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fission product THE RHODE ISLAND SECTION OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

“THE FIRST SECTION"

Vol 60 No. 2 May, 2011

May Meeting Tuesday, May 3, 2011 University of Rhode Island

Kingston, Rhode Island

Dr. Robert Rafka Pfizer

Gardening Science and Gardening Superstition… The Latter May Be Better Than You Think

5:00 Reception Home of Louis Kirschenbaum (1783 South Rd, Kingston)* 6:15 Buffet Dinner University Club (Upper College Rd) 7:30 Lecture University Club For dinner reservations, please call Lauren Bauer at 874-2318 or email lbauer@chm.uri.edu by Thurs-day, April 28. Cost: $20, $5 for students. *Route 1 to 138 W to Kingston. First left after light is South Rd, first house on left is L. Kirschenbaum

Abstract Successful gardeners are adept at passing down best practices. For generations, doing this or adding that at an appointed time has been known to result in better harvests or a healthier house plants. Some of these practices often appear to border on superstition, yet they’re passed from one generation to the next because they actually work. As a Master Gardener, I frequently interact with the gardening public and relish the opportunity to collect, ponder, and eventually shed some scientific light on these ritualistic practices. In this lecture, I’ll describe a number of time-honored gardening practices and then attempt to explain the chemistry that makes them succeed.

Robert Rafka, Ph.D. Dr. Robert Rafka has two great loves in life, chemistry and gardening and he’s been avidly pursuing both since he was a child back in central New York.

Bob began his training in chemistry at Syracuse University. His initial research project was on organo-boron-mediated aldol reactions under the supervision of Professor Ei-ichi Negishi. He joined the ACS there as a student affiliate back in 1979 and graduated in 1981, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He holds a Ph.D. degree in carbohydrate chemistry from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, where he studied under the direction of Professor Walter Szarek. Bob completed his academic career as a post-doc at the Monell Center in Philadelphia where he was a Corn Refiners Association National Fellow. He has been employed as a chemist at Pfizer in Groton, CT, since 1987 and is currently an associate research fellow in the separation science group. He is an author on ten scientific papers and an inven-tor on seven US patents. Bob completed the URI Master Gardener course in 1998 and, because of his chemistry background, quickly gravitated towards projects that were soil-related. Later this month, he’ll be joining the URI Master Gardener Hall of Fame with over 1000 hours served in and around Rhode Island.

Report from the 2011 RIACS Awards Night Tuesday, April 19, 2011 at Providence College

At the 2011 Poster Session and Awards Banquet, the following presenta-tions were made: Dr. Elaine Magyar presented the Outstanding Chemistry Project, Rhode Island Science and Engineering Fair Award to Daniel Ling, East Greenwich High School for his project Synthesis and Characteriza-tion of Gold-Silver Alloy Nanoparticles for GFP Enhancement Outstanding Chemistry Student Awards (Four year programs)

Brown University

Max Mankin Providence College

Kelly J. Cummings Rhode Island College

Jennifer Arruda Roger Williams University

Katie A. Link Salve Regina University

Jessica Konopka University of Rhode Island Chemistry

Hardikkumar Patel University of Rhode Island Chemical En-gineering

Sam Matus

RI Section presents annual Outstanding High School Chemistry Teacher Award to Lori Anne Kilmartin of Chariho High School.

In presenting the award, Kathy Siok (left) from the Section’s Education Committee had these com-ments:

Lori graduated from the University of RI in 1984 with a BS in Zoology, with a minor in Chemistry and was on the Dean’s List. While her 3 children ( including a set of twins) were growing up, she continued her education at URI. In 1995, she received her teacher certification in Secondary Education from URI. By 2002, Lori had also earned a MS and Life Certification in Secondary General Science, Biological Science and Chemistry. She has participated in programs on Microscale Chemistry and teaching AP Chemistry and is currently involved in the Rhode Island Technology Enhanced Science Program (RITES).

Lori has been a teacher at Chariho Regional High School since 1995, and is a member of the Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society, NSTA and the American Chemical Society. At Chariho she is involved with the National Honor Society and the Chemistry Team.

Upon being notified that she had been chosen for this award, she wrote:

“Thank you so much. It certainly is the highest honor that a teacher could ever hope for. I truly am honored and appreciate this more than I can say.”

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50 and 60 Year members

Four members of the Rhode Island Section were honored for long years of service. 50 year members Dr. Christopher Brown, Kingston, RI Dr. Carlyle Storm, Kingston, RI Dr. Frederick Varricchio, Venice, FL 60 year member Mr. Casimir Krolewski, Coventry, RI Pictured: Dr Storm is congratulated by Ms. Siok, who presented the certificate.

Councilor Carolyn Kendrow brought a report from the American Chemical Society National Meeting in Anaheim, CA.

Call to Election In accordance with the bylaws of the Rhode Island Section, American Chemical Society, election of Officers for 2012 will take place at the May meeting. Cliff Murphy, Secretary

Rhode Island Section Officers for 2011

Mark Zell, Chair zellm_98@yahoo.com Carlyle B. Storm, Vice Chair Gordon Research Conferences, 401-789-4622 cbstorm@grc.org Cliff Murphy, Secretary Roger Williams University. 254-5657 cbmurphy@rwu.edu Glenn Thompson, Treasurer 33 Lawton Foster Rd S, Hopkinton, RI 02833, 212-6234 gthompso2@juno.com Carolyn Kendrow, Councilor 239 West Gill Rd, Gill, MA 01376 Louis Kirschenbaum, Alternate Councilor University of Rhode Island, 874-2340 kirschenbaum@chm.uri.edu Editor, Fission Product James G. Magyar Physical Science Department, Rhode Island College Providence, RI 02908-1991 456-8049, FAX 456-8396, jmagyar@ric.edu

Members-at-Large of the Executive Committee Paul Czech 401-865-2476 pczech@providence.edu Elaine S. Magyar 456-9747 emagyar@ric.edu Sandor Kadar (2012) 341-3125 kadars@salve.edu Herb Katz (2009) (401) 942-4832 Glênisson deOliveira (2011) (401) 456-9697 gdeoliveira@ric.edu Paul Williard 401-863-3589 Paul_Williard@Brown.edu Michael Gray mgpssusa1@aol.com

http://www.ric.edu/faculty/organic/fission/