Grad News Forum

Everywhere researchers go, be it a conference, a job interview, or simply meeting a colleague in the hallway, people ask the obvious question: “So tell me about your work?” It goes without saying that the ability of researchers to describe their research in lay language efficiently is one of the most important skills to be acquired, regardless of the field of research.

On Monday, April 29, assistant dean of Graduate Student Affairs, Kerry Landers, initiated a speed researching event aimed at developing students’ communication skills. In this event, students were expected to explain their research to their smart, but not expert, colleagues in only two minutes!

“We have received feedback from faculty who attended the recent Graduate Poster Session and were impressed with many of our graduate students’ ability to explain their research to non-experts,” notes Landers. “The goal of this speed researching event was to provide another opportunity for graduate students to continue to improve this essential skill.”

At the event, a total of 10 students explained their research to each other in pairs over lunch, followed by a two-minute constructive comments session. Students came from programs in biology, chemistry, engineering, genetics, MALS, and physics and astronomy. A wide range of research topics were discussed, including black holes, prion diseases, and the causes of the Arab Spring. Each student had the opportunity to present his or her research five times, providing plenty of practice.

“This event was great! I now know what other students in genetics, engineering, and chemistry do,” commented Daniel Durcan, a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies student, who also serves as the graduate student activities coordinator. Durcan continued, “The clarity for the presentations was very impressive. I thought it was a great opportunity to practice explaining my research to students from other disciplines.”

The event was somewhat similar to the Three-Minute Research Presentation sessions held by the Graduate Studies Office in the past. However, there is a subtle difference in emphasis between the two events. The Three-Minute Research Presentation sessions involve a single three-minute talk and aim to improve public speaking skills. On the other hand, “speed researching” aims to help students present their research swiftly to several people—a skill they will need at job fairs or conferences. Such a skill is crucial in a competitive academic environment.

Speed researching is, indeed, very helpful and from the looks of it, a very successful idea. Please keep your eyes open for the second speed researching event!

by Gilbert Rahme

The Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning (DCAL) held a celebratory lunch on Wednesday, April 10th to congratulate ten graduate students nominated as Outstanding Graduate Student Teachers. The nominees were selected by undergraduate students who felt that their TAs/instructors had gone above and beyond their responsibilities. The nominations and lunch were part of the annual Graduate Appreciation Week.

Working as a teaching assistant is one of the most rewarding, and oftentimes challenging, aspects of graduate school. Being a TA offers the opportunity to learn pedagogical techniques, such as lesson planning and testing strategies, from professors. TAs are in a unique position in that they act as a bridge between students and professors. TAs are therefore able to learn from undergraduates which pedagogical techniques work well.

“I think TAing is an excellent opportunity to ‘grow’ as a person. It makes me more responsible, as I am the person students refer to if they have any problems. TAing makes me see the same issue from different perspectives and appreciate that a problem may be faced and solved in different ways,” said Stefano Poggio from the Department of Chemistry, who was nominated by students from his Chemistry 6 class.

Despite the challenges, these TAs clearly excelled in their role. “He is an excellent teacher, going far beyond any other TA or professor that I have had in terms of his availability outside of class, willingness to discuss and explain the material individually to students, and quality of lectures,” said one undergrad of their TA. “[She] is one of the kindest, more enthusiastic people I know,” said another. Enthusiasm, passion for science, and patience were commonly cited as qualities of the outstanding TAs.

Dr. Cindy Tobery from DCAL hosted the lunch, at which graduate students and undergraduates were able to share classroom experiences and teaching techniques.  Because the graduate students came from very different academic backgrounds, they were able to share diverse opinions on teaching and life as a graduate student. Dr. Tobery noted, “I am always impressed that undergrads take the time to nominate a grad student for this award. Sometimes many students from a class work together to nominate their TA. I think this is a nice way to include undergraduates in Grad Student Appreciation Week.”

