It's hard to believe that the academic year is about to start for many of us. I'm slowly making it through my pre-semester to do list. I spent the morning trying to pick the perfect paper and theme for my junior level LIterature and Seminar class where we explore everything from close reading strategies for reading the literature, searching, and data management to ethics and science in society. I have several good themes - I just need to pick one. I also found a paper on CO₂ conversion that I might be able to use to drive much of my Inorganic II class.

I also have a few items to take care of as I finish my tenure as the PUI representative for the Division of Inorganic Chemistry. One of these things is to remind everyone that nominations for the 2018 Undergraduate Research Award are due September 15. Three of these awards are given anually to a preceptor - student team. One is for a team at a primarily undergraduate institution, one is for a research intensive university, and the third is for a corporate, national or federal lab. If you had the opportunity to mentor an outstanding undergraduate in the past 12 months, please have someone nominate you! The student can be a current or recently graduated student.

You can find all of the details like eligibility and the nomination procedure on the ACS DIC website: http://acsdic.org/wordpress/awards/dic-student-awards/

And if you don't get an email about this award in the next 24 hours, please drop me a line. I'm sending out an email to the DIC undergraduate award announcement list.

Hope your prep for the semester is going well!