In Brief

CA Outstanding Mentor Award Nominations Due August 12

Nominations for the 2016 Outstanding Mentor Award at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) California campus are due Friday, August 12. Sponsored by the Society of Fellows (SOF), the annual award honors dedicated faculty who consistently and enthusiastically serve as effective mentors to graduate students and postdocs.

Postdoctoral fellows and graduate students may nominate any faculty member who has guided and contributed to their personal or professional development through a mutually trusting and respectful relationship. Nomination procedures and forms are posted on the SOF website.

The winner, who receives a plaque and $500 in funding to support team-building or training efforts in his or her lab, will be selected by a review panel that includes TSRI Director of Graduate Studies Dawn Eastmond, SOF executive board members and members of the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office. The winner will be announced September 22. For additional information, contact SOF Career Development Chair Michael Ledbetter at michaell@scripps.edu.

FL Sandelman Travel Award Applications Due August 24

Applications for the Robert M. Sandelman Endowment Travel Award, open to fulltime Scripps Florida postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, are due Wednesday, August 24. Three $1,000 awards for domestic conferences and a $1,500 award for an international conference are available.

Eligibility criteria, application procedures and the application form are posted on the Career and Postdoctoral Services website.

Applicants who have never attended a meeting presenting their current work and those with outstanding financial need are encouraged to apply. Winners will be announced during the annual Scripps Florida Research Fest on October 7.

Volunteers are needed to serve on a review committee, which consists of one Scripps Florida faculty member, three postdoctoral fellows and one graduate student. The group will evaluate each application’s quality of scientific communication, scientific merit, applicant credentials, significance of the conference to the applicant's career and financial need. To volunteer, contact the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office.

Recognizing outstanding scientific achievement and accomplishment, the Sandelman travel awards are funded through the Boca Raton-based Sandelman Foundation, established by sales promotion pioneer Robert Sandelman, founder of the first sales promotion agency in the United States and creator of the American Express Gold Card.

FL Career Workshops: Social Media for Scientists

Two workshops on social media tools are offered to Scripps Florida postdoctoral fellows and graduate students in August.

Tuesday, August 9: Social Media Photo Lab

Business portrait photos for use on LinkedIn and other social media platforms will be taken from 11 AM to 1 PM in room C304. The recommended style of dress is professional. Photos will be emailed to each participant.

Reservations are requested.

Thursday, August 11: LinkedIn and Social Media for Scientists

A hands-on overview of LinkedIn and other social media will be provided from 2 to 3:30 PM in classroom B159. Conducted by Jean Branan, program coordinator for TSRI’s Career and Postdoctoral Services office, the workshop will cover how to develop a professional networking identity, create an effective LinkedIn profile and presence on other social networking sites, and build professional relationships via social media.

Registration is required.

Summer Reading Options: TSRI Libraries’ Free Book Exchanges

See a book; take a book; and if you can, leave a book. The TSRI libraries on Scripps California and Scripps Florida campuses provide a Free Book Exchange, offering volumes of summer reading possibilities from classic sci-fi and romance to literary masterpieces and mystery thrillers.

Open to both campus communities, the Book Exchanges were created in response to requests for novels and leisure reading materials from graduate students and postdocs and, in California, Scripps Green Hospital patients and their visiting family members.

No book check-out is required. Users can simply choose a book or two from the Book Exchange shelves and return the book when finished, pass it on to a friend or donate it elsewhere. Book exchange is not mandatory. At Scripps California, the Kresge Library’s Book Exchange is located at the end of the alphabet in the journal stacks; at Scripps Florida, the exchange is found on the last row of shelves in the back of the Elizabeth M. Fago Library.

Hardcover or paperback book donations to the Book Exchange can be contributed:

In the book drop at the main entrance of the libraries—fourth floor of Stein building in California; second floor, building B in Florida
At the library reference desk
Via interoffice mail (one or two donated books only) to 400S in California; 2B1 in Florida

CA ScrippsAssists Seeks Back-to-School Donations

The ScrippsAssists annual Back-to-School Backpack Drive is now under way on the California campus in partnership with long-time community agency HomeStart. The project provides much-needed school supplies for at-risk children living in poverty.

