In Brief

Kathy Spencer Honored with Highest Toastmaster Accolade
Kathy Spencer, Scripps Research ICND Microscopy Core manager and one of the charter members of Scripps Outstanding Speakers (SOS) Toastmasters, has been honored with the highest Toastmaster International award, Distinguished Toastmaster.

She earned this award after presenting more than 50 speeches and spearheading numerous communications training activities. She oversaw five groups as an area governor, led District 5's Benevolence Committee, organized division and area level speech contests, and sponsored the creation of a new club at the Salk Institute. Spencer was also the recipient of the 2008-2009 Toastmaster of the Year award for District 5 (serving San Diego County, Imperial County, and Yuma, Arizona) and is the current chair of the Toastmasters Leadership Institute.

SOS Toastmasters meets on the first three Tuesdays of every month from 12:15 to 1:15 PM, third floor conference room, in the Beckman Building. The group's mission is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which every member has the opportunity to develop communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth. For more information, stop by a meeting or visit the Toastmasters website.

NWiS to Host Get Together For New Faculty and Students
How do newly hired faculty at Scripps Research find students for their labs? This question was raised by a Scripps Research faculty member recently at a Network for Women in Science (NWiS) coffee hour. Apparently it is not easy. So NWiS has decided to help by hosting a happy hour for new faculty and students on Thursday, September 3 at 5 PM. Although the event is targeted at early students still seeking rotation opportunities and new Ph.D. advisors, all individuals—including established principal investigators, more senior students, and postdocs—interested in meeting the people behind the institute's newest research directions are welcome to attend.

Already on the guest list are new faculty members Hollis Cline, Natalie Franc, Changchun Xiao, Claudio Joazeiro, Anton Maximov, Ian MacRae, and Enrique Saez, as well as more established Scripps Research investigators Jamie Williamson, Bridget Carragher, Ashok Deniz, Michael Body, Natasha Kralli, and Erica Ollmann Saphire.

"There are not many opportunities at Scripps for students and faculty to meet and interact with each other in an informal setting – this is going to be one!" said Johanna Heideker, Kellogg School graduate student and member of NWiS.

The September 3 event will be held on the patio behind the graduate office. If you are a principal investigator planning to attend and have not already done so, please RSVP to heideker@scripps.edu.

Library Tip: Training and Guides
Want to learn more about a particular library resource but don't have a lot of time trying to figure it out by yourself? The Kresge Library can help with its collection of library guides, which are located on the library's web page under "Research Tools / Library Guides & Training."

Currently, the library offers guides on how to use alerting services such as PubMed's MyNCBI, handouts on how to use EndNote and Reference Manager, and tips on using the unique features of Web of Science (Science Citation Index) and Journal Citation Reports. More guides are in the works so check back often to see new content. Or let us know what guides would be most useful to you. For more information, contact the Kresge Library Help Desk, x4-8705 or helplib@scripps.edu.

Don't Miss the Social Networking Fair
ScrippsAssists and the Society of Fellows (SOF) invite you to a Social Networking Fair on Wednesday, September 16 from 11:30 to 1:30 PM in the Immunology breezeway.

Come discover fun things to do with other people at Scripps Research, including improving your leadership skills (SOF), practicing your communication skills (Toastmasters), volunteering and team building (ScrippsAssists), getting or staying fit (yoga, tai chi, softball, etc.), networking (NWiS), expressing your creative side (Mobility Pond), and more. Find new ways to expand your social network and meet new people.

Amazon gift certificates of $25 each will be raffled and cookies will be available. If you have any questions, contact Helen Plutner at plutnerh@scripps.edu. Also please get in touch if your group is missing from the list: organizers can provide a table for your group or can hand out flyers on your behalf.

News&Views Celebrates Labor Day
News&Views will not be published next week due to the Labor Day holiday. Regular, weekly publication will resume with the Monday, September 14 issue.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu