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Message from MSA President & MSA Student Council
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To our Microscopy Society Community:
During a time when we are unable to gather in person, we are uplifted by seeing our young leaders working together to promote an inclusive community.
MSA Council created a Student Council in 2017, with the primary motivation of giving voice to the next generation of microscopists. The leaders of the MSA Student Council have used that voice to collaboratively write the letter below, stating their unwavering support to those facing racial injustices, specifically to those belonging to Black communities and other communities of color both in the United States and abroad. Their leadership and vocal stance against racism gives us hope for the future of not only our society, but of the global community.
As a community, MSA values each of our members, and we realize it is imperative to foster a welcoming and inclusive environment. Now more than ever, doing so requires us to move beyond self-reflection and take action. To that end, we have established an equity task force. This task force will evaluate our practices, language and decisions, and provide detailed recommendations on how we as a society can improve our culture of inclusivity. This is not work that can be done overnight, but it is work that requires urgent and ongoing action today, tomorrow and all the days that follow. While it is the responsibility of the leadership to take these first steps, we ask you to join us in our efforts to produce large and lasting change in this movement towards equity.
We look forward to seeing you in August at our virtual Microscopy & Microanalysis meeting.
Sincerely,
Esther Bullitt, MSA President
Peter Crozier, MSA President-Elect, and Student Council Liaison
To our Microscopy Community,
We add our voices in solidarity with the Black community and communities of color, who are so terribly affected by the racism and inequality that still exists.
In Science, progress requires all levels of diversity - diversity of thought, of viewpoint, of background, of experience, of talent. Success requires interdisciplinary teams, with each member listening to the others and working in a closely coordinated way. We therefore celebrate diversity, and work to increase the voices and safety of those who have been marginalized.
How can we help combat racism and injustice? Education, compassion, empathy, opening our eyes to the reality of our world, and working for change.
The MSA Student Council helps define the future of our society. This is a responsibility that requires we do not take the issues of racism and injustice lightly. We see our society as a place for individuals, no matter their race, to discuss important scientific questions. We aim to be as active in cultivating a welcoming community as we are in pursuing scientific knowledge. In fact, we know that without a diverse community we will not be able to answer the most critical questions. This is not a feeling, this is a fact that has been proven many times over.
While we are proud of what we have achieved in the few years of our existence, we must do better and reflect on our own practices and culture to ensure that we are actively promoting equality and rejecting hate. This is not a goal that can be achieved passively, nor can this be achieved by just a few members. This ideal must be continually and actively pursued by our community.
We hope that all MSA members will join us in making a commitment to working towards not only a scientific community, but a world that is more just, equitable, and safe for everyone. Without the commitment of the whole, we leave our colleagues vulnerable to the heavy and dangerous burden of discrimination. Silence is not the answer to acts of social injustice, we can only change through great acts of love and standing in support of those who are working towards a better future.
Change is a multi-lane road, and we implore you to commit to a path that suits you--stand up against injustice, amplify the voices of change makers, educate yourself, or donate to civil rights organizations.
Sincerely,
MSA Student Council
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In case you missed it, M&M 2020 is going virtual the first week of August! MSA, MAS, Exhibits and Meeting Management, and our Program Chairs are working hard to provide you with a robust and enjoyable conference experience as we shift to an online meeting. We have had a tremendously positive response, and nearly 90% of presenters accepted to the M&M 2020 meeting have committed to presenting virtually!
We know you are eager to learn the details as soon as possible so that you can plan accordingly. Here is a peek of what you can expect through the online platform:
- Plenary Session with lectures from Dr. Yi Cui, a Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University and a world-renowned scholar, and Dr. Maria McNamara, a paleobiologist and Senior Lecturer in Geology at University College Cork, Ireland.
- MSA Distinguished Scientist Awards & Talks with presentations from Professor David Seidman, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA (Physical Sciences) and Professor Xiaowei Zhuang, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA (Biological Sciences).
- Educational platform and poster sessions that showcase the latest innovative applications and instrumental developments in the biological, physical, and analytical sciences.
- Access to live-presented and on-demand (view at any time) sessions.
