Saint Louis Section
Younger Chemists Committee
 

The Younger Chemists Committee of St Louis

The St Louis YCC is the voice of younger chemists in the St Louis area, providing opportunities to participate in community chemistry education and network with other chemists in the area. We put on regular seminars on career topics in our Career Management Seminar series. Our annual Chemistry Career Night highlights types of careers that chemists work in. We meet regularly to plan activities as well as network. Through these activities, we want to develop leadership skills in our members, develop soft skills which are beneficial in our professional careers, and make the ACS relevant and accessible to younger chemists. See what we are up to below in reports and on Facebook and/or contact us via email at ycc@stlacs.org. We love hearing from you.

About the national YCC organization

The Younger Chemists Committee was chartered by the American Chemical Society to address the specific needs of younger and early-career chemists. The YCC’s vision is to lead younger chemists into successful careers and active roles in the ACS and the profession. To achieve this, the Committee relies on its strengths of diversity, influential involvement, and dedicated leadership. By leading the way in the use of technology and creating outreach opportunities for our constituency, we hope to change the face of the ACS and become the most influential Committee in the Society.

What does this mean to you? The National YCC serves as a resource for younger chemists to find awards, start local section YCCs, attend national meeting programs relevant to younger chemists, and find other information that is of importance to younger chemists, like resources on interviewing skills and grant proposal writing.

Is there something missing? Let the national YCC know what you think. Talk to them on Facebook, on Twitter, by email, or in person at ACS national meetings.

Left to right: advisor Keith Stine; members Francisco Franco, Sarah Torkamani, Eva Stastna, Eric Bruton, Guoxi Xu, Brent Znosko, Archana Parameswar, Amber Davis

Meet your YCC-STL officers

	Benjamin Barth (Treasurer) Ben Barth received his PhD from Purdue University in August of 2011 after completing studies in synthetic organic chemistry. During his graduate work, his research focused on total synthesis of biologically important molecules and development of methods for their synthesis. He is currently employed as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the St Louis College of Pharmacy (STLCOP) where his future research goals include undergraduate laboratory development and employing active learning techniques in the undergraduate classroom. Ben enjoys spending time with friends and family, participating in bowling and softball leagues, and volunteering as a part-time assistant to the newly formed tennis program at STLCOP.
	Bo Bi (Executive member) Bo is a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry at Washington University in St Louis. His research focuses on building small molecule libraries and probing ligand-receptor interactions in real-time, using the libraries on a novel platform: microelectrode arrays. Bo’s scientific expertise and leadership skills are further established by advising and collaborating with biotechnology companies and serving in multiple professional and academic positions. He is expecting to get his PhD degree in 2012 and move on to some research or professional opportunities. Sports, time with family and friends, books and movies were, are, and will be stuff coloring his life.
	Eric Bruton (Chair) Eric A Bruton received his PhD from UM–St Louis before joining Crosslink in St Louis. As Senior Research Scientist he worked on new materials for uses in a variety of electronic devices, including SuperFlex, a flexible light-emitting device for military tents. Currently Eric is an R&D Research Principal at Jost Chemical, Inc, developing new food and pharmaceutical additives. He also teaches at Lindenwood University in the chemistry department. Eric enjoys interesting conversations with friends and colleagues in professional or social environments.
	Lauren Cook (Executive member) Lauren received her BS from Southeast Missouri State in Environmental Science with a minor in Chemistry. She earned her Masters in Environmental Science at Southern Illinois University–Edwardsville, focusing on Environmental Management, and is now Research Assistant at Washington University Medical School in the Department of Radiological Sciences. She enjoys spending time with friends and family, going to the St Louis Zoo, reading, and going to plays.
	Amber R Davis (Media Coordinator) Amber is currently in graduate school at Saint Louis University as a PhD candidate in the Integrated Applied Sciences Program in the Chemistry Department. She is working to characterize the thermodynamics, structures, and interactions of small RNA secondary structure motifs using UV-vis spectroscopy, NMR, and fluorescence polarization. Amber expects to graduate in the Spring of 2010, and she is looking forward to entering either a post-doctoral or an industrial position.
	Natalie LaFranzo (Media Coordinator) Natalie received her BS from Bradley University in Peoria, IL. She is pursuing her PhD in Chemistry at Washington University in St Louis, where her research is focused on developing new surface chemistry to study problems in neurobiology and development. Following graduation in December, 2012, Natalie plans to pursue a job in industry. Natalie is also the head cheerleading coach at Wash U and enjoys spending time training and developing her team, food and wine tasting, reading, and walking her dogs.
	Kathleen McGee (Executive member) Kathleen (Kat) graduated from Ava High School in 2005 and Southeast Missouri State University in 2009 with a BA in Forensic Chemistry. She is now working at Steris Corporation. When she’s not at work, she enjoys participating in the St Louis Renaissance Faire and Girl Scouts.
	Archana R Parameswar (Treasurer) Archana obtained her PhD in Chemistry from University of Missouri–St Louis in 2008 and is now working as a post-doctoral research associate in Professor Demchenko’s lab. Her doctoral research included the target synthesis of complex oligosaccharides and neo-glycoconjugates. Her current research projects involve the synthesis of an air-breathing cathode for use in enzymatic biofuel cells and synthesis of the unnatural psychosine enantiomer and various N-acylated glucosamine analogs. These projects are in collaboration with Saint Louis University, Washington University School of Medicine, and NCAUR-ARS-USDA in Peoria, IL.
	Guoxi (Justin) Xu (Events Coordinator) I am currently at Washington University in St Louis as a PhD candidate in organic/bio-organic chemistry in the Chemistry Department. My current research involves applying electrochemistry in organic synthesis and building small molecule libraries on microelectrode arrays. I expect to graduate sometime in 2011, and I am looking forward to either a post-doc or a position in industry. I enjoy time together with friends, casual biking (when it is warm), interesting reading stuff, and tech gadgets.