“Receiving this award was such unexpected news! I was so touched and honored! Mentoring students is always such a great experience for me, and it is very rewarding to know that the students think that I do a good job!” said Ramsa Chaves-Ulloa from the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program.

The 2013 nominees for Outstanding Graduate Student Teachers from an undergraduate perspective were Julia Bradley-Cook, Ramsa Chaves-Ulloa and Zak Gezon from the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program, Zeb Engberg and Zachary Evans from the Mathematics Department, Deqing Li from the Thayer School of Engineering, Stefano Poggio from the Department of Chemistry, Anna Prescott and Alex Schlegel from the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, and Damian Sowinski from the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Congratulations and keep up the good work, TAs!

by Zak Gezon

photo courtesy of Alex Schlegel

Teague Enterprises TE-10 smoking system equipped with two exposure chambers.

Recently, Yuan Liu and Sadik Antwi-Boampong of the Department of Chemistry published a paper entitled “Detection of Secondhand Cigarette Smoke via Nicotine Using Conductive Polymer Films” in collaboration with their advisor, Joseph J. BelBruno, Mardi A. Crane-Godreau of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and Susanne E. Tanski of the Department of Pediatrics and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center. The paper, published in Nicotine and Tobacco Research, described a sensor that the group had developed that detects levels of secondhand and even thirdhand smoke.

In the sensor, a polyaniline polymer is coated onto a chrome and nickel electrode grid, creating a conductive layer. The polymer is then protonated with acid, which then interacts with nicotine (a base), and resistance is measured across the sensor. Measurements are taken in a smoking machine, where cigarettes are spun and smoked, and the smoke is then shuttled into the exposure chamber, where the sensor is located. After each round of secondhand smoke exposure, the sensor is regenerated with purges of fresh air. The sensor is so sensitive that it even picks up levels of thirdhand smoke (smoke that has been absorbed onto surfaces such as walls, furniture, clothing, etc.).

Liu, Antwi-Boampong, and their collaborators have developed this sensor and its program interface to be used for commercial purposes to test levels of second and thirdhand smoke in homes, especially where children live. The sensor is innovative because it measures data in real-time, as compared to other sensors, which can only analyze data after full collection.

Molly Croteau, also a PhD student in the Department of Chemistry, recently sat down with Antwi-Boampong to learn more about this innovative project.

Molly Croteau (MC): How did you and Liu come to work on this project?

Sadik Antwi-Boampong (SA): This is Liu’s thesis research, and I assisted him. Our advisor, Professor BelBruno, had the idea to build this sensor.

MC: How long have you been working on this project?

SA: We’ve been researching this sensor for about three and a half years.

MC: Three and a half years is a long time—the public only sees the results. What were some of the biggest obstacles to overcome?

SA: We invested a considerable amount of time in material selection and sensor design because we wanted a simple but effective device. Once we had chosen a polymer, we then had to optimize it to provide maximum efficiency. We also had to choose a substrate and electrodes that would work well as the sensor platform. We actually started with a glass substrate, but ultimately decided against it because of its fragility and difficulty in machining. In the end, we switched to a silicon substrate with a chromium-nickel interdigitated electrode grid fabricated using conventional lithography. We also had to figure out the best solvent and optimal film thickness for the sensor layer. Thus, in our materials approach for this work, the design and selection of materials posed some challenges.

MC: The paper mentions that this sensor measured 0.75 ppb nicotine for 2 cigarettes smoked, and 1.11 ppb for 3 cigarettes smoked. What is the safe value for nicotine exposure?

SA: The median lethal dose for nicotine is about 30 mg, and as you would expect, systemic exposure to minute levels of nicotine through secondhand smoke aerosol can have serious effects on an individual. Therefore, we are really happy that our sensor is sensitive enough to measure in the ppb range.

MC: How would the user regenerate the sensor?

SA: A jet of air can fully regenerate the sensor for multiple uses.

MC: The system is relatively inexpensive—the sensor/chip costs about $30, and the computer costs anywhere from $25 to $300. In addition, the sensor can be regenerated for multiple uses. How else is your system better than what is already out there for secondhand smoke detection?

SA: In addition to being considerably cheaper, our sensor is significantly more sensitive and user-friendly than the traditional sensors already on the market. Our sensor measures data in real-time and gives that information right away to the user. Detection systems out there now only collect the data, and then it needs to be analyzed by experts and sent back to the user. Our sensor would allow the user to see right away the levels of secondhand smoke that they are being exposed to.

MC: This project involved a lot of components and different areas of research. Have you collaborated with anyone?

SA: Oh, yes. Professor Mardi Crane-Godreau works with us in our smoking chamber experiments at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Dr. Susanne Tanski is a pediatrician, who will be working with us to collect data from her patients who have parents who are smokers. We also collaborated with the Thayer School of Engineering on our early glass sensor fabrication and lithography work, the Dartmouth Electron Microscope Facility in Remsen on obtaining microscopic images of our sensors, the Computer Science Department on coding the program for the sensor, and the Department of Physics and Astronomy on the circuitry of the sensor. This project was very cross-disciplinary.

MC: What are your future plans for this project?

SA: Right now we are currently enhancing the sensor for selectivity and sensitivity. We are looking into different sensor layer architectures and actively exploring different ways we can make the sensor better. Also, we are looking into detecting levels of cotinine, which is what nicotine is converted to in your body. We have partnered with Professor Crane-Godreau to conduct new experiments to qualitatively and quantitatively demonstrate the sensor’s efficacy.

MC: It sounds like you are really on your way to helping people quickly monitor secondhand smoke levels.

SA: We are! In addition, I am also working on a sensor that can detect levels of formaldehyde, a ubiquitous molecule that leaches from construction materials and many household products. It has recently been determined that formaldehyde causes a variety of cancers, including myeloid leukemia, so that is the motivation for the project. There are no affordable sensor systems now that can effectively and selectively detect formaldehyde, so I am hoping to use a simple materials chemistry approach to construct a sensor that can sense formaldehyde vapor in real-time.

To read more about Liu and Antwi-Boampong’s research, see the Dartmouth Now.

by Molly Croteau

Congratulations to graduate student Sadik Antwi-Boampong, in the Department of Chemistry, who was one of four winners of the Graduate Poster Session held recently in Alumni Hall! (Below is a summary of Antwi-Boampong’s poster.)

Poster Title: Detection of Formaldehyde Vapor Using Conductive Polymer Films

Formaldehyde is a ubiquitous carcinogen that leaches from construction materials, household appliances, and abounds in cigarette aerosol. Systemic exposure to formaldehyde causes cancers of the lungs, throat, and mouth as well as myeloid leukemia. It has been reported that exposure to extremely low formaldehyde concentrations, as low as 10 ppm, has debilitating health effects.

Current formaldehyde sensors are expensive, insensitive, and do not detect and report in real time. The goal of this project is to produce a direct procedure that is sensitive, specific, and relatively inexpensive to be used for a variety of commercial applications.

The current effort is directed toward development of such a personal device using a resistive sensor based on a composite film comprising a conductive polymer and a formaldehyde-target polymer additive. Specifically, the primary component of the composite is polyaniline (PANi), a conductive polymer whose conductivity can be modulated through acid-base chemistry or redox reaction. We are also able to tune the porosity of the film, which enhances its ability to bind (and thus sense) formaldehyde.

The sensor has been successfully calibrated, and we find that the change in electrical resistance scales correlatively with concentration of formaldehyde vapor. Additionally, the film is selective to formaldehyde, and not to water vapor, chloroform, or the other organic molecules tested, thus making the sensor appropriate for the sole monitoring of formaldehyde vapor.

