#ACSsanfran: The @pidgirl experience

I flew into San Francisco on Thursday night August 7, 2014

 in time to run my Operational Planning Session for the American Chemical Society Division of Small Chemical Businesses early the next morning. I facilitated the morning sessions which included discussions on how to run a productive meeting and succession planning. Dave Harwell was our facilitator for the afternoon session: Fostering Innovation. These sessions were made possible by an Innovate Project Grant titled Tools for Operational Success (TFOS) that I wrote and was funded by the American Chemical Society Divisional Activities Committee. 

TFOS participants Moscone Center San Francisco August 7, 2014 Back Row L to R: David Deutsch, Joe Sabol, George Ruger, Jennifer Maclachlan, Sharon Vercellotti, Stan Seelig and Jenny Lee Front Row L to R: Dave Harwell, Patrick Kearney and John Vercellotti

 I managed to squeeze in some running time along The Embarcadero with my friend Christine Jaworek-Lopes. We met a few mornings during the week including our participation in the Younger Chemists Committee YCC Fun Run. 

On our Saturday morning foggy run

The Bay Bridge in sunlight

Jennifer Maclachlan and Rudy Baum at the MPPG Meeting San Francisco

 I made it a point to get over to the Haight-Ashbury District and checked out the vibes on hippie hill in Golden Gate Park before heading to the MPPG Meeting where I was attending as an *alternate-alternate* for SCHB  on Saturday afternoon. I got to meet and take a bunch of photos with Rudy Baum, Editor-in-Chief of Chemical & Engineering News Magazine. We even had some photos taken with his *real* camera. 
 

 Early Sunday morning I gave a talk in Advances in Separation Science on the Analytical Chemistry track titled: New technique for the detection of ppb levels of lead in drinking water by HG/GC/PID. Click here to read more about this presentation. I ran into Bob Stevenson, Editor of American Laboratory Magazine at this session.

 My friend and fellow member of the ACS Chemical Innovation and Entrepreneurship Council, Judy Giordan was celebrated as the 2014 Henry F. Whalen, Jr. Awardee.  

Celebrating Judy! With Dan Daly, Janet Bryant, Judy Giordan, Jennifer Maclachlan and Joe Sabol

I found The Mole after my Committee on Public Relations and Communications (CPRC) meeting. 

At CPRC, we have the unique opportunity to meet, listen to and have lunch with the Helen M. Free Award Winner. The 2014 recipient of the Helen M. Free Award for Public Outreach is Susan Olesick. Learn more about Susan's W.O.W. outreach program which her then elementary school-aged daughter inspired her to start.

2014 marks the 5th anniversary of Chemistry Ambassadors. What is a Chemistry Ambassador? It's someone who helps improve the public perception of chemistry in their own community. This can be accomplished by speaking simply about your job and participating in and/or organizing community or school-related science outreach activities  such as National Chemistry Week, Chemists Celebrate Earth Day, Science Festivals and Science Cafes.

With my friend, Linda Wang, Senior Editor of Chemical & Engineering News at the inspiring Chemistry Ambassadors bash! 

Some SF steep hill sightseeing via cab 

At SCI-MIX, the InterDivisional Poster Session: Drinking beers and talking about what made the ACS Entrepreneurial Resource Center a successful entrepreneurial event as well as what benefits and networking opportunities the ACS Division of Small Chemical Businesses offers to members. 

Scenic shot on my walk to the Moscone Center from Union Square

I gave an invited talk in the ACS Division of Energy and Fuels (ENFL) symposium: Advances in Analytical Methods for Petroleum Upstream Applications titled: 

Analytical methods for various in-field measurements of methane and arsenic in hydraulic fracturing operations. Read more about this presentation here.

I was honored to take the stage and receive the ChemLuminary Award for Outstanding Collaboration Between a Local Section and a Division (NESACS and ENVR) for a 2013 National Chemistry Week event that I organized as a member of both NESACS and ENVR. Read about the award winning event here. 

At the ChemLuminary Award Finalist Poster Session with my dear friend, Al Hazari. We worked together this past Spring on programming for the Cambridge Science Festival. Read about our Teacher Workshop here and our day at the Public Outreach event here.

I did manage to get to Chinatown

And Fisherman's Wharf

I gave a talk in the Presidential symposium on Fracking titled: Environmental and Process Measurements in Fracking Operations with a Portable Gas Chromatograph as well as on the Agricultural and Food Chemistry (AGFD) track based on our recent and continuing work with arsenic in food titled: New Analytical Method for Low Level Detection of Arsenic in Food and Beverages. 


Lastly before taking the red-eye back to Boston, I presented  Monitoring and control of pump  and treat systems in gasoline stations in my own poster session that I organized for the ACS Division of Environmental Chemistry: California Air Monitoring from Inception to Current Trends in the New Millennium. 

*I had one of those flashes: I'd been there before*-Scarlet Begonias, The Grateful Dead