , 2 0 1 6 V O L U M E 5 , I S S U E 1

2 0 1 6 O F F I C E R S

CHAIR

Lisa J. Nogaj

Gannon University

VICE CHAIR

Qun Gu

Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

SECRETARY

Christine Saber

Gannon University

TREASURER

Jason A. Bennett

Penn State Erie– The Behrend College

COUNCILOR

Betty Jo Chitester

Gannon University

ALTERNATE COUNCILOR

Matthew Heerboth

Gannon University

EXECUTORS

Keith Krise

Gannon University

Grace Galinato

Penn State Erie– The Behrend College

IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR

Jay C. Amicangelo

Penn State Erie– The Behrend College

E R I E L O C A L S E C T I O N

O F T H E A M E R I C A N

C H E M I C A L S O C I E T Y

P A G E 2

Get involved

with the Erie

ACS and our

new Strategic

Plan!

Alternate Councilor

Matthew Heerboth

accepts the Erie Section’s

ChemLuminary Award

for Outstanding Small

Local Section in Philly.

New Erie ACS Strategic Plan

ChemLuminary—con’t. Executor Keith Krise created a

poster highlighting our section’s

activities that Alternate Counci-

lor Matthew Heerboth present-

ed at the ACS National Meeting

in Philly. The Erie Local Section

was selected among three out-

standing finalists for this award.

As highlighted by ACS, "Erie

addressed problems of low

attendance at meetings, encour-

aged participation of industrial

chemists, and enticed young

faculty to participate in ACS."

The Erie ACS was nominated in

a second category, Best Activity

Stimulating Member Involvement,

for our new Periodic Attend-

ance Card program. A total of

44 ChemLuminary Awards

were presented at the event.

Congratulations to our section

members on this prestigious

national recognition!

The Executive Committee met in August 2016 to develop a 3-year Strategic Plan for the Erie Local Section.

We welcome your input and look forward to working together to achieve the goals of our organization!

N E W S L E T T E R

The Erie ACS Executive Committee is pleased to

announce that we will be partnering with Simply

Voting, a web-based online voting system, for our

upcoming 2016 Local Section Elections! All Mem-

bers on our roster who have an email address

listed with ACS National will receive an online link

to cast their vote this year. Any Members who do

NOT have an email address listed with ACS Na-

tional will receive a paper ballot. (You can log in to

your account at www.acs.org to update your email

address and preferences.)

— KEITH KRISE and GRACE GALINATO

The following officer positions are open in these

elections:

2017 Chair (1-year term)

2017 Vice-Chair (1-year term)

2017 Secretary (1-year term)

2017 Treasurer (1-year term)

2017-2019 Councilor (3-year term)

2017-2018 Executor (2-year term)

Contact Erie Local Section Executors with ques-

tions or to self-nominate. And remember to vote

in the local and national ACS elections this fall!

Local Section Elections Are Going Digital

VISION

Advancing knowledge of the

chemical sciences through-

out our community.

MISSION

The Erie Local Section unites chemists in northwest Pennsylvania to pro-

mote the chemical sciences through education, networking and commu-

nity engagement for the benefit of its members and the local community.

GOAL 1

Promote effective

chemistry education in

our local community.

GOAL 2 Within 2 years, estab-

lish a network of cur-

rent and future chem-

istry professionals who

collaborate to share

resources and skills.

GOAL 3 Advocate on the im-

portance of chemistry

with regard to com-

munity issues and per-

ceptions.

Date Description

Sept. 1 Call for Nominations Open

Oct. 1 Nominations due to Executors

Oct. 15 Ballots distributed to Members

Nov. 1 Ballots due to Executors

Nov. 15 Election results announced

National Chemistry Week

P A G E 3

V O L U M E 5 , I S S U E 1

An illustrated poem created by a

St. Luke School student took

second place in a national con-

test sponsored by ACS.

The winning entry comes from

Tommy Palotas, an eighth grade

student whose illustrated poem

addressed this year’s Chemists

Celebrate Earth Day (CCED)

theme, “The Great Indoors–

Your Home’s Ecosystem”. Tom-

my’s colorful poem was the first-

place entry in the Erie Local

Section of ACS, which qualified

him for the national competition.

His entry went on to win second

place at the national level.

Dr. Betty Jo Chitester, local

coordinator for the event,

shared, “Our Section is very

impressed and very proud of

Tommy, as well as all our Erie

school children’s understanding

and appreciation of today’s envi-

ronmental threats and challenges,

and their strong sense of stew-

ardship for our common home.”

Says Dr. Lisa Nogaj, Chair of the

Erie Local Section , “The Ameri-

can Chemical Society is the

world’s largest scientific society

and a global leader in providing

access to chemistry-related re-

search. Our local section is

thrilled to be sponsoring com-

munity-based events that con-

nect young people with the posi-

tive role that chemistry plays in

all of our lives.”

Chemists Celebrate Earth Day Winner!

Did You Know?

The 2017

International

Chemistry

Olympiad will

be held in

Thailand!

Chemistry Olympiad Program The International Chemistry Olympi-

ad (IChO) is a chemistry competition

for high school students. The IChO

motivates young people to achieve

excellence in chemistry. ACS has

sponsored the program since 1984.

This year, 93 students from 6 schools

across Erie and Crawford counties

took the ACS Local Exam. Ten top

performers were selected to com-

pete in the ACS National Exam at

Edinboro University in April. These

students and their teachers were

recognized at our Awards Banquet.

High school teachers can get students

involved by contacting our Local

Section IChO Coordinator Chris-

tine Saber (saber003@gannon.edu).

The 2016 National Chemistry

Week (NCW) theme is

“Solving Mysteries Through

Chemistry”, and we’re gearing

up to showcase the chemistry

of fibers and forensics! The

Erie ACS will be part of this national science

celebration as we host our annual chemistry

demo show at the Millcreek Mall on Satur-

day, November 5.

Each year, nearly 50 Erie ACS volunteers

share NCW with shoppers and families. Vol-

unteers can choose to help set up and take

down the event, perform demonstrations, or

discuss chemistry with the public. Our NCW

coordinators make it easy by supplying the

materials and instructions!

ACS members, teachers, students and friends

of the local section are invited to join us for

this fun event. There will be a morning shift

and an afternoon shift for volunteers.

To sign up as an individual or to bring your

group of science enthusiasts, please contact

our Erie NCW coordinators: Matthew

Heerboth (heerboth001@gannon.edu),

Jason Bennett (jab95@psu.edu) and Keith

Krise (krise001@gannon.edu).

VOLUNTEER CORNER The Erie ACS is bringing great chemistry into our community!

P A G E 4

You could win a $50

Amazon.com gift

card just for joining

us at events this fall!

N E W S L E T T E R

2016 Erie ACS Awards Banquet Recap On April 18, 2016 the local section held its

Awards Banquet at Edinboro University. We

recognized the following individuals and

played an exciting game of Chemistry Jeop-

ardy to round out the evening!

The top ten students who competed in the

National Chemistry Olympiad exam at Edin-

boro University received the 2016 Chemis-

try Olympiad Award.

Cathedral Preparatory School

Jason Constable

Andrew Haverly

General McLane High School

Joel Linebach

Evan Sneed

McDowell High School

John Easly

Dan Song

Mercyhurst Preparatory School

Adam Beaufort

Francesco Corso

NWPA Collegiate Academy

Gavin Restifo

John Wolford

2016 Chemistry Olympiad Teacher

Awards recognized outstanding high school

teachers who mentored students participat-

ing in the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad.

Cathedral Preparatory School

Mr. Brian Markley

General McLane High School

Mr. Bradley Wheeler

McDowell High School

Mr. Robert Hodgson

Mr. Jacob Tobolewski

Mercyhurst Preparatory School

Ms. Jane Fisher

NWPA Collegiate Academy

Ms. Jennifer Kuntz

2016 Outstanding First Year Chemistry

Award winners were selected by the faculty

of their school for outstanding performance

in first year chemistry.

