Annual Report for the 2024–2025 Academic Year

• Introduction
• Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Respect in Chemistry
• Class of 2025
• Student Honors and Awards
• Enrollments
• Faculty and Staff Activities
• Faculty Bibliography
• Gifts and Grants
• Seminars
• Senior Comps Talks
• Class of 2015

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Introduction

Welcome to the Chemistry Annual Report.

The start of a new academic year always provides a wonderful chance to reflect on the last year of wonderful chemistry at Carleton. As usual, we have had a busy year. We graduated a historically large class of 44 awesome Chemistry majors (read more about their time at Carleton and next steps below), we said bittersweet goodbyes to departing colleagues, and we have welcomed new colleagues into the department.

As usual, we were fortunate this year to have a fantastic team of faculty and staff this year. In addition to our tenure-track crew, we were lucky to have Rachel Horness, Isaac Blythe, and Maraia Ener ’08 all re-joining us in non-tenure-track roles. It was also wonderful to have Peggy Pfister spend a few months of her retirement working with us to provide administrative support (Peggy retired as Executive Assistant to the Provost in 2023 and joined us from May through December last year).

We did say several goodbye to several valued colleagues as they move to exciting next steps. Athena Pitsavas, who began as a Chemistry Technician last year and has done a phenomenal job organizing our stockroom and improving lab preps, has accepted a position to start a PharmD program at University of Minnesota in the fall. Isaac Blythe, who worked with us as a visitor for two years, has accepted a tenure-track job at Southwestern University in Texas—we were super lucky to have Isaac join us for two years and wish them the best! Tami Little, who has served as Administrative Assistant for Chemistry and Geology since 2016, retired this year, and we are deeply indebted to Tami for her excellent work for nearly 10 years.

And finally, but certainly not least, Trish Ferrett retired at the end of the 2024–2025 academic year. Trish has been such a caring and innovative teacher and colleague at Carleton, and we feel fortunate to have worked with her. Check out the picture below from Trish’s retirement celebration with Chemistry students, faculty, and staff—souvenir slinky dogs were handed out to all attendees, so we will never forget the quantum harmonic oscillator!

Trish and her slinky dog

Between Will’s and Trish’s recent retirements, our experimental physical chemistry group has taken quite a hit. Fortunately, we are thrilled to be welcoming Jun Jiang (JJ) as a tenure-track colleague beginning this fall! JJ completed PhD work at MIT, followed by research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. His most recent project has involved developing a novel optical method for ¹⁴CO₂ detection at part-per-trillion levels that can be used to trace sources of CO₂ in the atmosphere. We are so excited for JJ and his family to join us this fall, his experimental physical chemistry research program is sure to provide many great opportunities for Carleton students!

Finally, on the hiring front, two new staff have joined our department this year. Danielle Morisette has begun as Administrative Assistant for Chemistry and Geology; Danielle worked with us on a temporary basis from January through April, and it has been fantastic having her in the department. We have also just recently been joined by Emily Bartley, who started as Chemistry Technician in early August. Emily comes to us from Minnesota Valley Testing Lab, where she has been an Environmental Analyst since graduating from Concordia College in 2024. Emily is already off to the races and getting us ready for fall term labs.

I hope you will enjoy our department’s annual report! Please read on to learn more about department goings-on during the 2024–2025 year, and to find out what fellow alumni have been up to. We always love hearing updates from you, even if they don’t make it into the report. We deeply appreciate our awesome alums and friends!

Matt Whited
Professor and Chair, Chemistry

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Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Respect (DIER) in Chemistry

We continue to work on making the Chemistry Department a place where everyone feels valued. We want to affirm our commitment to supporting you all whenever and however we can. We continue to explore the ways in which we can improve in developing the talents of, and empowering, scientists from backgrounds that have not traditionally been well-represented, in order to change chemistry for the better, and we count you as important partners in our efforts to identify and address these issues.

Our values statement and departmental action items list was updated in September 2024. Please do not hesitate to reach out to any member of the Chemistry Department if you have any questions or want to discuss DEIR issues further.

Also, see the American Chemical Society’s statement on Diversity, Inclusion, and Respect in Chemistry.

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The Class of 2025

Sara Abraha – Cottage Grove, MN

Michael Carey – Haddonfield, NJ

Sam Chackerian – Albuquerque, NM – At Carleton, Sam’s hobbies included running with friends, skiing, and playing the violin. Last summer, he worked in Dr. Adam Matzger’s lab at the University of Michigan, researching metal-organic framework interpenetration. He also interned at Sandia National Laboratories, conducting research on precursors to ceramic thin films and porous organic cages. This fall, Sam looks forward to enjoying the San Diego weather while pursuing a PhD in chemistry at UC San Diego.

Daniel Chen – Seattle, WA

Eli Coronado – Norcross, GA

Hiroki Coyle – Pt Reyes Sta, CA

Waadaa Daka

Andrew Dale – Maple Grove, MN – Andrew started at Carleton thinking he wanted to study biology, but was instead led down the path of chemistry. He enjoyed working as an organic chemistry PSF and lab TA. During the summers, Andrew worked as a sterilization technician and dental materials research intern at the University of Minnesota to prepare for dental school. At Carleton, Andrew enjoyed the company of his chemistry peers, researching marine mussels in the Nishizaki biology lab, playing on the club hockey team, taking pictures with his photography friends, and co-leading the small predental community. After graduation, Andrew will start dental school at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and use his chemistry background to serve patients.

Aurora Davis – Tualatin, OR

Spencer Delle Fave – Gainesville, FL – During his time at Carleton, Spencer played in an all cello group called Just Cellin’, and he was on the board of the Carleton ASBMB student chapter. He worked in Professor Joe Chihade’s lab for two years where he characterized mutations in human mitochondrial alanyl-tRNA synthetase that are associated with a variety of diseases. This fall, Spencer will begin his pursuit of a chemistry PhD at the University of Florida.

Cassie Gerard – San Luis Obispo, CA

Margaret Hall – Chicago, IL – Margaret worked for the chemistry department as a Prefect and Lab TA and was also a member of the RING. She participated in research in Deborah Gross’ aerosol lab studying particulate matter emissions and efficiency of various cookstoves, and also completed an REU studying dynamic polyimides with the Shull group at Northwestern. She enjoyed traveling abroad while at Carleton, going on OCS programs to Mumbai and Seoul as well as Ethiopia, participating in the DAAD RISE summer internship program in Bremen, Germany, and using a fellowship to go to Tanzania. In her free time, Margaret enjoys playing board games and sports, cooking, and watching movies with friends. After graduation, Margaret will be pursuing a PhD in chemistry at The University of Chicago, with a focus on materials chemistry.

Ananth Iyer – Seattle, WA – Ananth was a 4-year letter varsity baseball player at Carleton while double majoring in Chemistry and Statistics. His hobbies include sports, food, video games, and anime. As a pre-med student, his research includes both performing statistical analysis for clinical research projects and wet lab experiencing designing novel cancer treatments. This upcoming year, Ananth will be working as a scribe back home in Seattle while applying to medical schools across the country.

Ellen Johnson – Sweden, Uppsala – Ellen was a Biology and Chemistry double major and worked as an illustrator for the Carleton Arboretum. Throughout her time at Carleton, Ellen also shadowed at various vet clinics and completed an internship at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Minneapolis. Ellen is now applying to vet school in her home country Sweden.

Marshall Johnson – Long Lake, MN – While at Carleton, Marshall worked as a manager in the Makerspace aswell as in Matt Whited’s lab performing catalysis. This past summer, he worked as an embedded software engineering intern at Stratasys, developing monitoring programs for industrial 3D printers. Next year, he will be working as an educational associate for the instrument shop, before pursuing a career in engineering.

Lexi Kingma – Tucson, AZ

Padmini Konidena – Roseville, MN – At Carleton, Padmini was interested in both chemistry and biology, and really enjoyed learning about PFAS during her chemistry comps project. She worked in the CCCE, running the Certified Nursing Assistant and College Friends programs, among others. For fun, she skied, ran, and read books. Post-Carleton, she will be finding a job and then attending medical school in a year or two.

Josh Lecuyer – Woodbury, MN – Josh was a member of the Carleton Orchestra for three years, playing the bassoon. He worked in custodial for three years and as a grader/lab TA for one year. Last summer, he did research at the SYBORGS lab at the University of Florida, ultimately sending a bacteria experiment to space. This summer Josh will begin a summer research rotation at the Walter lab at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor as part of a chemistry PhD program, doing biochemistry work on RNA and single molecule analysis.

Aiden Lesneski – Philadelphia, PA – Aiden, a Chemistry major and biochemistry minor, is deeply interested in chemical biology and peptides. While at Carleton, he worked in the department as a grader and lab TA. Outside of class, he is interested in NYT games, random fun facts, science communication, and falling into random Wikipedia rabbit holes. He’ll miss the Arb, El Tri, and studying outside the 2nd floor Chem offices. Last summer, he performed metabolomics research in the lab of Dr. Greg Ducker ’06 at the University of Utah. Following graduation, he’ll spend two years as a research fellow in the lab of E. James Petersson at the University of Pennsylvania thanks to the generous Carleton-funded Paglia Post-Bac Research Fellowship. After his work at Penn, he’ll pursue graduate school in the field of chemical biology.

Jemsy Mathew – Carrollton, TX – Jemsy was a FOCUS mentor and a leader for Carleton’s QuestBridge Chapter, Pre-health Association, Karate Club, and ASBMB Chapter. While at Carleton, she enjoyed playing the violin and conducting aaRS and SARS-CoV-2 Mpro research in Joe Chihade’s lab. Last summer, Jemsy worked in a translational breast cancer research lab investigating INK-128 as a therapeutic drug for treating CDK4/6 inhibitor-resistant breast cancer. After graduating from Carleton, she will conduct biomedical research for a year or two before matriculating into an MD/PhD program.

Miles McDermott – Brainerd, MN – Miles was a Spanish TA during his time at Carleton. His hobbies included amateur video game design and running. In the spring of 2025, he studied Suzuki cross-coupling reactions in a research course with Professor Gretchen Hofmeister. Miles plans to take a gap year and work this summer while applying to medical school.

Sarah McKinley – Okemos, MI – In addition to her chemistry major, Sarah earned a minor in biochemistry and was a member of the Carleton College chapter of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In summer 2023, she worked in the Regenerative Electrode Interface Lab (REI) with Dr. Erin Purcell at Michigan State University to explore the effects of viral injection to the brain using a rat model. In summer 2024, she worked in the Aerosols Lab with Dr. Deborah Gross at Carleton College to analyze data on particulate matter emissions from biomass cookstoves in Ethiopia. Her group comps topic addressed PFAS structure, prevalence, and remediation. Following graduation, Sarah intends to spend 1-2 years gaining additional technical experience in the workforce before applying to graduate school or medical school. At Carleton, Sarah’s hobbies included nordic skiing and yoga.

Alice Mongane – Gilbert, AZ

Quan Nguyen – Madison, WI – At Carleton, Quan tried his hands at various disciplines: Chemistry, Environmental Study, English, to American Studies. He started out as a humanity-focused student, but later realized the interconnectedness of both humanity and STEM: that science was not done in a vacuum but to solve humanity-centered problems. At Carleton, Quan was involved in research in inorganic synthesis with Professor Whited during sophomore summer. During junior summer, Quan pursued a research opportunity at Novartis Biomedical Research under the guidance of two senior scientists – Tomas Smith and Ester Otarola – focusing on early targets of polycystic kidney disease. In the fall, Quan will head to UW-Madison to pursue a PhD, with a focus in Chemical Biology.

Katie O’Leary – Claremont, CA

Coral Outwater – Tucson, AZ – During her time at Carleton, Coral Outwater worked as a TA for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry courses and led a vocal jazz ensemble. She conducted medical research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and at the University of Alabama Birmingham School of Medicine through REU programs during the summer, presenting her findings at the 2025 Academic Surgical Congress and through journal publications. With interests in medicine and environmentalism, she plans to spend a few years working and exploring career options before entering a medical or graduate program.

Audrey Parrott – Gaylord, MN – In her free time, Audrey played for the frisbee team Syzygy, worked at the local nursing home, and enjoyed running with friends. For the chemistry department, she worked as a PSF and prefect throughout the years. During her time at Carleton, she completed research with Deborah Gross on-campus examining the emissions from various biomass cookstoves. She also completed off-campus research at the MD Anderson Cancer Center to discover the role of the LRP1 protein in cytokine production for cancer defense. Audrey accepted the Paglia Fellowship from Carleton and will spend the next two years completing structural biology research at Columbia in New York.

Collin Pearson – Golden, CO – At Carleton, Collin was heavily involved in the Ultimate scene as a player for CHOP as well as in the Chemistry Department. He worked on the synthesis side of the Whited lab for two summers, developing and testing new organometallic compounds. During the school year, he continued research while also working as a Lab TA, PSF, Grader, or Prefect. He will be matriculating at UPenn in the fall.

Abby Persell – Evanston, IL – Abby was a Student Departmental Advisor for the chemistry department. While at Carleton, Abby was involved in musical groups where she played piano. Next year, Abby will begin working as a Materials Engineer at American Energy Technologies Company in Wheeling, Illinois. Abby plans to eventually pursue a graduate degree in chemistry or chemical engineering.

Anka Raicevic – The Bronx, NY

Isabelle Riley

Frankie Saraniti

Beckett Schafer – Oakland, CA – Beckett worked in the Calderone research lab while attending Carleton, and now plans to pursue a PhD in chemical biology at WashU in St. Louis.

Ben Schneider – Grand Rapids, MI

Ben Scott-Lewis – Portland, OR – While at Carleton Ben played frisbee CUT and was an RA. He particularly loved studying biochemistry, but also had a ton compsing on materials chemistry with Dani! Next year he is attending a paramedic program in Utah

Lizzet Solache Salgado

Annika Stewart – Asheville, NC – Annika was a Center for Community and Civic Engagement (CCCE) fellow in the Health and Belonging Cohort and worked in the Chemistry department as a grader and lab TA. At Carleton, Annika was involved in multiple student-run dance groups including the Experimental Dance Board (EDB), Synchrony, and the Jazz and Contemporary dance company (JCO) where she held a director role for her junior and senior year. She continued her passion for dance by teaching at Northfield Dance Academy (NDA) which is owned by Daphne McCoy, one of the dance professors at Carleton. The past two summers she worked in Dr. Matt Whited’s lab at Carleton investigating organometallic catalysts that function cooperatively using metal-nonmetal bonds. Specifically, Annika focused on the effect of sterics on catalytic performance in group transfer reactions. Starting in the fall, Annika will work as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) to gain experience in healthcare before applying to medical school.

Kate Thomas – Saint Paul, MN – Kate split her time working for the arb office and taking classes in the religion and cross-cultural studies departments. She did research on the morphological stability of organic photovoltaics at UCSB last summer, which led her even further into the world of physical chemistry and materials science. While at Carleton, Kate spent much her free time playing rugby and intramural sports, volunteering for the CCCE, and learning how to cook in the farm kitchen. She plans to continue working with materials as a lab technician during the next few years as a bridge to graduate school.

Kate Ulrich – Waconia, MN – During her time at Carleton, Kate has coached Girls on the Run and volunteered with Alzheimer’s Buddies, as well as engaged in off-campus research opportunities with the Lampe Lab at Fred Hutch, the Escolano Lab at the Wistar Institute, and the EPINUT group at Complutense University. She has also worked as a writing consultant, a role she will continue this upcoming year as a Spain Fulbright ETA in IE University’s writing center. In the future, she plans to attend medical school to become an OB/GYN.

