2016 Moderator Election

I have been here a long time, longer than one would think if you looked at my activity. In the past I was a lurker and too chicken to contribut, a young, sheepish grad student; now I'm a young, sheepish grad student...maybe not much has changed. So, perhaps my position is one of regret that I didn't participate early on. I am tired of lurking! It's time to participate in the way I can best contribute.

Because of my background (theoretical chemistry and spectroscopy), my greatest impact on the site will always be in the janitorial role, editing posts and (eventually) accessing more of the review queues. Except, there is no overlap between cleaning toilets and LaTeX, which I love dearly (LaTeX, not cleaning toilets).

Two years of teaching undergraduate-level general chemistry and quantum mechanics taught me how much of a pain some of these homework-type questions can be, but also how to transform the mundane into something valuable and interesting. It also means I have plenty of experience dealing with misinformation and poor communication.

I look forward to answering in the Q&A and continuing to perform some of the dirty work, regardless of the outcome here.

I am nominating myself for a moderator position, as I think that I fulfill all the general criteria for moderators that are stated above.

I am by far no one of the high rep guys around here, as I do not answer many questions. However, I don’t think that I have to do this, as there are many smart people around here, providing good to very good answers. That makes me proud to be at least a small part of this site.

But besides being an active answering, voting and commenting member, there is this other additional aspect of every stackexchange, that needs to be managed somehow. That is where I would like to contribute, by working in the background to keep the site clean and tidy.

Personally, I am very patient and I try to be as objective as possible during arguments. I am experienced enough to know, that it is impossible to please everybody, but at least I try to find a solution wherever I can. If needed, my MSc degree in chemistry should be sufficient to value the quality of most asked questions.

Hey guys/gals. I'm Rubisco, TIPS, DEAD, MAR, INA, and just all over the place.

I'm right there when you don't want me to, so I'd make a good mod I say. I've been the most active meta user for as long as I remember. I vote a lot. I edit a lot. I have the most overall reviews on this site, with over two thousand close votes. I have some rep and activity on meta.SE too, and I generally know what I'm doing or I wouldn't do it. I also am a Marshal.

I'm young, and consistently nagging about high school chemistry. I engage in all possible site activities except for answering and asking. That doesn't make me ignorant about what the posters need, seek or feel. I'm also one of the most active chatters, and really, my absence is considered extraordinary and abnormal.

I am nominating because the best help I can afford here is help with moderation. I've embraced it, and strictly believe in passive moderation, as long as it doesn't hurt quality. You can grab some popcorn at times and come and watch our efforts at meta trying to make sure the questions that deserve it get the answer.

I will be whoever I was, whether I get elected or not.

About me
I am starting my third year as an undergraduate at Oxford. My main interests lie in organic chemistry and quantum mechanics, although as an undergrad, I still retain a broad exposure to all aspects of chemistry.

Why I might deserve a vote

• I spend a lot of time here, so I have a good idea of current policies here. I contribute to meta as well.
• I'm in chat often and am easily contactable.
• I enjoy being here and would like to have a greater role in contributing to the quality of the website.
• I have a relatively good understanding of chemistry and try to be helpful to askers.

In general, I hope my activity on the site speaks for itself.

Why you might not want to vote for me

I think that at the very least, voters deserve to know the flip side.

• I'm relatively young.
• I can be a little impatient sometimes.
• I don't spend a great deal of time on mother meta and may not have such a good idea of site-wide policies.
• In the past, I have often erred on the side of downvoting/closure. Whether this is a good or bad thing is up to you to decide.

I am a freshman Chemistry and Computer Science major at the University of Texas at Austin. I joined the StackExchange community at the end of my Senior year of high school, and have been enjoying answering people's questions since then. While a high standard is important for StackEchange questions and answers, I feel that we - as a community - could do more to encourage new users to stay.

Personally, my first answer to a questions on StackExchange was incorrect, and I almost abandoned the community after my answer had a score of around -3 and rude comments saying that I was wrong. Since this blunder, I have learned to be more careful with my answers. I have come to appreciate all that StackExhange has to offer - from the great community on the periodic table chat to those who chose to spend their time answering other people's questions.

While I might be little more than a freshman in college, I have a burning passion for science that I would like to share with all those who come to this site. While I might not have as much leadership experience as the other candidates, I promise that I will do everything in my power to make Chemistry StackExchange an even better community.

From yahoo answers to forums and wikipedia, I've been disappointed in the clarity of chemistry explanations online. Many answers were dubious, and answers to very specific questions we're elusive. Whenever I wondered about a key detail, I'd find myself feeling alone, and I know many scientists feel the same way.

With this site, I no longer feel like I'm on my own when I find myself perplexed by one of chemistry's finer points. Nowhere else on the internet is chemical theory held up to such a high standard, and I want that to continue.

I see the chemistry stack as not only a means of providing good answers to uncommon questions but also as a means of filling in the blanks that tend to exist in chemistry textbooks. There are many questions that should occur to any reader, but that tend to be under-explained in textbooks and if we have a community willing to put some in-depth research and expertise into their answers then we're making chemistry a less arcane science.

As a moderator, I would encourage discussion of specific questions and conclusive answers to common questions so as to improve the breadth and quality of the information available while minimizing the quantity.