What are the guidelines for secondary containment? Where does one get more CMS barcodes? If you have questions about chemicals, the Industrial Hygiene group in the Lab’s Environment, Health and Safety Division has answers. The group has posted a series of frequently asked questions regarding chemical hygiene and the Chemical Management System. These FAQs address the most common issues, questions and concerns about chemical safety and chemical hazard communication at the Lab. Go here to view the FAQs. Contact Larry McClouth with suggestions for additional questions.
Go to OurSafety for more on the Lab's safety efforts.
[Guardian] Hashem Akbari has a vision of a shiny, happy world. He sees polished roads and cities that gleam in the sunlight. Rooftops are bright and pavements light. Akbari wants to turn our cities into a giant mirror and he needs your help. And paint, lots of it. Akbari is no architect and his grand plan is no conceptual art project. Based at the prestigious Berkeley Lab, Akbari has come up with a new way to fight global warming: turn enough of the world's black urban landscape white, and it would reflect enough sunlight to delay global warming. More>
[Science Matters] Made up of components such as nitric acid and ozone gas, smog is nasty stuff. Nitric acid is a component of acid rain, while ozone kills human lung cells and contributes to global warming. Atmospheric chemist Ron Cohen — with Berkeley Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division — studies how these pollutants form, tracks where and how far they travel, and how they get removed from the atmosphere. He then uses this knowledge to understand air quality and the interactions of pollutants with climate. His work provides the factual underpinnings for climate and air pollution models that, ultimately, help keep us all breathing more easily. More>
People: ALS’s Rotenberg Elected as APS FellowEli Rotenberg of the Advanced Light Source has become a fellow of the American Physical Society. He was cited for "outstanding contributions to the understanding of quantum electronic properties of nanophase and reduced dimensionality systems by creative applications of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy." Rotenberg has been a senior staff scientist at the Lab since 2002 and, as a member of the ALS Scientific Support Group, is responsible for operations and scientific programs at Beamline 7.0. Go here to see a complete list of 2008 fellows.
Special Event: EBI Talk on 'Algae For Biofuels: Promised Land Or Mirage?'The Energy Biosciences Institute is hosting a lecture by Luca Zullo, technical director for environmental finance at Cargill, Inc. on Tuesday, Jan. 27. During his talk on "Algae for Biofuels, Promised Land or Mirage?" Zullo will review the present state of development of algal biofuels, touching on the engineering and economic aspects, the most promising approaches to date, and the likelihood of commercial realization. The event takes place in 116 Calvin Laboratory (campus) at 4 p.m.
Lab staff are invited to attend a retirement workshop sponsored by the HR Benefits Office on Tuesday, Jan. 27, from 1 to 4:30 p.m. in Building 2-100B. Attendees can choose to purchase a $25 planning binder (payable in cash or check). Registration is required.
Employees reporting improper governmental activities are fully protected by law and Laboratory policy against retaliation. Lab and University of California policies ensure that those with concerns can go forward through various avenues with confidence that their concerns will receive appropriate attention without fear of retaliation. Besides the Employee Hotline (800-403-4744), concerns can be reported via the Lab Environment, Health and Safety Division (x5514), the Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action office (x7635), Human Resources Centers, Ombudsman’s Office (x4130), Internal Audit Services (x4472) and collective bargaining officials for represented employees. Those who believe they were treated negatively after filing a complaint can contact the Employee Relations Office (x6747). Employees may also report retaliation to the DOE Employee Concerns Program, Chicago Office, at 800-701-9966. Go here to view and/or download a poster listing worker rights information.