James Walutes – Alexandria, VA

Sergio Yap – Singapore – Sergio was a Carleton Football team member and the Carleton Men’s Rugby President. While at Carleton, Sergio had too many hobbies to count, ranging from baking pies, film photography, and growing tomatoes on his apartment balcony to golfing. Last summer, he worked in Dr. Matt Whited’s lab at Carleton to study group transfer at group 9 Silylene complexes. This summer, Sergio will begin working as a research technician for the next two years at the Molecule Maker Lab Insitute/ The Burke Group at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His project will focus on optimizing modular organic synthesis facilitated by palladium cross-coupling. 

Yeriel Yoon – Beijing, China

Sean Zhang – Beijing, China

Contact Danielle Morisette if you would like your information to be updated.

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Student Honors and Awards

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY UNDERGRADUATE AWARD IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY

Irene Tang

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY UNDERGRADUATE AWARD IN BIOCHEMISTRY CHEMICAL BIOLOGY

Aiden Lesneski

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY UNDERGRADUATE AWARD IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

Yinan Gao

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY UNDERGRADUATE AWARD IN INORGANIC CHEMISTRY

Josh Lecuyer

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY UNDERGRADUATE AWARD IN PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY

Audrey Parrott

AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTS AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHEMISTRY

Audrey Parrott

B.A. DEGREE WITH LATIN HONORS

Summa Cum Laude – Joshua Lecuyer, Katherine O’Leary, Coral Outwater

Magna Cum Laude – Andrew Dale, Aurora Davis, Spencer Delle Fave, Ananth Iyer, Marshall Johnson, Audrey Parrott, Ben Schneider, Sergio Yap, Yewon Yoon

Cum Laude – Michael Carey, Samuel Chackerian, Margaret Hall, Ellen Johnson, Jemsy Mathew, Collin Pearson, Abigail Persell, Kate Ulrich

BISCOTTI AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING SEMINAR ATTENDANCE

Andrew Dale, Margaret Hall

BRIAN MARS AWARD FOR LABORATORY SERVICE

Sergio Yap

CHARLES CARLIN PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY

Quan Nguyen, Frankie Saraniti

CLASS OF 1966 DIVERSITY OF ACHIEVEMENT

Padmini Konidena

CHANG-LAN FELLOWSHIP

Per Johnson

DISTINCTION IN THE MAJOR

Aurora Davis, Marshall Johnson, Joshua Lecuyer, Coral Outwater, Audrey Parrott, Abigail Persell, Ben Schneider, Kate Ulrich

DISTINCTION ON THE SENIOR INTEGRATIVE EXERCISE

Michael Carey, Aurora Davis, Yinan Gao, Marshall Johnson, Lexi Kingma, Josh Lecuyer, Aiden Lesneski, Coral Outwater, Audrey Parrott, Abby Persell, Ben Schneider, Kate Ulrich

EMILY T MONTGOMERY ’00 MEMORIAL FELLOWS

Rocio Avila

FRANZ EXNER AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN CHEMISTRY

Spencer Delle Fave, Coral Outwater

FULBRIGHT GRANT/FELLOW

Aurora Davis, Katie O’Leary, Kate Ulrich

JAMES ADAMS MEMORIAL AWARD FOR POSITIVITY

Claire Lee-Zacheis

JERRY MOHRIG PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY

Margaret Hall, Collin Pearson

K. WASSERMAN DAVIS 100 PROJECTS FOR PEACE

Narjis Nusaibah

LAURENCE MCKINLEY GOULD PRIZE IN NATURAL SCIENCE

Katie O’Leary

MORTAR BOARD

Sara Abraha, Waadaa Daka, Jemsy Mathew, Lizzet Solache Salgado, Hanna Hunde

NOYES PRIZE

Katie O’Leary

PAGLIA POST-BAC RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

Aiden Lesneski, Audrey Parrott

PHI BETA KAPPA

Andrew Dale, Aurora Davis, Spencer Delle Fave, Ananth Iyer, Marshall Johnson, Joshua Lecuyer, Katie O’Leary, Coral Outwater, Audrey Parrott, Benjamin Schneider, Sergio Yap