Allegheny

College

Michael Siegel

Edinboro University

Ashley Moore

Gannon University

Cassandra Kiser

Mercyhurst University

Matthew Schneider

Penn State Erie, Behrend College

Marcela Rodriguez

Univ. Pittsburgh at Titusville

Elizabeth Leshi

The Erie Local Section congratulates two

section members who reached ACS mem-

bership milestones this year.

Fifty Year ACS Member

Sister Mary Claire Kennedy

Sixty Year ACS Member

Mr. John A. Dreibelbis

Congratulations to all of

our Erie Local Section

award winners on another

great year!

Do you attend events with the Erie Local Section? We

hope to inspire more than “periodic attendance” with

our member engagement program for fall 2016!

Here’s how it works. All ACS Members and guests will

receive a Periodic Attendance Card (PAC) at our Sec-

tion events this fall. Playing is simple. We’ll stamp your

PAC at each event you attend. Then either send in your

card or stop by our Holiday Party, where you’ll earn

one raffle ticket per event attended. Lucky winners will

be drawn! It’s a win— win!

ERIE ACS AWARDS Catch up on all the highlights from our 2016 Awards Banquet!

Periodic Attendance Cards are Back!

2016 Erie Local Section Teacher of the Year

2016 Erie Local Section Member of the Year

P A G E 5 V O L U M E 5 , I S S U E 1

The Erie Local Section Member of the Year

Award is presented annually at our awards

banquet. This award is given in recognition

of “the outstanding volunteer efforts and

contributions of an ACS Erie Local Section

Member.” Of the 150 members in our local

section, the ACS Awards Committee selects

one person who has gone above and beyond

the call of duty for our local section.

Dr. Christine Saber is this year’s award

winner. Dr. Saber joined our Local Section

two years ago and stepped forward to serve

as the Section’s coordinator for the U.S.

National Chemistry Olympiad. In this role,

she carries out extensive preliminary work

by ordering exams, communicating with area

high schools, scheduling times to drop off

and pick up exams, and scoring student’s

submissions. Dr. Saber arranges invitations

to recognize talented students and teachers

at our annual awards banquet.

Dr. Saber was selected by the National ACS

as one of only three Members to coach the

top 20 student finalists representing our

country in the International Chemistry

Olympiad. She worked with these students

during a two-week study camp in June. She

then accompanied the top 4 students as they

traveled to Tbilisi, Georgia

in July, bringing home four

medals: one gold, two

silver and one bronze.

We are grateful to Dr.

Saber for her leadership,

dedication to science edu-

cation and efforts to go

above and beyond for the

benefit of students in our

local section and across

the United States.

2016 Erie ACS Member Spotlight

In the Erie ACS Member Spotlight,

we highlight the career or volun-

teer contributions of a local sec-

tion member. Sister Mary Claire

Kennedy attended Villa Maria

College and earned her Ph.D. in

biochemistry from Duquesne Uni-

versity. This distinguished scholar

taught chemistry at Villa Maria

College, moved overseas to the

University of Konstanz in southern

Germany and worked at the Medi-

cal College of Wisconsin as a full

professor. Her academic work has

resulted in more than 60 scholarly

articles in the field of chemistry.

She currently serves as a social

justice coordinator for the Sisters

of St. Joseph of Northwest Penn-

sylvania, where she organizes

“Take Back the Site” vigils to com-

bat acts of violence, and she is an

outspoken activist against human

trafficking in Erie and beyond. We

are honored to recognize her

achievements and contributions

not only to the scientific communi-

ty, but also to the shared commu-

nities in which we live.

Sister Kennedy is one of this year’s

recipients of the ACS 50-Year

Member Award.