By effectively and discriminately binding to formaldehyde, these compelling results motivate the development of the active element in personal, wearable sensors that provide real-time indications of exposure in the environment.

poster summary by Sadik Antwi-Boampong

The Graduate Forum would like to congratulate Morgan Thompson on her recent publication in the prestigious scientific journal, Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, Volume 20, Issue 1. Thompson, who defended her dissertation this fall in biochemistry, collaborated on the article with Ernest Heimsath, Timothy Gauvin, and Professor Henry Higgs, all of the Department of Biochemistry, and Dean Jon Kull of both the Department of Biochemistry and the Department of Chemistry.

At Dartmouth, Thompson conducted research on proteins related to cell structure. She used a technique called X-ray crystallography to generate images of protein structures that are too small to see with even the most powerful microscope. Specifically, Thompson was interested in interactions between actin and formins, two proteins involved in facilitating cell movement. Actin molecules combine to form rigid filaments that give shape to cells, and formin molecules interact with actin to control actin filament growth.

In their recent article, Thompson and her collaborators investigated how formins promote actin filament elongation. Their work represents only the second example of a formin bound to actin visualized through crystallography, and the structure they modeled was probably closer to the way the proteins interact in nature than what has previously been observed. The process of crystallizing proteins to create structural images can cause them to act in ways that they would not naturally, explains Thompson, so it can be complicated to get images of physiological interactions. Research on the interaction of these proteins is significant because it increases our understanding of how cells change shape to move throughout the body, which is important for understanding various diseases, such as cancer.

One of Thompson’s main interests while at Dartmouth was in teaching, both undergraduates and younger students. She was a teaching assistant for four terms, for which she won the Graduate Teaching Award. Thompson also taught science to sixth graders in Enfield, New Hampshire, as part of a National Science Foundation Graduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics in K-12 Education (GK-12) fellowship. In addition, Thompson led labs in several local fourth grade classrooms on the importance of hand washing, after her mother, a local fourth grade teacher, asked for her help in explaining germs to her students.

Thompson found spending time in the classroom especially rewarding—she recalls the thank you notes that she received from students after she had visited their classes. “One student even wrote me that it was the best day of his life!” she recalls. While she found her work in the lab very interesting, it was this time working with students and witnessing their developing interest in science that Thompson found particularly meaningful. She also feels that it is extremely important for Dartmouth, an institution with such a variety of resources, to contribute to the surrounding community.

As a result of her experiences, Thompson decided to pursue a career in teaching. She now works as a high school teacher at the Pingry School in New Jersey, where she teaches biology to students in ninth and tenth grade and a course in molecular biology methods to eleventh and twelfth graders. She enjoys her job, and, in particular, is excited that she can teach complex molecular methods to her students. Thompson notes that the methods she is teaching her juniors and seniors are “the same ones I used in my lab at Dartmouth.”

Thompson feels that her experiences as a graduate student at Dartmouth prepared her well for her new position in that she was able to develop her teaching skills as well as work on her research. She is grateful to the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning (DCAL) for the teaching support that they provided, as well as to her advisor, Dean Kull, who always encouraged her in all of her teaching and outreach endeavors. Having her dissertation work published in Nature is a satisfying culmination to her graduate career, and Thompson is eager to continue working with students to encourage others to be excited about science.

by Elizabeth Molina-Markham

Guo in Jinhua, China.

Congratulations to Bingqian Guo, winner of this year’s Karen E. Wetterhahn Graduate Fellowship in Chemistry!

The Wetterhahn Graduate Fellowship is given each year to an advanced graduate student in chemistry. It honors the memory of Professor Karen E. Wetterhahn, a former chemistry professor at Dartmouth, well-known for her research on toxic metals and how they cause cancer. She was the founding director of Dartmouth’s Toxic Metals Research Program. Professor Wetterhahn was also known for her strong support of women in science and was a co-founder of Dartmouth’s Women in Science Project.

