OFF-CAMPUS STUDENT RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS
INTRODUCTION
There is much good news this year. The biggest news is that Dani Kohen got tenure, as we fully expected! Now all the Carleton chemists on continuing positions are tenured. We had everyone on campus teaching except, of course, for Dave Alberg and Gretchen Hofmeister. They have been enjoying much deserved sabbaticals in Denmark this year and will return to Minnesota in August 2009. We faced another year of high enrollments and lots of majors. As a result, we had Michael Burand with us again, as well as Peter Gittins – both teaching in temporary positions.
Will Hollingsworth was Chair Fall Term, and I held down the fort for Winter and Spring Terms after returning from a full year sabbatical. It has been a pleasure to serve the department after many years of doing administrative work in CISMI and on HHMI grants. This year, we made concrete plans to move in 2009-10 to a five-course load for faculty. As a result of personal and professional opportunities, Marion and I are both moving to part-time permanent positions. These changes, along with continued enrollment pressures, got us thinking hard about the need for more faculty. In June, we got approval from the college for two new tenure-track positions in chemistry.
Looking forward, Michael Burand will be with us again next year teaching in Winter and Spring Terms. We have just launched an open search for a tenure-track position in chemistry – for someone who can teach introductory chemistry, upper-level courses and labs, and engage students in chemistry research on campus. We plan to interview this fall and hire someone by mid-December. In several more years, we will hire a second chemist.
This is an exciting time for the department as we start to bring new people in as colleagues and to work closely with our students! Please pass the word about this to interested colleagues and send us the names of people we should be thinking about hiring. We are particularly interested in working hard to create a diverse and strong applicant pool.
Trish Ferrett, Chair
OFF-CAMPUS STUDENT RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY NATIONAL MEETING
Robert Schmitz
AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION FALL MEETING
Ross Hamilton (’10)
Keven Tell
MERCURY CONFERENCE ON COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY
Henry Heitzer (’10)
Lindsey Madison (’10)
Colin Russell (’10)
STUDENT HONORS AND AWARDS
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY UNDERGRADUATE AWARD IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Ross Hamilton (’10)
AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTS AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHEMISTRY
Jonathan McMurry
B.A. DEGREE CERTIFIED BY THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
Jamie Chen, Lauren Jarocha, Claire Liepmann, Juan Medrano
B.A. DEGREE WITH LATIN HONORS
Summa Cum Laude – Yirong Zhu
Magna Cum Laude – Jennifer Bigelow, Jamie Chen, Kareem El Muslemany, John Hanks, Michael Henneberry, Lauren Jarocha, Frederick Kieley, Hae Young Kim, Jonathan McMurry, Andrew Olson, Cassandra Olson, Emily Ruff
Cum Laude – Thomas Brown, Claire Buckler, Eamon Flynn, Robert Kennedy, Claire Liepmann, Kristine Mackin, Daniel Mammel, Robert Schmitz, David Selassie, Katherine Stanchak, Jia-Shyuan Su, Keven Tell, Sarah Toews
BISCOTTI AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING SEMINAR ATTENDANCE
Kristine Mackin, Emily Ruff
CARLETON TONI AWARD IN THE ARTS
Kristine Mackin
CRC PRESS FRESHMAN CHEMISTRY ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Caroline Millington (’12), Emily Sykes (’12)
DISTINCTION IN THE MAJOR
Jamie Chen, Jonathan McMurry, David Selassie
DISTINCTION ON THE SENIOR INTEGRATIVE EXERCISE
Jamie Chen, Lauren Jarocha, Jonathan McMurry, Emily Ruff,
David Selassie
FRANZ EXNER AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN CHEMISTRY
Yirong Zhu
LAURENCE McKINLEY GOULD PRIZE IN NATURAL SCIENCES
Jamie Chen
ELE HANSEN AWARD
Katherine Stanchak
HYPERCUBE SCHOLAR FOR WORK ON COMPUTERS IN CHEMISTRY
David Selassie
JERRY MOHRIG PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY
Claire Liepmann
MORTAR BOARD
Class of 2009 – John Hanks, Cassandra Olson
Class of 2010 – Musetta Steinbach
PHI BETA KAPPA
Jonathan McMurry, Yirong Zhu
RICHARD RAMETTE TEACHING AWARDS
Mia Brown, Robert Schmitz, Keven Tell
SIGMA XI
Jennifer Bigelow, Claire Buckler, Jamie Chen, John Hanks, Robert Kennedy, Claire Liepmann, Jonathan McMurry, Jennifer Miller, Cassandra Olson, Emily Ruff, David Selassie, Katherine Stanchak, Jia-Shyuan Su, Yirong Zhu
STIMSON PRIZE
Lauren Jarocha
MEL TAUBE AWARD
John Hanks
ENROLLMENTS
Fall Term
| 122, Introduction to Chemistry | 30 | Burand |