- Live-chat Q&A with session speakers following each session, allowing attendees to engage with their scientific colleagues and delve further into topic discussions.
- Opportunities to network with fellow attendees through one-on-one scheduled and ad-hoc meet-ups available through the online platform.
Enjoy all the virtual conference has to offer from the comfort of your home (no traveling or lodging costs to incur!). Take advantage of the lowest costs ever for our annual meeting.
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Non-Member Rate
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MSA/MAS
Member Rate
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Student/Post-doc/ Emeritus Rate
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| $150.00 |
$75.00 |
$20.00 |
Additional information, such as specific content information and presentation schedules, will be communicated as they become available, so keep an eye out on email communications and updates posted to our social media platforms.
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Congratulations to the Winners of the 2020 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience
MSA congratulates the winners of the
2020 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience
: Ondrej Krivanek (MSA Fellow, MSA Distinguished Scientist Award 2008), Maximillian Haider (MSA Fellow), Harald Rose (MSA Fellow, MSA Distinguished Scientist Award 2003) and Knut Urban. They were awarded the Kavli Prize for their development of aberration correction, which has revolutionized transmission electron microscopy. Their work has made atomic-resolution imaging and microanalysis routine and widely available in the electron microscopy community. The citation from the Kavli Prize committee reads: "for sub-ångström resolution imaging and chemical analysis using electron beams". The electron microscopy community owes a great debt to the winners for these great advances in microscope instrumentation.
New Resources on the MSA Website
MSA is now making available additional resources via our "
About>History"
webpages. The MSA Archivist has provided lists of historical tutorials, technical literature and instruments, containing items that may be of interest for historical research. These join similar lists of scientific books and oral-history interviews, also found under "
About>History".
Submit an Article to Microscopy Today
The Editors of
Microscopy Today (MTO) encourage and greatly appreciate submission of articles from microscope users as well as microscope manufacturers and suppliers. Of particular interest are summaries of in-depth articles published in peer reviewed journals and articles that describe new equipment and applications.
Microscopy Today is open access and there are no charges for publishing in MTO. All articles are available free to our subscription list of over 18,000 microscopists and through our collaboration with Cambridge University Press over 8,000 libraries worldwide. For further information email the Editor-in-Chief at
[email protected] or visit
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The MSA Facebook page regularly posts science news for you
SCAPE Microscopy Captures Image of Odor Detection
The olfactory system that lets mammals detect and identify odors starts with a wide array of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), which are located on olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) that comprise the olfactory epithelium, a thin layer of tissue deep within the nose. This network has the capacity to identify and respond to the host of odors that mammals, including humans, come across every day.
Read more.
New microscopy method provides unprecedented look at amyloid protein structure
Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are often accompanied by amyloid proteins in the brain that have become clumped or misfolded. A newly developed technique that measures the orientation of single molecules is enabling optical microscopy to be used, for the first time, to reveal nanoscale details about the structures of these problematic proteins.
Read more
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Jann Grovogui
 Jann began his scientific career at the University of Pittsburgh where he received an undergraduate degree in Materials Science. Now a 5th year graduate student in Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University, Jann is highly active both in the lab and his community. As part of Vinayak Dravid's research group, Jann uses a variety of electron microscopy techniques to study processing effects on micro/nanostructure in thermoelectric materials.
Aside from his studies, Jann is active in the Black Graduate Student Association and the National Society of Black Engineers through which he has served as a graduate student mentor and has organized a student panel on the graduate school application process. He has also served as the coordinator for the Junior Science Club at the local Boys and Girls Club working on science projects with middle school students. Jann has additionally been involved in Black Men Lead, a high school mentorship program for African American men at Northwestern and a local high school. This program enables students to have a safe place to talk and learn about college while making higher education accessible to an underrepresented community.
Jann is a regular M&M Conference attendee and the poster sessions are his favorite part, saying, "You meet people in other fields...but the problems they are facing with their microscopy are very similar to something you might be facing...so it's really cool for me to go through the poster sessions, talking to everyone about the challenges they're facing and how they've solved that."
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Jann and Yue teach students about concepts of electron microscopy during the Society of Women Engineers Career Day for Girls at The NUANCE Center's Electron Probe Instrumentation Center (EPIC) at Northwestern University.
