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chemistry

Science Students Shine at Sigma Xi Conference

November 11, 2016

trophydtUniversity of Portland science students swept the undergraduate awards in the “Earth & Environmental Sciences” category at the Thirteenth Annual Sigma Xi Student Research Symposium, held on Friday, November 4 at Portland State University, according to faculty advisor Ted Eckmann, environmental studies.

Summer Grandy won 1st place for her coauthored paper, “Developing New Soils to Improve Green Roof Performance in the US Pacific Northwest.” Logan Simpson won second place for her coauthored piece, “Combining Spatial Interpolation with Wind Data to Analyze Industrial Odor Patterns in Portland.” The are the first students from UP’s environmental studies department to win awards at Sigma Xi, and the first from that department to present there.

Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, is the international honor society of science and engineering. See more at this link.

 

Filed Under: 11-14-2016, Academics Tagged With: biology, chemistry, Environmental Studies

Sr. Angela Hoffman, O.S.B., Outstanding Higher Education Teacher in Science and Mathematics

February 24, 2014

hoffmanSr. Angela Hoffman, O.S.B., chemistry, has been named the Oregon Academy of Science 2014 Outstanding Higher Education Teacher in Science and Mathematics. Hoffman has helped undergraduate students with more than 150 projects involving the ingredient Paclitaxel and the anti-cancer drug Taxol (marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb). University of Portland environmental science professor Bob Butler was the recipient of the same award in 2013.

Paclitaxel is found originally in the rare and rapidly vanishing Yew tree, native to the Pacific Northwest. Taxol is used to treat ovarian cancer, breast cancer, the AIDS-related cancer Kaposi’s sarcoma, and other conditions. Hoffman currently has four patents from 1997, 2003, 2006, and 2010, all pertaining to recovering taxanes (including Taxol) from soil around yew trees and other plants that are grown to produce Taxol.

This past November, several dozen yew trees were planted on the University’s River Campus. Known as “Sr. Angela’s Yew Garden,” the garden is home to more than 10 different varieties of the yew tree, which Hoffman and her students will use for their research.

Hoffman was recognized in 2012 as an American Chemical Society (ACS) Fellow for her “outstanding achievements in and contributions to Science, the Profession, and the Society.” In 2007, Hoffman was chosen as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow in 2007.

The Oregon Academy of Science promotes scientific research and education in Oregon representing all areas of the natural sciences and social sciences. To see a video interview with Sr. Angela go to http://youtu.be/KbVC2xYcfVU. For more information, contact Steve Kolmes, environmental studies, at 7291 or kolmes@up.edu.

Filed Under: 02-24-2014, Academics, Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences Tagged With: Bob Butler, chemistry, Oregon Academy of Science, Sr. Angela Hoffman OSB, Steve Kolmes, Taxol

Faculty Update

January 8, 2013

Bonnie Parks, library, published“Books at JSTOR: An Interview with Bruce Heterick” in v. 38:4 (2012) of Serials Review: http://tinyurl.com/cbtapln.

Eugenijus Urnezius, chemistry, presented a seminar, “Binucleating ligands based on phosphineappended hydroquinones: A rewarding challenge“ at Vilnius University in Lithuania’s Neorganic Chemistry Auditorium on December 19, 2012.

 

Filed Under: 01-07-2013, Update Tagged With: Bonnie Parks, chemistry, Eugenijus Urnezius, Library

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Anita Gooding, social work, was selected as a 2020-2021 Field Research Scholar by the Transforming Field Education Landscape (TFEL) program at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. Scholars attend regular seminars and present their own research related to strengthening field education in social work.

Ösel Plante, development, has a debut collection of poetry titled Waveland set for publication by Black Lawrence Press in April 2021. Please use this link to learn more.

Aziz Inan, Shiley School of Engineering. recently shared some of his work on palindrome dates with the staff of Farmers’ Almanac which lead to an articled titled “2021: A Special Year For Palindrome Dates, Starting This Month!” See the article using this link.

Bob Butler, professor emeritus of environmental studies; Jenda Johnson, Earth Sciences Animated; and Nic Zentner, Central Washington University, published an animation titled “Ghost Forests: Evidence for a Giant Earthquake & Tsunami in the Pacific Northwest.” This animation explores how Native American oral history, geology of ghost forests in coastal Washington and Oregon, and written accounts of a tsunami that flooded Japanese Pacific Coast villages converge to document the most recent Cascadia subduction zone megathrust earthquake on January 26, 1700 at about 9 p.m. The Ghost Forest animation can be found on the IRIS website at: https://www.iris.edu/hq/inclass/animation/740 or on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xPbt8iiDRo&feature=youtu.be.

Steven Kolmes, environmental studies, wrote an editorial on “Sustainability and the Role of Higher Education” in Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, Vol. 62, , pp. 2-3. See the article at this link. He also contributed “On a ‘Just’ Transition, Environment” in Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 63:1, 29-31, DOI: 10.1080/00139157.2021.1842715.. See the article using this link.

Amber Vermeesch, nursing, received an Opus Prize Foundation Grant Sabbatical Support, Opus Prize Foundation, $5,000, on November 12, 2020.

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UPbeat is a newsletter for University of Portland faculty and staff published through the marketing & communications office; submit information to Marc Covert, upbeat editor, at 8132 or upbeat@up.edu. Submission deadline is noon the Thursday prior to publication. Submissions may be edited for clarity, consistency, brevity, or style.

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