| 128, Principles of Environmental Chemistry | 41 | Hollingsworth |
| 230, Equilibrium and Analysis | 33 | Drew |
| 233, Organic Chemistry I | 85 | Chihade, Burand, Gittins |
| 301, Chemical Kinetics Laboratory | 38 | Gross, Kohen |
| 343, Chemical Thermodynamics | 37 | Kohen |
| 353, Organic Chemistry III | 5 | Gittins |
| 394, Student-Faculty Research | 13 | Staff |
| 400, Integrative Exercise | 2 | Staff |
Winter Term
| 123-1, Principles of Chemistry | 35 | Ferrett |
| 123-2, Principles of Chemistry, Prob. Solving | 10 | Kohen |
| 233, Organic Chemistry I | 44 | Chihade |
| 234, Organic Chemistry II | 51 | Gittins, Burand |
| 302, Quantum Spectroscopy Laboratory | 26 | Cass, Hollingsworth |
| 306, Spectroscopic Char. Chem. Compounds | 15 | Burand, Gross |
| 344, Quantum Chemistry | 27 | Hollingsworth |
| 391, Independent Study | 1 | Staff |
| 394, Student-Faculty Research | 9 | Staff |
| 400, Integrative Exercise | 34 | Staff |
Spring Term
| 123-1, Principles of Chemistry | 29 | Burand |
| 123-2, Principles of Chemistry | 23 | Kohen |
| 230, Equilibrium and Analysis | 67 | Drew, Gross |
| 234, Organic Chemistry II | 47 | Gittins |
| 320, Biological Chemistry | 40 | Chihade |
| 321, Biological Chemistry Laboratory | 17 | Chihade |
| 351, Inorganic Chemistry | 23 | Cass |
| 352, Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory | 16 | Cass |
| 354, Lasers and Spectroscopy | 13 | Hollingsworth |
| 355, Lasers and Spectroscopy Laboratory | 8 | Hollingsworth |
| 390, Time-Dependent Quantum Mechanics | 12 | Kohen |
| 394, Student-Faculty Research | 12 | Staff |
| 400, Integrative Exercise | 29 | Staff |
FACULTY BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alberg, D. G.; Poulsen, T. P.; Bertelsen, S.; Christensen, K. L.; Birkler, R. D.; Johannsen, M.; Jørgensen, K. A. “Organocatalysis with Endogenous Compounds: Towards Novel Non-enzymatic Reactions,” Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2009, in press.
Drew, Steven M.; Smith, Lisa I.; McGee, Kari A.; Mann, Kent R. “A Platinum(II) Extended Linear Chain Material that Selectively Uptakes Benzene,” accepted for publication Chem. Mater.
Friedman, B.; Herich, H.; Kammermann, L.; Gross, D. S.; Arneth, A.; Holst, T.; Cziczo, D. J. “Subarctic atmospheric aerosol composition: 1. Ambient aerosol characterization,” J. Geophys. Res. 2009, 114, D13203, doi:10.1029/2009JD011772.
Herich, H.; Kammermann, L.; Friedman, B.; Gross, D. S.; Weingartner, E.; Lohmann, U.; Spichtinger, P.; Gysel, M.; Baltensperger, U.; Cziczo, D. J. “Subarctic atmospheric aerosol composition: 2. Hygroscopic growth properties,” J. Geophys. Res. 2009, 114, D13204, doi:10.1029/2008JD011574.
Snyder, D. C.; Schauer, J. J.; Gross, D. S.; Turner, J. R. “Estimating the contribution of point sources to atmospheric metals using single-particle mass spectrometry,” Atmospheric Environment 2009, 43, 4033-4042, doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.05.011.
Selassie, David; Davis, Disan; Dahlin, Jayme; Feise, Eric; Haman, Greg; Sholl, David S.; Kohen, Daniela “Atomistic Simulations of CO2 and N2 Diffusion in Silica Zeolites: The Impact of Pore Size and Shape,” J. Phys. Chem. C 2008, 112(42), 16521-16531.
Mohrig, J. R.; Hammond, C. N.; Schatz, P. F.; Davidson, T. A. “Synthesis and Hydrogenation of Disubstituted Chalcones,” J. Chem. Educ. 2009, 86, 234-239.
GIFTS AND GRANTS
Steven Drew received an ACM FaCE Enhancing Scholarly Agendas grant of $2,759 for the proposal, “Acquiring Proficiency in the Technique of X-ray Crystallography.”
Steven Drew received a Carleton College Curriculum Development Fundgrant of $3,000 for the proposal, “Further Development of a Materials Chemistry Themed Principles of Chemistry Course.”
Carleton College received a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) for $1.5 million for 2008-12. This grant funds projects in the Carleton Interdisciplinary Science and Math Initiative (CISMI). Deborah Gross plays a leadership role in cohort programming that aims to broaden access to science for students from underrepresented minority groups, first-generation college students, and students from low-income families. Trish Ferrett, as CISMI Co-Director, works on administrative tasks and projects related to assessment of student learning.
A Mellon 23 grant was awarded to a five-college consortium for $20,000 to host a faculty development workshop at Carleton in June 2009 on “Broadening Access to STEM Fields.” Trish Ferrett and Arjendu Pattanayak helped design and lead the small workshop – attended by 20 people – collaborating with colleagues from Williams, Smith, Haverford, and Grinnell Colleges. Carleton’s Science Education Resource Center (SERC) helped with workshop design, dissemination, and assessment.