Founded in 1972, Home Start is dedicated to child abuse prevention and helping at-risk families throughout San Diego.

This year’s ScrippsAssists goal is collecting 25-30 new, unused backpack kits for students in grades K-12. Each kit—a backpack filled with basic school supplies—costs $30-35. A list of suggested donations is available on the ScrippsAssists webpage under “Active Annual Campaigns.”

Items can be placed in designated bins at any of the following campus locations through August 12:

SP-3050, second floor breakroom
Department of Chemistry office, Beckman building, BCC405
TSRI Counseling Center, 3300 building, room 300 Torrey Pines Court,
Immunology lobby
MBB/Skaggs lobby

Gift cards or cash donations are also accepted; send via interoffice mail to ScrippsAssists Project Lead Mishelle McClanahan-Shinn at BCC405. Volunteers will purchase supplies to create complete backpack kits. For more information, contact McClanahan-Shinn at mshinn@scripps.edu or x4-2738.

CA ScrippsAssists Supports Humane Society, Blood Bank

ScrippsAssists offers the Scripps California community two upcoming special event volunteer opportunities.

August 13: San Diego Humane Society ‘Fur Ball’

Animal lovers are invited to volunteer for the San Diego Humane Society’s 30^th Annual Fur Ball, “Vines, Wines and Canines,” on Saturday, August 13, at the society’s facility, 5500 Gaines St., San Diego, 92110.

Volunteers—who must be at least 21 years of age—will staff the benefit’s silent auction tables from approximately 4 to 11 PM, providing information on auction packages and helping guests place online bids. Each volunteer will receive a commemorative pin. The outdoor event will require at least four hours of standing; the dress code is black slacks and a white, button-up shirt, blouse or sweater.

The benefit’s proceeds will support the Humane Society’s programs, including care of 15,000 animals each year. For additional information or to sign up, contact ScrippsAssists Project Lead Tanya Gresham at gresham@scripps.edu.

August 24: San Diego Blood Bank On-Campus Drive

The current national shortage of blood supplies heightens the need for eligible Scripps California donors to sign up for the next ScrippsAssists blood drive, in partnership with the San Diego Blood Bank (SDBB), on Wednesday, August 24, from 9 AM to 2:30 PM. Just 30 minutes—the time it takes do donate a pint of blood—can help save lives.

Eligible donors are asked to make an appointment on the SDBB website. Walk-in donors will be welcomed. Guidelines and eligibility requirements are also listed on the blood bank website.

The SDBB bloodmobile will be located in the parking lot adjacent to the Skaggs/MBB building, 10596 N. Torrey Pines Road. Donors should bring photo identification, a record of medications they currently take and a list of locations visited outside the United States in the past three years. All donors will automatically be entered into a prize raffle. For further information on the blood drive, contact Project Lead Leslie Madden at lmadden@scripps.edu.

FL Biosafety Meeting Scheduled for August 9

The next meeting of the Scripps Florida Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) will be held on August 9, from 9:30 to 11:30 AM, in room B316. RSVP required to Galina Judge, gjudge@scripps.edu.

CA Onsite Clinic August 17

The next onsite immunization clinic on the California campus will be held Wednesday, August 17, from 9:30 to 11 AM, in the Hazen Theory building, rooms 203/205. No appointment needed.

Conducted by Sharp Rees-Stealy staff, the clinic will provide hepatitis B vaccination free of charge to all TSRI employees. Environmental Health & Safety Occupational Medicine must pre-authorize all other procedures based on the employee's working conditions. These procedures include tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (Tdap) vaccines and other titers, immunizations and procedures.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

Fred Heaton of OSP Retires
heaton
Fred Heaton, who has been a member of TSRI’s Office of Sponsored Programs for 30 years, retires August 5. A New Jersey native, Heaton plans to return to the East Coast where he will live near family in Wilmington, North Carolina. (Photo by Cindy Brauer.)

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