Happy Wednesday MEGA members!

Please see below for upcoming events and resources.

1. Lunar New Year Celebration 2/11 @ 3 pm
2. Finding Peace During Turbulent Times 2/25 @6:30 pm
3. Diverse Speakers Series
4. Black Business Week 2/15 – 2/19
5. Black History Month: Chemistry Seminar Series
6. Research Participants Needed!
7. Peer Education Opportunity in Health Promotion
8. MEGA Works and Brown Bag Presentations 
9. Join our WhatsApp!

10. Instructions for submitting to the listserv

11. Wednesday’s Fun Fact

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1. Lunar New Year Celebration 2/11 @ 3pm

Happy Lunar New Year

2021 is the Year of the OX

Come celebrate Lunar New Year, Chinese New Year, and Spring Festival with us on Thursday, February 11 from 3-4:30 p.m.

Zoom link: https://psu.zoom.us/j/92606212522

Password: 521252 (To join you will be required to use your psu.edu to sign in)

 

If you would like to share your personal experience through stories, pictures, videos, etc., during the celebration, please contact Dr. Enrique Gomez, egomez9@gmail.com, or Heather Dehnel, hbj100@psu.edu.

Sponsored by the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Materials Research Institute

Zoom Invite

Topic: Lunar New Year Celebration

Time: Feb 11, 2021 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://psu.zoom.us/j/92606212522

Password: 521252

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2. Finding Peace During Turbulent Times 2/25 @6:30 pm

The first mental health workshop for spring 2021 has been scheduled! Please see the attached flyer. The workshop is titled “Finding Peace During Turbulent Times” and will be on February 25th from 6:30-7:30 pm.

Come learn about CAPS resources and the most effective ways to talk about controversial topics with your peers
Zoom: psu.zoom.us/j/98973588699

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3. Diverse Speaker Series 

We are delighted to share with you the events that we have been working on to put together for you all!
Next Tuesday, we will kick off our series with Dr. Frederick Moore, Director of the Mathematics Engineering Science & Academia (MESA) Center at City College of San Francisco, Professor of Optimizing Students in Science (OS^2) and Co-Owner of PotentSci. His mentorship is led by his ability to have us recognize the work we need to do to be successful in academia. His seminar on Feb. 8th at 5PM will be on Developing Your Authentic Voice.
His talk will then be followed by professors in physics, geology, chemistry, community focused biology, and astrobiology.

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4. Black Business Week 2/15-2/19

The Black Graduate Student Association is hosting Black Business Week from February 15-19, 2021 to celebrate black business owners and build community here in State College, PA and surrounding areas. This is a virtual event series to discuss and personally connect with black business owners on their motivations, struggles and accomplishments. Visit the Black Business Week website for more information on registration.

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5. Black History Month: Chemistry Seminar Series

Hello everyone,

NOBCChE at PSU is hosting a seminar series in February (Black History Month) to highlight Black assistant professors in the field.  The series will feature Professors Lesley-Ann Giddings, Sidney Wilkerson-Hill and Andre Clayborne on Feb 1, 8, 15 at 4pm EST. On Feb 22 at 5pm we will host an evening seminar presented by Jonathan Jones who is a fermentation research team leader at Corteva Agriscience.  These speakers will speak on topics ranging from search for and synthesis of natural products and biocatalysts to hybrid nanoparticles for materials to bioprocessing and sustainable agriculture.  This series is made possible with support from the department as well as New England Biolabs.
Register here for the seminars and the opportunity to meet with the speakers to learn more about their career path. Those who attend the meet-and-greets will be eligible to win gift cards provided by Chem GSA!
Looking forward to seeing you all! Thanks!
Dayna Patterson
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Chemistry
President of NOBCChE at PSU
The Pennsylvania State University

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6. Research Participants Needed!

We at the Applied Cognitive Lab in IST at Penn State are conducting a research study to investigate the effect of practice on learning and retention. We need research participants in this study. For the study you will be given a short tutorial about problem solving a task. After being this, you will explore the device with specific tasks. Sessions will take approximately 60 minutes and they will be repeated from two to five times.

You will receive $12 per session by LionCash or gift card based on your choice for participating in the study. All participation is online using a computer.

To participate, you must be 18 years or older, a Penn State student, be able to read instruction materials written in English, and have access to a Windows computer.  Roommates and friends meeting these criteria are eligible and very welcome to participate.

if interested, please reply to Sarah Ricupero (skr5576@psu.edu) or Frank Ritter, frank.ritter@psu.edu

Sincerely,

Frank Ritter

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7. Peer Education Opportunity in Health Promotion

​HealthWorks, a peer health education outreach program in Health Promotion and Wellness, is currently recruiting student to become Peer Health Educators for the 2021 – 2022 academic year. The deadline for applications is March 5, 2021. Students from all majors are encouraged to apply.  This is a great opportunity to build up your resume and have an experience that will help prepare you for a future job or graduate/professional school.   

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8. MEGA Works & Brown Bag Presentations

​MEGA Works is a platform that allows you to get work done. A space to execute virtual working or writing space for all graduate students as well as to build support and accountability amongst one another. These sessions are held every Tuesday at 3 pm via Zoom. The Zoom link can be found below. 

Hope you catch one of the sessions! 
 
 
Brown Bag luncheons are where our own MEGA scholars will be giving research talks among their peers. If you are interested in presenting your research in this series, please complete this form.

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9. Join our WhatsApp!

MEGA has a WhatsApp! Join the group to stay up to date on MEGA happenings and events.

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10. Instructions for submitting to the listserv

Please submit the email with the subject line ‘MEGA Listserv submission’ to Cierra Chandler at cbc5718@psu.edu

Please submit with complete text and any fliers or images that can be directly copied into the email.

Please submit by 5:00 PM Tuesday prior to the MEGA update Wednesday.

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11. Wednesday‘s Fun Fact
 
🐂Happy Lunar New Year! 🐂
 
“As in the myth about Nian, firecrackers are supposed to scare off monsters and bad luck. So people stay up on Chinese New Year’s Eve and set off firecrackers at midnight. In the morning, firecrackers are used again to welcome the new year and good luck.” – Chinese New Year

Best Regards,
Cierra Chandler
cbc5718@psu.edu
Doctoral Student, Material Science and Engineering
MEGA WebMaster
Pennsylvania State University