Joe Chihade and Deborah Gross are co-PI’s on a Mellon 23 workshop grant (PI’s are at Swarthmore College, another co-PI is at DePauw) on “Learning and Teaching Physical Sciences in the Liberal Arts College: Forging a Research Agenda.” A workshop will be held during the next academic year.
In 2006 Jerry Mohrig made a donation to the college to establish the Jerry and Jean Mohrig Lectures in Chemistry. This endowed fund is intended to bring to campus renowned chemists as part of our comps program. This year’s lecture was given by David Tirrell of the California Institute of Technology.
A few years ago the estate of James D. Morrison gave $10,000 to support the annual Dr. James D. (’30) and Julia P. Morrison Lectureship. The lectureship was held this year by Nate Lewis of the California Institute of Technology.
Joe Chihade’s research continues to be supported by a $199,277 National Institutes of Health AREA grant, awarded in the spring of 2006, for his project, “Unusual Basis of tRNA Identity in Human Mitochondria.”
Carleton College received a grant for a National Science Foundation S-STEM proposal titled “Cohort Development: Growing a Community of URM Scientists at Carleton.” The grant, $600,000 over four years, will start in September 2009. It provides scholarships and loan reduction to students in our FOCUS and Summer Science Fellows cohort programs funded by HHMI and the Minnesota LSAMP NSF grant. The Carleton team includes the PI (Fernan Jaramillo), co-PI’s (Deborah Gross, Liz Ciner, Rod Oto, Arjendu Pattanayak), and other key personnel (Trish Ferrett, Cathy Manduca).
SEMINARS
Carleton Chemistry Faculty: Graduate School Information Session
Douglas Beussman, St. Olaf College: Proteomics and Date-Rape Drugs: Mass Spectrometry Research at St. Olaf College
Claudio Margulis, University of Iowa: Room Temperature Ionic Liquids, a New Solvation Paradigm
Steven Drew, Carleton College: A Platinum(II) Extended Linear Chain Material That Selectively Uptakes Benzene
Carleton Science Majors: Annual All-Science and Math Poster Session
John Enemark, University of Arizona: Changing SOX in a Flash: Chemistry of a Vital Molybdenum Enzyme (Joint St. Olaf/Carleton Seminar)
Gary Nicholas (’94), Bell’s Brewery: Tales from Industry: Managing the Eccentricities of Fermentation
Keith Woo, Iowa State University: Use of DNA for the Development of Homogeneous Catalysts
Christine Morales (’98), Iona College: Modeling the Infrared Spectrum of a Nanoconfined Liquid
Mark Ratner, Northwestern University: Transport in Molecular Junctions: Thoughts Coherent and Incoherent
Laura Iraci, NASA Ames Research Center: Particles in the Earth’s Atmosphere: Chemistry, Photochemistry, and Climate Implications
Carleton Chemistry Faculty: Summer Research Recruiting
Penny Beuning, Northeastern University: Regulation of DNA Damage Responses by a DNA Polymerase Manager Protein
Nate Lewis, California Institute of Technology: Sunlight-Driven Hydrogen Formation by Membrane-Supported Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting; The James D. and Julia P. Morrison Lecture
Christopher Loss, The Culinary Institute of America: Culinary Chemistry: An Entrée to the Sciences at The Culinary Institute of America
David Tirrell, California Institute of Technology: Reinterpreting the Genetic Code: Non-Canonical Amino Acids in Protein Design, Evolution and Analysis; The Jerry and Jean Mohrig Lecture
Tom McMurry, Ascent Pharmaceuticals: Pepducin Technology: A New Paradigm for Modulating G Protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR) Activity
Garry Crosson, University of Dayton: A Solid-State NMR Study of Zeolite Formation in Hyperalkaline Aluminosilicate Suspensions
James Patterson (’97), University of Alabama, Birmingham: Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Alpha-Synuclein with Detergents and Small Unilamellar Vesicles
Daniel J. Cziczo, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory: Which Aerosol Particles End Up Inside Clouds?
Senior Comps Talks:
Emily Ruff: The Dynamics of Electron Tunneling in Electron Transfer Proteins: Determination of a Decay Constant
Nick Brom, Michael Henneberry, Fred Kieley, Dan Mammel, Seiya Medrano, Andrew Olson, Bobby Schmitz, David Selassie: Interfacial Electron Transfer at Semiconductor-Liquid Junctions: Implications for Powering the Planet
Jennifer Bigelow, Joe Brown, Mia Brown, Jamie Chen, Robert Kennedy, Jennie Miller, Fumiko Yashiro: Dy(e)ing to Save the Planet: Exploring Dye-Sensitized Nanocrystalline TiO2 Solar Cells
Eamon Flynn, Sarah Kunelius, Kristine Mackin, Keven Tell, Sarah Toews, Xia Xiong: The Maillard Reaction or How I learned to stop worrying about acrylamide and love the flavor
Claire Buckler, John Hanks, Claire Liepmann, Jonathan McMurry, Cassandra Olson, Katherine Stanchak, Jia-Shyuan Su, Yirong Zhu: The Work of David Tirrell