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M&M News
 
Submit your Symposium Ideas for M&M 2022 in Portland, Oregon!
July 27 - August 4, 2022

There is still time to provide ideas and suggestions about the symposium topics offered at M&M 2022! The M&M 2022 Executive Program Committee wants to hear from you. Symposium topics are being solicited in the areas of biological sciences, physical sciences, and analytical sciences/ instrumentation advances. 

1. Click here for the submission form.
2. Complete the form (All Fields Required)
3. Create a proposed symposium title
4. Select the topical area (e.g; Physical Sciences, Biological Sciences, or Analytical Sciences);
5. Include a brief description of the proposed symposium (<100 words);
6. Summarize the paragraph description with 3-6 short bullet points;
7. Include the names & email addresses of 1-3 ADDITIONAL people who would be willing and able to be involved symposium organizers with you! A minimum of 2 (maximum of 4) organizers *per symposium* are required.

Complete this form no later than September 30, 2020
Submissions will ONLY be accepted via the form, no emails please.

Questions? Email the program chair, Eric Stach: MM2022ProgramChair@microscopy.org. 

AssociationNews
Association News
MSA News Header

Deadline Approaching for MSA Fellows, Class of 2021 Nominations!
MSA is accepting nominations for MSA Fellow, Class of 2021. This major Society award honors MSA members of at least 10 years for "significant contributions to the advancement of the field of microscopy and microanalysis" through both their scientific accomplishments AND service to MSA. In very special circumstances the 10 year membership requirement may be waived. Self-nominations will not be accepted. The Society encourages all of its members to participate in honoring eligible colleagues in the field of microscopy by nominating them for MSA Fellow. The deadline is quickly approaching on Wednesday September 30, 2020. For instructions on the nomination process and submission of a nomination, please click here


MSA Society Awards Nominations for 2021 Now Open
This is an opportunity to participate in your Society's activities and to participate in honoring deserving individuals. All nominations are submitted entirely through an online form: filling-in the basic nominee information and uploading the required supporting documents. For more information on these awards and the nomination process, click here. The deadline is October 31, 2020.


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 Bob.Price@uscmed.sc.edu or visit

Check out the latest Microscopy Today crossword puzzle. 
Click the puzzle below for an interactive version!
 

Other Microscopy News
 
Calling All Core Microscopy Facility Managers
(SURVEY DEADLINE - FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25th)
 
Please consider participating in an updated survey of core microscopy facilities/shared resources that aims to be a comprehensive longitudinal and international study.
 
While we have participated in so many other surveys, we felt that none adequately captured the trends in microscopy facilities over time. Therefore, we have launched this updated survey to address this vital aspect of our evolving work as microscopists that will be repeated every 3 years.
 
Like the original 2014 survey (Microscopy Today: doi:10.1017/36 S1551929514000091), results from your collective contributions will be published and we plan to make open access. Future surveys will repeat many of the same questions to enable comparisons over future years to learn how microscopy cores are evolving concerning costs, staff ratios, technologies and applications in high demand, etc.
 
We kindly ask for your input at the link below:
 
 
We will evolve the survey as required and capture timely topics, which have a significant impact on our operation and mission, such as the impacts of Covid-19 for this current survey. We anticipate our microscopy community and funders will benefit greatly from the collective periodic documentation and measurement of the extent and nature of the challenges that many of us face.
 
Thank you for your support.
 
Sincerely,
 
Kirk Czymmek
Peter O'Toole
Zhenxi Guo
Elango Masilamani

ScienceNews
Science News
Like us on Facebook The MSA Facebook page regularly posts science news for you

Squeezing the Noise Out of Atomic Force Microscopy
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory used quantum optics to advance state-of-the-art microscopy and illuminate a path to detecting material properties with greater sensitivity than is possible with traditional tools. Read more.