Guo grew up in Jinhua, China. She was inspired by a high school chemistry teacher to pursue a degree in science. Guo studied at the University of Science and Technology of China, earning a BS in physical chemistry and winning several scholarships. While she considered attending graduate school at different universities in Canada and the United States, Guo chose Dartmouth because of the research possibilities here. She wanted to concentrate her research on applications of physical chemistry to biological systems. She was also impressed with the beauty of the surrounding region when she came to Dartmouth.

Guo is a member of Professor Dale F. Mierke’s lab. Her research focuses on the interaction of proteins, specifically NEMO and IKKβ, which play a role in the body’s immune response. Guo is researching the possibility of finding a molecule or peptide that can bind to NEMO in order to block it from binding to IKKβ in cases in which individuals have certain types of autoimmune diseases or cancer. In such cases, the proteins constitutively bind together when they should not. Preventing this binding will hopefully improve the life quality of sufferers of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, and some kinds of cancer. Guo recently presented a poster about her work at the 2012 Signaling Pathways in Cancer Symposium at MIT’s David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. She has also been a teaching assistant during three terms for general chemistry and during two terms for physical chemistry.

As well as conducting research, Guo likes to spend time outdoors hiking and snowboarding. She really enjoys the White Mountain area. Guo also draws, and she is working on illustrations for a children’s book with a lab colleague. In addition, she has participated in the local COVER home repair projects in White River Junction, Vermont.

Guo plans to pursue a career in research after graduation, and she hopes to remain in the New England area. She says that she likes being in a smaller town, and she appreciates the close-knit Dartmouth community. She is excited to have been chosen for the Wetterhahn Fellowship and observes that it will help support her research on protein binding in order to hopefully help those affected by autoimmune diseases or cancer.

In supporting the work of young chemists such as Guo, the Dartmouth community honors Professor Wetterhahn’s dedication to her field and her encouragement of women in science.

by Elizabeth Molina-Markham

On Thursday, February 28^th, the academic chair of the Graduate Student Council (GSC), Rich Lopez, hosted Nerd Nite, an event that provides an opportunity for graduate students to present their work to a general audience. The event was held at One Wheelock in Collis, and there were six presenters, a record for this year’s Nerd Nite events!

Rahme explaining his work on stem cells and their relationship to cancer to a very interested audience.

The presenters were:

-Kirsten Dalrymple (Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences)
-Rebecca Shapiro (Department of Computer Science)
-Kelli Hvorecny‎ (Department of Biochemistry)
-Everett Sullivan (Mathematics Department)
-Justin Foy (Department of Chemistry)
-Gilbert Rahme (Department of Genetics)

This Nerd Nite was divided into two sessions fueled with snacks, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages. Every presenter had ten minutes to present their work followed by a three-minute question and answer session.

The topics were extremely broad. Hvorecny explained a technique called X-ray crystallography used to visualize molecules like proteins and DNA. Dalrymple talked about her research on prosopometamorphopsia, a disorder of face perception in which faces appear grotesquely distorted to the perceiver. Other topics included wireless communication security, presented by Shapiro, and the study of mathematical knots and their complexities, discussed by Sullivan. Foy presented on proteins contained within each cell that function as motors. Rahme talked about stem cells that are the source of all functional cells in our bodies. He explained the relationship between stem cells and cancer development and maintenance.

Dalrymple presenting her work on prosopometamorphopsia.

All six presenters did a great job and got people very interested in their work. The audience continued to ask questions even after the event ended.

When asked about the frequency of Nerd Nite, Lopez said, “I am trying to make this event happen twice every semester. So far it has been a success, and I have had a good number of speakers.”

Follow the Dartmouth GSC on Facebook and check out the events calendar on the new GSC website to know when the GSC is hosting other similar events!

by Gilbert Rahme

photographs by Lisa Jackson

On Thursday, February 21, the Department of Chemistry hosted a graduate interdepartmental tea, with brownies that had the entire room smelling like chocolate.

The tea was the second in a series of events organized by the Graduate Student Council. The first tea event was held in January in the Mathematics Department. The goal is simple: monthly gatherings to facilitate networking and bring together Dartmouth’s graduate students from every field of study.

