 |
South Central Missouri Section |
|
|
|
South Central Missouri Section |
|
|
Ms. Constance Wyrick, of Tuscumbia High School in Tuscumbia, MO, was awarded the 2007 South Central Missouri - Outstanding Chemistry Teacher Award. The award consisted of a plaque and an honorarium of $300. The award is sponsored by the South Central Missouri Local Section of the American Chemistry Society (ACS). The award was presented to Ms. Wyrick on Tuesday, March 18, 2008, at 4:30 p.m. in Room G-3 Schrenk Hall at the University of Missouri-Rolla. A lecture, open to the public, by Sara J. Risch of Michigan State University, entitled: Flavor Chemistry, followed the award ceremony. Picture: Ms. Wyrick (c) with C. Chusuei (l) and F. Blum (r).
Ms. Wyrick is in her 32nd year of teaching students and has been named the National Intel Outstanding Research Teacher of the year. She has also served as an instructor at Lincoln University in the gifted program, the Missouri Scholars Academy, and the Missouri Department of Education.
Doug Kempler, Principal of her high school states "Mrs. Wyrick's dedication towards student learning is second to none. She genuinely cares for all students and does the extra things that good teachers need to do. She is a large part of our community and her dedication is greatly appreciated."
Paul Nam, Chemistry faculty member at Missouri S&T wrote "Mrs. Wyrick is a very dedicated science teacher who is making outstanding contribution to the scientific education of her students."
Former recipients of this award include: Bill Brent (Rolla), John Hambacker (Salem), Bill Nelson (Potosi), James Jenkins (St. James), Karen Hammond (Rolla), Gayle Lucian (Rolla), Peggy Brown (Newberg), Pam Probert (Mansfield).
At the meeting on April 23, 2007, two 50 year ACS members, Dr. Charles Heitsch and Mr. Les Weinert were honored for their service to the Scoiety.
Charles (Chuck) Heitsch received a BS and PHD degree from the University of Michigan working with Robert Parry. He then joined the faculty at Iowa State University, and later moved to duPont (Wilmington, DE) and Monsanto (St. Louis). In 1986, he moved to the University of Missouri-Rolla (mst) as Assistant Department Chair. During this time he served as Chair of the South-Central Missouri Local Section and the 1997 Midwest ACS meeting. Chuck retired to maintain his apple orchard in Bourbon MO. Picture: F. Blum (l) and Charles Heitsch (r).
Mr. Lester A. Wienert received his bachelor degree in Chemistry at Iowa State University in 1952 and was then employed at Swifton Company in Tennessee. He joined the ACS in 1959. He then left Swifton to join Beckman Laboratories and worked in this company for 21 years. He left Beckman Labs to start Wienert Manufacturing Company which he still runs to this day. In 1998, he had sold the operation. In 2008, he started a new venture called "Grab Em Paints" in Louisburg, MO. Mr. Wienert has also co-taught the polymer short courses for a number of years at Missouri S&T alongside with Drs. Jim Stoffer, Michael Van de Mark and Harvest L. Collier. His area of specialty is in anticorrosive and antimicrobial additives in coatings. For his continued passion and dedication in Chemistry, the South Central Missouri Local Section is pleased to present Mr. Lester A. Wienert with his Certificate of Recognition of 50 years of service to the American Chemical Society. Picture: Les Wienert (l) and C. Chusuei (r).
We eat food for basic nourishment but also for the enjoyment that it gives us. One big part of that enjoyment is the flavor of the food. Many people will try a product once, but if it doesn't taste good, they will not try it again. Flavor chemistry is a fascinating area of research covering the analysis of what contributes to the flavor of the products that we eat to development of flavors that will work in a wide variety of products to the quest for new and unique flavors. As an example of what contributes to the flavor of a product, analytical chemists have identified over 800 volatile compounds in roasted coffee. The question is which of these are most important to creating a good coffee flavor. In terms of development, consumers want convenience and quality. Flavors tend to be unstable so there is a constant challenge to find ways to protect flavors as they go through heating, cooling, packaging and storage. Finally, there is always the search for that new or unique flavor that will be the next big blockbuster flavor--the next blue raspberry. An overview of flavor chemistry and current areas of research will be presented.
Audience Level Specialists (highly trained), Chemists, Students,
During his boyhood in Shanghai, China, R. Liu often heard the statement: "Dogs can see ghosts!" Now after more than three decades of research in Vitamin A and visual pigments, he asked himself whether there is scientific basis that "dogs can see ghosts". Preparing to answer this question in this presentation, he will first review the important development in the chemistry of vision in recent decades with particular emphasis on the work carried out at the University of Hawaii. Topics covered will be: stereospecificity of the binding site of rhodopsin, the probing of specific protein-substrate interactions (in rhodopsin) through F-NMR spectroscopy, the specific mode of photoreaction that triggers the visual process and the unusually high photosensitivity of rhodopsin.
Our society has diverse energy choices. While availability and cost are concerns; safety, environmental impact, and infrastructure must also be considered. Alternative fuels, fuel cells, electric power, and advanced conventional technologies such as alternative fuels for diesel will all be compared in order to better understand the technical challenges and political consequences.
Last updated - Friday, October 31, 2008- fdb