In Brief

Scripps Florida to Stage Second Annual ResearchFest
Spotlighting postdoctoral and graduate student research and presenting a scientific vendor show, the Scripps Florida Society of Research Fellows (SF-SRF) will stage its second annual ResearchFest, Tuesday, April 19, 9 AM to 5 PM.

Following last year's highly successful event, ResearchFest 2011 will feature four postdoctoral fellow lectures, representing the top abstracts submitted, according to event organizers. Presenters include Ivan Angulo-Herrera, research associate in the Tellinghuisen lab; Guillaume Mousseau, research associate in the Valente lab; Jeremy Chambers, research associate in the Lo Grasso lab; and Heidi Walsh, research associate in the Smith lab.

In addition, organizers anticipate more than 30 poster presenters will participate ResearchFest 2011. Top posters will be awarded prizes at the event's conclusion.

More than 50 companies will exhibit the latest information on new products and equipment during the afternoon scientific vendor show.

ResearchFest 2011 will be held in Building B, throughout the Scripps Cafe, lobby, and outdoor courtyard. Lectures will be presented in the Rodney B. Fink Pavilion auditorium.

Event proceeds will help support the newly inaugurated SF-SRF Distinguished Lecture Series. The series recently hosted its first lecturer, Peter Dervan, Bren Professor of Chemistry at California Institute of Technology, whose well-received presentation was titled "Targeting Transcription Factor-DNA Interfaces by Small Molecules." SF-SRF plans to hold at least two Distinguished Lecturer talks each year.

Further information about ResearchFest 2011 and the Scripps Florida Society of Research Fellows is available at the SF-SRF webpage .

Green Activities Celebrate Earth Day throughout April
Treading more lightly on the environment is the focus of Earth Day-related activities on the Scripps California and Florida campuses this year, featuring educational, recycling, and vendor events.

SCRIPPS CALIFORNIA
Safety Gram Live! Seminar: Kicking off the third annual Green Feat in California is a "Safety Gram Live!" seminar that will explore the carbon footprint impacts of institutional and personal actions, Thursday, April 7, noon to 1 PM in the Beckman building Keck auditorium. Hosted by the Environmental Health & Safety Department and the Scripps California Green Team, and presented by members of the Student Sustainability Initiative, the seminar will feature academic and industrial case studies demonstrating green chemistry principles; the lifecycles of commonly used organic solvents, and practical eco-friendly measures for lab work.

Single-Stream Recycling Contest: The winner of the single-stream recycling championship will also be announced at the Safety Gram Live! seminar, said Julio Giannotti, safety coordinator and Green Team member. The California campus competition will be determined by the highest overall recycling rate achieved among individual campus buildings during the month of March. The winner will receive the Keith McKeown Memorial Green Feat Award, named after the late vice president of communications and public relations and founding chair of the institute's Green Initiative.

Green Feat Expo: The Green Expo, scheduled Thursday, April 14, 11 AM to 2 PM, will highlight more than 25 exhibitors, including sustainability advocacy groups and green product and service providers, with booth displays in the Immunology Building breezeway.

Shoe Drive: The Green Team will collect gently used shoes at both the Green Feat Expo and E-Waste Recycle events. Collected footwear will be donated to Shoes4Soles, a nonprofit organization that cleans and ships donated shoes to underprivileged populations throughout the world. According to Giannotti, the Green Feat Expo and E-waste shoe collection will aid the response to victims of Japan's earthquake and tsunami. For further information on the shoe collection, e-mail sustain@scripps.edu.

E-Waste Recycling Day: Scripps Research Faculty and staff are encouraged to bring personal home electronic waste to the E-Waste Rcycling Day, Wednesday, April 20, from 8 AM to 2 PM at the CIMBio (Carr B) facility. New this year to the E-Waste Recycling Day collection for recycling or proper disposal: ink/toner cartridges and compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). Other acceptable e-waste includes computer devices (terminals, monitors, keyboards, wires, etc.), laptops (batteries included), scanners, printers, fax machines, radios and stereo equipment, VCR's and DVD players, TV's, and cell phones (batteries included).

For further Green Feat details, visit the Scripps Research Green Initiative webpage.

SCRIPPS FLORIDA
The Scripps Florida Green Team will hold its Earth Day festivities Thursday, April 28, coinciding with "Take Your Child to Work Day" activities on the campus, said Carol Swete, environmental health and safety coordinator and a Green Team manager. Organizers anticipate as many as 40 children will participate in the day's events.

According to Swete, highlights of Green Team Earth Day activities include:

• A fish release into the shared pond behind the buildings
• Presentations from the State of Florida Department of Wildlife and the Busch Wildlife Rehabilitation Center
• An e-waste disposal site
• Green practices and recycling educational sessions
• Presentations on green efforts in Scripps Florida labs
• Vendor booths
• Attendee giveaways, including the fast-growing native South Florida slash pine trees and insulated lunch bags

For more information on the Scripps Florida Green Team, visit the group's webpage.

SF-SRF Lunch 'n Learn Seminar: "Negotiating with Car Dealers"
A workshop offering advice on negotiating with automotive dealers is the workshop topic in the Florida Society of Research Fellow's (SF-SRF) next Lunch 'n Learn seminar Wednesday, April 13, noon to 1 PM in room B158. The workshop, presented by representative from the IBM Credit Union, is titled "Buying a Car: What Dealers Don't Want You to Know." Details on upcoming Lunch 'n Learn seminars and other SF-SRF activities can be found at the group's webpage.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu