German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right) made the most of her two-hour visit to Berkeley Lab yesterday, touring the Molecular Foundry, meeting with Lab scientists and Director Paul Alivisatos, and finishing off with a photography session on the Foundry terrace. Joined in the photograph by more than 70 German postdocs and staff scientists, Merkel, who holds a PhD in physics, made special note of the German community of scientists at the Lab and exchanged pleasantries to laughter and applause. More than three dozen reporters from major media outlets in Germany accompanied Merkel. Reporters were given a tour of the National Center for Electron Microscopy as well as the Foundry. A highlight of the tour was a video made by the Foundry’s Alex Weber-Bargioni, showing how a nanometer scale image of Berlin's famous Brandenburg Gate was etched into a one-cent Euro coin, using the Focused Ion Beam machine.
Berkeley Lab chemist Hugo Destaillats, one of the co-authors of a recent paper on the perils of third-hand cigarette smoke that garnered extensive press coverage, is again the subject of media attention. Destaillats co-chaired a symposium at the American Chemical Society meeting in San Francisco this past month that brought together outdoor atmospheric chemists and their indoor counterparts to share information and also to garner more attention for indoor environmental studies, which is much the newer of the two fields. Chemical and Engineering News has published a detailed report on this outdoor-indoor symposium.
The International Researchers and Scholars Office (IRSO) is holding a brown bag Q&A session on Monday, April 26, from noon to 1 p.m. in Perseverance Hall (Bldg. 54-130). This session will allow employees, supervisors, and others to ask questions regarding visas, green card applications, work permits, and other topics, with answers provided by IRSO staff. The next session will be offered on July 26. E-mail [email protected] for more information.
The FY2010 wall-to-wall inventory is in the homestretch with a little more than two weeks to go. Inventory Manager Dave McFann reports that over 97 percent of the Lab’s more than 27,000 assets in the campaign have been accounted for already. The final push to account for more than 500 remaining items by April 30 will need the cooperation of all employees. Employees who are not sure what assets they are responsible for can verify their records by accessing the Lab’s Property Review webpage. If any of your assets are somewhere else or inaccessible, notify your property representative right away.
HR Benefits: It’s a Fact…If an enrolled family member loses eligibility during the year, employees are responsible for de-enrolling that family member. Eligibility stops on the last day of the month in which a divorce, legal separation, termination of domestic partnership, or annulment is final. Employees are also required to de-enroll a deceased family member. Contact Benefits (x6403) for assistance.
Special Event: National Volunteer Week Starts SundayImproving community relations is among Director Paul Alivisatos’ top five initiatives for the Lab. And what better way to get involved than participating in National Volunteer Week, which runs from Sunday, April 18, to Saturday, April 24. The event — established in 1974 and sponsored by the Points of Light Institute — celebrates ordinary people doing extraordinary things to transform their communities. Go here to blog about the impact volunteering has made on you and others and here to find volunteering opportunities in your area.
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