Links and resources

• — YCC–STL Google Group, where you can find more details about upcoming events and discuss issues of interest to “Younger Chemists”
• series summary, Career Management for Chemists in a Challenging Market (pdf, 1.4 MB) — a summary report for the three events in 2011 in this series, with speakers, topics, and photos.
• event report, Career Night 2011 (pdf, 3.1 MB) — about 90 attended the third Career Night on Sep 15, 2011, proving that the demand for solid career advice is not saturated. The event had a familiar structure but completely new content: four professional chemists described their paths to more or less traditional careers and fielded questions; before and after the formal program, there were opportunities for networking, one-on-one chats, and refreshments.
• event report, Career Management 2010 — four more in the series of events on Career Management for Chemists in a Challenging Market. Food, networking, panelists with a lot of good advice to offer, and answers to questions. Did we mention opportunities for networking?
• event report, Career Night 2010 — about 75 attendees and a panel of four chemists with diverse career paths and advice for young chemists on how to seek their own paths, plus a panel discussion, hors d’oeuvres before and dinner after, and networking opportunities galore. September 15, 2010, in story and pictures
• event report, Career Management 2009 — the first two in a series of events on Career Management for Chemists in a Challenging Market. Standing-room attendance and two panels with lots of experience and advice, plus opportunities for networking and of course, pizza and soda. October and November, 2009, in story and pictures. Series continues in 2010.
• event report, Career Night 2009 — over 100 attendees and a panel of five chemists with diverse career paths, plus food and networking opportunities, September 17, 2009, in story and pictures
• YCC-STL in the News — report on our YCC activities in the NHLBI (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) newsletter: jump to page 22 in this file for details (pdf, 2.8 MB)
• industry visit, Covidien — the industry visit at Covidien Pharmaceuticals, April 29, 2009, for the YCC and the Saint Louis University Chemistry Club, story and pictures
• chemistry_career_night.pdf — the slides from the September 17, 2008, Career Night event (pdf, 1.93 MB)
• event report, Career Night 2008 — the well attended, highly productive, and even fun Career Night, September 17, 2008, in story and pictures

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