Members of the Department of Chemistry were warm hosts and added personal touches with little laboratory flask drawings on their welcome board. Students were fashionably late, but soon enough, Burke Hall’s Marx Lounge reached a near capacity crowd, with grad students from various departments attending. The teas, bottled beverages, fresh fruits, crackers and cheese, and cookies and brownies seemed nothing more than a catalyst for socializing, though I did hear the chocolate chip cookies were delicious.

“This time it was better advertised,” said GSC’s Academic Chair Richard Lopez, pleased to see attendees from beyond Burke’s walls. “I think there are people coming from five or six different departments here now.”

The date and whereabouts of the next interdepartmental tea are not yet decided upon, but the GSC plans on arranging one every month. Each tea will be held at and hosted by a different department, establishing a monthly occasion for graduate students to meet and mingle in a more cross-disciplinary setting. Check out the Gazetteer and the Graduate Studies’ Facebook page for updates on future events.

by Niusha Shodja

photos by Niusha Shodja

Matt Cain

The past year has seen a number of awards and exciting events for the graduate program in the Department of Chemistry. Matt Cain, who worked with Professor David Glueck, shared the Hannah T. Croasdale Award, given annually to acknowledge those who best exemplify the qualities of a scholar. His work was also chosen to grace the cover of the journal, Inorganic Chemistry, Volume 49, Issue 17.

In March, Nick Tito and Xin Su took part in the Germany Exchange Program run by the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society (NESACS). They participated in poster sessions, lectures, and research site visits with ten other graduate students in and around Rostock, Germany. In July, Nick co-chaired the inaugural Graduate Research Seminar in Polymer Physics, which preceded the Polymer Physics Gordon Conference, at which he presented a poster. In August, he was one of fifteen graduate students selected nationwide to participate in the American Chemical Society Publications Summer Institute, working to develop new tools for online access. Nick was also recognized for his superb undergraduate teaching assistant work–he was the recipient of the Department of Chemistry’s John H. Wolfenden Teaching Prize.

Xin and Justin Foy were selected to attend the American Chemical Society International-Domestic Student Summit held in November in Raleigh, North Carolina. The main goal of the summit was “to discuss promoting cross-cultural understanding, skill flow, and increasing international collaboration.” They presented a poster and gave a talk.  Xin and Justin are students in Professor Ivan Aprahamian’s lab. Xin is also the Dartmouth representative to the NESACS Younger Chemists Committee (NSYCC), and Justin is the chemistry representative to the Graduate Student Council.

This fall the department welcomed six new graduate students to our program. They are now assigned to research groups and starting their research while also taking courses and serving as teaching assistants. We wish them the best as they progress through our program!

by John Winn

The graduate programs in Dartmouth’s departments of biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics and astronomy have been awarded more than $2 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Education through the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) program. These federal grants will fund 17 three-year graduate fellowships, supporting the training of top graduate students who demonstrate financial need and are pursuing doctoral degrees in designated fields of national need.

Dean of Graduate Studies F. Jon Kull says he is “delighted that Dartmouth has had unprecedented success in the last two rounds of funding.” (photo by Eli Burak ’00)

Dartmouth Graduate Studies programs have received nearly $8 million in GAANN awards since 2004, and Dean of Graduate Studies F. Jon Kull says he is “delighted that Dartmouth has had unprecedented success in the last two rounds of funding.”

Kull, a chemistry professor and the inaugural holder of the Rodgers Professorship at Dartmouth College, continues, “The support of the U.S. Department of Education through the GAANN program is very important for increasing the strength and diversity of our graduate programs, which in turn directly affects the scholarship of Dartmouth researchers. Furthermore, having such a high number of successful applications reflects very well on the strength and reputations of our graduate programs, as well as the excellent programmatic support our students receive.”

For the full article go to Dartmouth Now