Tour of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant

Nuclear power has been instrumental in driving urban and economic growth over the past 50 years, and nuclear power plants remain marvels of modern engineering. The California Los Padres Section of the American Society is happy to invite you to a rare glimpse inside the operation of our nuclear power plant, the Diablo Canyon facility in San Luis Obispo.

The tour of this facility is scheduled on Friday the 6th of September at 9 AM. Because tour groups are limited to 20 visitors, we cannot accommodate as many members as we would like. Furthermore, strict control of access to the facility requires that every visitor be vetted prior to admission. If you wish to join us on this tour, please read the Diablo Canyon Visitor Information guide carefully, then  use this secure form to make a reservation for this event by August 15, 2013. You will be notified via email if you are included in the group. Spaces on the tour will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. The tour will last approximately four hours, and a light lunch will be provided by the facility.

If you prefer to provide the required information by telephone, please call Professor Gregory Scott at (805)756-2617. You may leave the required information as a voice mail.

Diablo Canyon security requires that CALPACS relay all the information in the RSVP form to them at least 5 business days before entry.

Date & Time: Friday September 6, 2013, 9 AM Place: 6588 Ontario Road San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 (Google Map) Cost: Free. RSVP required

The California Los Padres Section of the American Chemical society cordially invites you to attend a special lecture on Saturday April 13, 2013. Dr. James Unch of Promega Biosciences will discuss the development of the NanoLuc^TM system. This system represents a significant advancement in the application bioluminescence–from organisms that give off light like the jellyfish or the firefly–as a diagnostic tool in monitoring cellular metabolism. This achievement was recognized as one of the “Top 10 Innovations 2012” by The Scientist magazine. Join us for this exciting lecture on the process by which ever more specific cellular processes are illuminated, literally. Click here for the full abstract of the presentation.

A light lunch will be served. This event is free. Please use the form below to reserve your space.

Date: Saturday, April 13, 2013
Time: Lunch at 12:30 PM, lecture at 1:00 PM
Place: Westmont College, Winter Hall, Room 210. Click here for a pdf map.

Join us in Santa Barbara at Anacapa Vintners to greet local chemists, to taste local wine and to partake in winemaker Seth Kunin’s encyclopedic and entertaining lectures on the making and the selling of wine. Anacapa Vintners are focused on the diversity of Santa Barbara and highlight the best varietals from all of the AVAs and microclimates, from Merlot to Pinot Noir.

Light refreshments will be provided.

Your RSVP is requested. Please use the form below or our contact form to RSVP.

Host:  Seth Kunin
Date:  Wedensday, April 3, 2013
Time: 6:30 PM
Location:  Anacapa Vintners, 116 E Yananoli Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101(Google Map)
Cost: $10 payaple at the door.

The Government Affairs Committee of the California Los Padres Section of the American Chemical Society, in conjunction with the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Student Chapter of the ACS, cordially invite you to an important seminar about the role of science in politics and governing.

Speaker:  Professor Rod Schoonover, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Title:
“Science in the Diplomatic and National Security Spheres”

Date:
Thursday, March 14, 2013

Time:
7-9 PM

Location:
California Polytechnic State University, University Union, Room UU-220.

Parking is $5. You can purchase a parking permit at one of the kiosks near the main parking structure. For parking and room location see map:  Pi Day Talk UU220 MAP. An interactive map is also available from the CalPoly web site.

Cost:
This seminar is free and open to the public. RSVP is requested via our contact form.

Science and technology are transforming the world at an ever faster pace. Consequently, competent, informed scientific council is vital to task of governing. This is the role to which Professor Rod Schoonover is dedicating his career. Dr. Schoonover has recently returned from a three-year appointment with the United States Department of State where he worked on global issues pertaining to science, diplomacy, and national security.  He will discuss the responsibilities he shouldered under Hillary Clinton in the State Department.  A question and answer session with the speaker will follow the lecture.

At the end of the academic year, Dr. Schoonover will be leaving the Central Coast permanently to continue his work at the interface of science and public policy. This is an extremely rare opportunity to get a firsthand account of the important role that science plays in politics and government. All who are interested in this intriguing topic are encouraged to attend.

Snacks–including pies in observance of pi (3.14) day–and refreshments will be served.

Dr. Rod Wolfcall Schoonover is a Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He received BS degrees in Physics and Chemistry from the University of Kansas, a BS in Graphic Arts from the Kansas City Art Institute, and a PhD in Chemical Physics from the University of Michigan. In 2009 he joined the United States Department of State as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Diplomacy Fellow, working on the intersection of national security and environmental and science and technology issues. His international experience includes programs and consultancies in the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa. Dr Schoonover is a three-time recipient of the Superior Honor Award, the State Department’s highest civilian award, as well as the National Intelligence Council Medal of Distinction.

The California Los Padres Section of the American Chemical Society Annual Holiday Winery Tour and Tasting

will be held on
Saturday, December 1, 2012, 11:00 AM
at
Talley Vineyards
3031 Lopez Drive
Arroyo Grande, CA 93420 (map)

A tour of the facility will begin promptly at 11 am. The tour will last about 1 hour and will be followed by the wine tasting. A social hour featuring a variety of international cheeses and homemade soups will follow the wine tasting.

The cost for the event will be $20 per person.

Led by Guest Services Coordinator Andy McDaniel and a member of the Talley Vineyards winemaking team, the tour and tasting is a fun and informative way to experience our wine country. The extended tour takes you through our vineyard, winery, and barrel room with a focus on the aspects that make Talley Vineyards wines unique. Tastings of wines during and after the tour will focus on our signature chardonnays and pinot noirs and will include current releases and barrel samples of future releases.