Source
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For students just starting graduate school, Jann encourages them to find an advisor and group that fit individual work styles and personalities. Graduate school can get tough, and even if you love the work, having people you work well with can make all the difference. He additionally encourages students to acknowledge and be transparent about imposter syndrome that can hold many grad students back. On his own experience, Jann explains, "I'm not saying I'm cured of imposter syndrome, but just knowing that everyone has it, and everyone gets over it in their own way, but not letting it get the best of you is really important."
Jann is an avid sports fan. He is originally from Baltimore, so he closely follows Ravens football and the Washington Wizards. Jann also competes in his department's intramural sports teams. Since sports have been cancelled due to COVID-19, Jann has honed his sewing skills to make protective face masks for himself and his friends.
2020 Webinar Series
Each student who attends the remaining webinars in this year's series will be entered to
win a $25 Amazon gift card! Make sure you leave your email address with us during the upcoming webinars to receive more information on this opportunity.
Did you miss the last webinar about Applications Scientist? No worries! Watch the full webinar (
https://youtu.be/rqslwWn4LgM), subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our future webinars.
Future Webinar Topics
Basic Microscopy Techniques
Preparing for M&M
MSA Digital Learning Resources
MSA Video Library
An archive featuring full videos of tutorials from past M&M meetings.
MSA StC YouTube Channel
Recordings of past webinars hosted by the MSA Student Council.
Share your images with the community!
Want the world to see your awesome images? You could be featured on the MSA #MicroscopyMonday posts. Submit to the MOSAIC: click "Upload a Photo" at
https://www.microscopy.org/
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The MSA Student Council (StC) is organizing the 4th annual Pre-meeting Congress for Students, Postdocs, and Early-career Professionals in Microscopy & Microanalysis (PMCx60), to be held virtually on the Monday preceding M&M 2020.
The PMCx60 is a one-day conference organized by and for students and early-career professionals and offers a highly interactive forum for participants to share cutting edge research, network, and engage with peers ahead of the main meeting.
The StC is soliciting financial support from the MSA community and welcomes corporate sponsorship and donations from individuals/organizations to help build the future of microscopy and microanalysis.
Please consider sponsoring, donating to, and attending the virtual 2020 PMCx60.
To learn about the benefits of being a PMCx60 sponsor, email the StC at
[email protected], or donate to the PMCx60 via the MSA donation page (
microscopy.org/donation, include "PMCx60" in the "Donation Made by:" field).
For event details visit
https://www.microscopy.org/students/x60.cfm. Please email the PMCx60 Program Chair, Eric Hoglund, at
[email protected] if you are interested in sponsorship or have any questions about the PMC.
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Local Affiliated Societies
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Local Affiliated Societies News
by Patty Jansma, LAS Director
LAS Programs
MSA provides LAS support with Tour Speakers, Grants-in-Aid and Special Meeting grants.
Details can be found at
http://www.microscopy.org/communities/programs.cfm
. Funds are still available for 2019. Please contact me as soon as possible if your LAS is interested in applying, and you haven't already received funding this year.
As always, you may contact me at
[email protected]
with comments, questions or concerns.
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Renu Sharma, Chair
Join a FIG
! FIGs are groups of scientists that practice or have interests in specific disciplines (currently 11) to which microscopy and microanalysis is applied. As an MSA member, you can join one or more (FIG Communities). FIGs not only boost scientific understanding through knowledge sharing, but also provide opportunity to network with scientists who share common interests. FIGs may organize lunches, symposia or pre-meeting congresses at M&M. A complete list of FIGs is on MSA website or by clicking
here
. You may contact the FIG leader directly or attend a business meeting at M&M to learn more. Visit the
FIG Store
to sign up. Are you already a member of a FIG? Consider volunteering and make an impact! It's members are what makes FIGs successful. Talk to your FIG leader. Interested in starting a FIG? Start by reviewing the updated version of the FIG Guidelines and then contact me. FIGs are for students too! If you are a student, your fees are waived for the first FIG you join.
Are you interested in highlighting your FIG in an MSA Update?
Contact me
for more information.
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