Carolyn Graverson’s First Semester at Grad School

As part of our check-in with the COVID-19 series interviewees, we thought a student’s point of view would be interesting. When we spoke with Carolyn Graverson last spring, she was completing her senior year at Lewis University and preparing to pursue graduate studies in chemistry at Rice University. She was home from Rice when we spoke.

Still not your usual year

Carolyn’s first semester courses were “blended.” Two were fully online; others combined in-person and digital learning. As she worked in a lab and as a TA, Carolyn had high priority status to get weekly COVID-19 tests. These, plus mandatory indoor and outdoor mask-wearing, and students pledging to stay safe and isolate, made it comfortable for Carolyn to be on campus. She attended different groups’ virtual meetings and visited their labs in person to choose her research focus. As there were fewer in-person meetings, it wasn’t the same as pre-pandemic. Nonetheless, Carolyn is happy with her decision to join the Matthew R. Jones Lab, focusing on nanoparticle assembly and ligand design. (more…)

When the Washington Post publicized the launch of North America’s first all-electric, zero-emissions boats, they referred to an authoritative article on battery safety in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society. The introduction of two electric Maid of the Mist tour vessels at Niagara Falls heralds a new era in maritime travel. The boats, which run on dual banks of lithium ion batteries charged with hydro-electric power supplied by the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant, are a zero-emission operation. But are their Li-ion batteries safe? (more…)

Professor Jason Keleher

Jason Keleher and his students share their experience, strength, and hope 

The pandemic sent shockwaves through the academic community. Some institutions are weathering the storm better than others. At Lewis University (LU), Professor Jason Keleher and his students, Carolyn Graverson, Abigail “Abby” Linhart, and Katie Wortman-Otto, are optimistic. In our series, The ECS Community Adapts and Advances, they share their COVID-19 experiences and hopes for the future.

Motivation matters

Jason Keleher, Associate Professor and Chair of the LU Chemistry Department, describes what motivates him to meet the daunting changes confronting faculty. “I keep going because of my great group of students, colleagues, and collaborators. They inspire me every day to work at what is most interesting to the community in terms of solutions to globally pressing problems—whether it’s COVID-19, alternative energy, or waste treatment. Even if our only communication is digital, I appreciate that my team is committed to learning and knowledge in order to become accomplished scientists. I get a chance to be part of that journey.” (more…)

The Electrochemical Society honors 2019 Nobel Chemistry Prize laureates, John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino, by the launch of a new collection highlighting their scientific contributions published by ECS. In addition, ECS recognizes their contributions in the winter 2019 issue of Interface, now available online.

Goodenough, Whittingham, and Yoshino have been deeply involved with The Electrochemical Society—as members, authors, editors, fellows, meeting participants and organizers, awardees, and more. Their publications with ECS, to varying degrees, trace the history of the development of the Lithium-ion battery, the revolutionary invention for which they shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. (more…)

In “Approaches for the Electrochemical Interrogation of DNA-Based Sensors: A Critical Review,” Miguel Aller Pellitero, Alexander Shaver, and Netzahualcóyotl (Netz) Arroyo-Currás reviewed the specific advantages of the electroanalytical methods most commonly used for the interrogation of DNA-based sensors.

Arroyo-Currás, ECS member and associate editor, Journal of the Electrochemical Society sensors technical area, provided more background information to the article in response to questions from the ECS Blog.

What are DNA-based electrochemical sensors?

These are measurement platforms that employ any form of DNA as the molecular recognition element. We must remember that electrochemistry is extremely sensitive (for example, there is significant work regarding stochastic detection of single entities like molecules, nanoparticles and whole cells and viruses) but lacks specificity; thus, relying on the molecular binding properties of DNA allows us to selectively detect molecules even in complex biological environments. (more…)

Deadline: March 1, 2020

The ECS Sensor Division Outstanding Achievement Award was established in 1989 to recognize outstanding achievement in research and/or technical contributions to the field of sensors and to encourage work excellence in the field. The award consists of a framed certificate and a $1,000 prize. The next award winner is recognized at the PRiME 2020, in Honolulu, HI, from October 4-9, 2020.

Joseph Wang received the award in 2018. He is Distinguished Professor, SAIC Endowed Chair and Chair in the Department of Nanoengineering at University of California, San Diego; and director of the UCSD Center of Wearable Sensors. His award talk, “Electrochemical Sensors: From Beakers to the Skin and the Mouth,” was presented at the 2018 PRiME meeting in Hawaii.

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Nominations Deadline: March 15

The Electrochemical Society (ECS) Battery Division is accepting nominations for four awards: the Battery Division Research Award, Technology Award, Postdoctoral Associate Research Award, and Student Research Award. The award winners are recognized at PRiME 2020 in Honolulu, Hawaii, from October 4-9, 2020.

Battery Division Research Award: established in 1958 to encourage excellence in battery and fuel cell research, and to encourage publication in ECS journals. The winner receives a framed certificate; a $2,000 prize; and ECS Battery Division membership for as long as the recipient maintains Society membership.

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