The Role of Electron Microscopy in Battery Research
Dr. Shirley Meng is a professor and Zable Endowed Chair at the Jacobs School of Engineering, UC San Diego. She is the principal investigator for the Laboratory for Energy Storage and Conversion (LESC), and also the founding director of the Sustainable Power and Energy Center (SPEC) at UCSD, whose faculty studies materials and devices for energy capture, conversion, and utilization. Dr. Meng was the featured speaker at the Women in Microscopy Breakfast at M&M 2020, where she spoke about her career and the continued importance of women in science. Read more.
StudentCouncilNews
MSA Student Council News
StC Regional Liaisons Applications Are Open!
 
The Call for Applications for the Regional Liaisons is still open. The application and role descriptions can be accessed on the MSA Student Council website, Responsibilities page. Please contact studentcouncil@microscopy.org for more information!
 
Call for Applications
Application for Regional Liaisons
 


Dara Laczniak

Dara is entering her third year at Purdue University studying Planetary Geology in Dr. Michelle Thompson's research group. Broadly, she uses rocks from space to understand how the solar system originated and evolved over time. Dara presented her award-winning research at this year's virtual Microscopy and Microanalysis meeting where she explained how she replicates space weathering by bombarding carbonaceous chondrites with high energy ions like hydrogen and helium. She uses a variety of imaging techniques, such as TEM and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to understand how small compositional changes make significant differences in spectral properties of these bodies. It's important to be able to better interpret space materials, Dara says, in part to "explore the availability in space of dwindling resources here on Earth".
 
Dara didn't come to the sciences in the conventional way. Growing up, she went to performing arts schools and did a lot of musical theatre with aspirations of being an actress. In fact, she began her undergraduate studies at a small liberal arts college, but soon realized that it wasn't quite the right fit. After completing her undergraduate degree in geology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Dara took some time off to explore her options for graduate studies. She interned for a year and half in various labs, including 2 internships with NASA. Dara says that without this experience, "I wouldn't be at Purdue doing this cool stuff with this great advisor".

This was Dara's first year attending M&M, but even with the virtual format, she appreciated the wide variety of research represented during the meeting and her experience during the Pre-Meeting Congress (PMC) prompted her to apply for a position in MSA Student Council. She was recently appointed PMC Social Chair. Dara tries to make service and outreach a big component of both her graduate and future careers, and she emphasizes that the best way to get involved is to start with "your department and build relationships with those professors". She explains that these connections can prove invaluable in exploring future career options and making them come to fruition. To incoming graduate students, Dara offers some words of encouragement: "As long as you want to be there and enjoy learning, that's all you need to succeed as a graduate student."

In her free time, Dara continues with her first love, musical theatre. She's a big fan of karaoke (she has her own karaoke machine at home!) and loves going to local salsa nights. She has a cat and loves to hike and fish, though her cat doesn't. Since the stay-at-home orders, she's taken up a new hobby, mixology and cocktail-making; she's currently working on perfecting her margarita. So we're in for a great time at next year's PMC social event!

Dara is a real modern day Renaissance woman. We are so excited to have her on the team and we hope you get the chance to meet her at next year's PMC.



Congratulations to the 2020-2021 MSA StC Appointed Leaders
 

Local Affiliated Societies
Local Affiliated Societies News
by Patty Jansma, LAS Director

MSA's Local Affiliated Societies provide networking and outreach opportunities for the microscopy community. The list of LAS can be found on the LAS community page at http://microscopy.org/communities/local.cfm

LAS Meetings
Check the individual LAS websites for more details.

Support your local affiliated society! Invite students, early career scientists and technologists to your LAS meetings. Better yet, bring a new member to your local meeting and get them involved!

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

As always, you may contact me at pjansma@email.arizona.edu with comments, questions or concerns. 




We're excited to announce the new LAS Director elected to MSA Council for 2021-2023!

Join us in welcoming Ru-Ching Hsia as the newly-elected LAS Director. We look forward to the new things in store beginning next year!


FIGs
Focused Interest Groups
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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