Talley Vineyards is a family owned and operated winery that specializes in estate grown chardonnay and pinot noir ideally suited for the climate and soils of the Arroyo Grande and Edna Valleys. The Talley’s farming history in the area dates to 1948 when Oliver Talley began growing vegetables in the Arroyo Grande Valley. Guided by this legacy and a commitment to long term sustainability, Talley Vineyards focuses on attention to detail in all aspects of farming and winemaking operations. The goal is to produce distinctive wines of consistently high quality that best express the unique character of each of the Talley family’s six vineyard sites in the two valleys.

Use the form below to make your reservation. For more information use “contact us” above.

Please make your reservations by Tuesday, November 27, 2012.

Registration is now closed. Please use the contact link above to inquire about this event.

The California Los Padres Section of the American Chemical Society Fall Luncheon Meeting will be held at

Noon, Saturday, October 20, 2012
at Café Stella
3302 McCaw Ave, Santa Barbara, CA (map)
A lunch buffet will be served including garden salad, quiche Lorraine or three cheese ravioli, and chocolate cake.

The luncheon is in honor of 50-year ACS members Peter Ford and Donald Graves, and 60-year ACS member Eugene Burns.

The Featured Speaker will be the 50 year honoree
Peter C. Ford
Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UCSB.

Speaking on:
New adventures in biomass conversion to chemicals and fuels.

Efficient methodologies for converting renewable biomass solids to liquid fuels have the potential to reduce dependence on imported petroleum while easing the atmospheric carbon dioxide burden. This presentation will discuss the challenges faced when switching chemical and fuel feedstocks from fossil fuels to biomass and other renewables. These will be illustrated in terms of a new catalytic process being developed at UCSB that quantitatively converts wood and cellulosic solids to liquid and gaseous products in a single stage reactor. Lastly, I will describe the very new NSF Center for the Sustainable Use of Renewable Feedstocks (CenSURF) that has just been approved and that will be headquartered at UCSB.

Professor Ford joined the University of California, Santa Barbara chemistry faculty in 1967 after earning his Ph.D. with Ken Wiberg at Yale and serving as a postdoctoral fellow with Henry Taube at Stanford. He has also been a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National U., Guest Professor at the U. Copenhagen, an Alexander von Humboldt US Senior Scientist at U. Regensburg and U. Muenster, and Guest Investigator at the US National Cancer Institute. He is a Fellow of the AAAS. Honors include the 2008 Award in Photochemistry of the Inter-American Photochemical Society and the 2013 ACS Award for Distinguished Service to the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry. At UCSB, Professor Ford has served as Research Advisor for 61 Ph.D. graduates and numerous B.S., M.S. and postdoctoral students. His current research is focused on applications of photochemistry for NO and CO delivery to physiological targets, fundamental mechanisms of small molecule bioregulators, and catalytic conversions of biomass to chemicals and fuels. He is the Director of the new NSF Center for the Sustainable Use of Renewable Feedstocks (CenSURF) that is headquartered at UCSB.

Registration for this event is now closed. Please use the contact link above to inquire about this event, or call (805) 364-2860.

The California Los Padres Section of the American Chemical Society

invites you to take a tour of the

California Oil Museum in Santa Paula on Saturday, March 17th.

The tour will be preceded by an optional lunch at Glen Tavern Inn with Museum Director, Jeanne Orcutt.

Lunch begins at 11:30 am.
Museum Tour begins at 1 pm.

The price for the event will be $15 per person or $10 for students including lunch and tour.
$5 for the tour only.

To register go to www.lospadresacs.org and click on “events”.
Please register by March 14, 2012.

The California Oil Museum is located at
1001 E. Main St.
Santa Paula, CA

The Glen Tavern Inn is located at
134 N. Mill Street
Santa Paula, CA

 

Pictures

 

From fossils to “fill ‘er up”, the California Oil Museum tells the story of the black bonanza that created wealth, work, and prosperity for generations of Californians. Operated by the City of Santa Paula Community Services Department, the Museum highlights the inner workings of the state’s black gold industry through interactive displays, videos, working models, games, photographs, restored gas station memorabilia, and an authentic turn-of-the-century cable-tool drilling rig. Visitors can exercise their wits and luck as California wildcatters, see how the Indians used natural oil seeps, watch a miniature drilling rig bore into the earth, and explore the memorable brands of gas bought by early California car drivers. The Lundgren and Bennett Collections of gas station memorabilia are one of the largest displays of vintage gas pumps in California. In addition to the permanent petroleum exhibits, the Museum presents new exhibits of science, transportation, history, and art throughout the year.

You have received this email because the American Chemical Society has supplied your contact information to the California Los Padres Local Section. If you have moved out of the area, please update your member profile at acs.org. Otherwise, if you no longer wish to receive email notifications of CALPACS events, reply to this email and write “opt out” in the subject line.

Rebecca Anderson, Ph.D.

Freelance Writer

Author of Career Opportunities in Clinical Drug Research

 Free Lecture

Finding New Drugs: The Path from Test Tube to the Pharmacy

Abstract:

Current industry statistics estimate that it takes fifteen years and nearly $1 billion to bring a new drug to market, but most consumers are unaware—and even skeptical—of the extensive efforts involved in finding and successfully developing these products. This presentation looks inside the black box, sharing an insider’s view of pharmaceutical research and development and answering several commonly asked questions: Where does a chemist get ideas for synthesizing an innovative drug? Why are animals still used in drug research? Why can’t scientists and clinicians work faster? And why can’t they do their job better and cheaper? In the course of describing the drug development activities, this presentation will highlight the range of chemistry sub-specialties employed in moving a drug from the lab bench to the pharmacy shelf.