Christine Saber,

our 2016 Erie ACS

Member of the Year

The Erie Local Section Teacher of the Year

Award is presented annually at our awards

banquet. This award is given in recognition

of “the outstanding efforts and achievements

of a local teacher in the field of chemical

education.” Each year, our ACS Awards

Committee seeks nominations from 30 high

schools in Erie and Crawford counties, and

then selects a teacher who has made a last-

ing and positive impact on their students and

their academic community. Mr. Robert

Hodgson is this year’s award winner.

Mr. Hodgson was nominated by several of

his students, who noted his ability to “make

the content come alive” and make chemistry

“more meaningful than simply words in a

book.” They described how he makes time

for his students before and after school to

talk about chemistry, college, and life. About

our winner, one student shared that, “He

recognizes every student has different abili-

ties and he works to find a way to reach

every one of us; he leaves no student be-

hind.” One nominator shared that “having a

teacher like Mr. Hodgson

has made me a better

person.” Clearly, he is the

kind of educator that

inspired many of us into

the chemistry profession.

Please join us in congratu-

lating Mr. Hodgson on his

outstanding accomplish-

ments in chemistry edu-

cation!

Sister Mary Claire

Kennedy, our

2016 Erie ACS

Spotlight Member

Robert Hodgson,

our 2016 Erie ACS

Teacher of the Year

The Erie Local Section of the American Chemical Society

encompasses Erie and Crawford counties in northwest-

ern Pennsylvania. Our local section was chartered in

1923 and serves a diverse membership from all fields of

chemistry, ranging from student members to retired

chemists. The overall goals of our group are to increase

collaborative interaction between local chemists, to foster

opportunities for career development, and to invigorate

community interest in the sciences through outreach

programs.

Join ACS for Fun and Informative Fall Events!

http://erie.sites.acs.org

To suggest content, propose a member for us to spot-

light, advertise job opportunities, or provide feedback for

the next issue of this Newsletter, please contact Newslet-

ter Editor Lisa Nogaj at nogaj002@gannon.edu.

For additional information about getting involved in the

ACS Erie Local Section, please contact any of your sec-

tion officers or visit us online.

Hone Your Leadership Skills with ACS For the second year in a row,

the Erie ACS has been awarded

an ACS Local Section Activities

Committee (LSAC) grant to

host a Leadership Development

Course, right here in Erie! On

November 12, 2016, we will be

hosting “Collaborating Across

Boundaries”, a highly interactive

workshop that will provide lead-

ers and professionals with strat-

egies and tools needed to make

collaboration across organiza-

tional boundaries more produc-

tive and more rewarding.

Attendees in this 4-hour facili-

tated course will learn strategies

and tools including:

Developing common goals

Ensuring equity between what

individuals and groups bring,

and what they gain from the

effort

Gaining commitment from

individuals and groups

Establishing trust and resolv-

ing conflict

Who should attend? Anyone

leading or planning to lead a

project or initiative that re-

quires collaboration between

different organizations or de-

partments. Apply these skills to

your professional, academic,

volunteer or leadership roles.

The first 12 registrants on our

EventBrite website will automat-

ically receive a scholarship

worth $150 to cover the cost of

the course. Look for the email

announcement this fall!

Kick-Off Picnic with Sigma Xi

Thursday evening, August 18 at Glenwood Park, 6:30-8:30 PM

Speaker Meeting with Dr. Jack Williams

Professor of Chemistry, Mercyhurst University

Tuesday evening, September 20 at Gannon University, 6:30-7:30 PM

Program-in-a-Box with the Younger Chemists Committee

“The Chemist’s Code for Success” Webinar and Networking Event

Wednesday evening, October 19 at Edinboro University, 6:30-8:00 PM

National Chemistry Week Volunteer Event

Saturday morning, November 5 at the Millcreek Mall

Leadership Development Course

“Collaborating Across Boundaries”

Saturday morning, November 12 at Penn State Behrend

December Holiday Party/Periodic Attendance Card Raffle

Thursday evening, December 8 at The Plymouth Tavern, 6:00-8:00 PM

Back to school: The ACS

Collaborating Across Bound-

aries course will be hosted

at Behrend this November.