POLLATSEK PRIZE

Marshall Johnson

PROFESSOR ROY F. GROW ENDOWED FELLOWSHIP FUND

Lizzet Solache Salgado

REEVES PRIZE

Coral Outwater

RICHARD RAMETTE TEACHING AWARDS

Cassie Gerard, Abby Persell

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Enrollments

Fall 2024

Winter 2025

Spring 2025

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Faculty and Staff Activities

David G. Alberg, 1993-2023; Professor Emeritus. B.A., Carleton College; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley.

Emily Bartley, 2025-, Chemistry Technician.

Isaac Blythe, 2023-2025, Visiting Assistant Professor. B.S. & M.S., Texas State University, Ph.D., University of Michigan.

Christopher Calderone, 2012-, Associate Professor. B.S., University of Chicago; M.Phil., Cambridge University; Ph.D., Harvard University.

It was a relatively smooth re-entry to teaching after returning to campus after my sabbatical last year.  I got to teach CHEM301 Chemical Kinetics Laboratory with Dani Kohen (my second time teaching the course, and first time teaching with Dani) and BIOC301 Biochemistry (for the first time ever) in the fall, CHEM234 Organic Chemistry II in the Winter, and BIOC311 Biochemistry Laboratory in the Spring.  Kinetics and Biochemistry Lab were particularly fun—Kinetics is a bit of an adventure keeping all the different projects’ balls in the air, and Biochemistry Lab continues to collect and characterize adenylation domain mutants in hopes of identifying rational strategies for altering their substrate specificities.

I also led a comps group for the first time in a handful of years, hosting Bobby Arora from NYU to talk about his efforts designing peptidomimetics as therapeutics.  It was a great group of nine students, and I had a blast working with them this Winter and Spring.

In my lab, I was thrilled to see Beckett Schafer talk about his individual comps work on non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (a topic near and dear to my research heart!), and head off to Wash U. in St. Louis for Ph.D. studies next year.  I was sad to see rising seniors Irene Tang and Eleanor Hebard head off to greener laboratory pastures this summer (Illinois and Utah), but I have a great group of new students trying to navigate intransigent protein expression this summer (Maddie Selinger ‘28, Cameron O’Connor ‘27, and Naomi Straub ‘26).

Finally, time marches on with my family (and everything else)….Frances is twelve and obsessed with the NFL and Beyonce—a completely normal combination of interests for a seventh-grader—and Simon just got his learner’s permit, so keep your head on a swivel if you are driving around South Minneapolis in the coming months.

Marion E. Cass, 1987-2019; Professor Emeritus, 2019-. B.S. Fort Lewis College, Durango Colorado, Ph.D., University of Colorado at Boulder.

Joseph W. Chihade, 2003-, Professor. B.A., Oberlin College; M.A., Ph.D., Columbia University.

One of the best but most challenging parts of being a faculty member at Carleton is balancing all the different types of work that I get to do. This academic year was one where I seemed to have a different job in each academic term. 

During the Fall Term, I was mostly in Organic professor mode, teaching a great group of 44 students the basics of organic chemistry in the newly remodeled “sandbox” classroom in the Weitz Center. Although that first term of Organic can be stressful for many students, I’m always pleased by the number of “this is way more interesting than I thought it was going to be” comments that I get by the end of the term. I also went to a couple of conferences in the Fall. At the start of the term, I attended my first Anti-Helminthics conference in Toronto and learned a lot about the diverse community of scientists working to develop new drugs to treat parasitic worm infections. Near the end of the term, I went to the ABRCMS meeting in Pittsburgh with several students and engaged with a great community of mostly undergraduate scientist interested in pursuing biomedical research. (I also got to ride the Monongahela incline train twice a day on the way to and from my Airbnb. Look up a picture if you’re not familiar!) 

In the Winter, I switched into Biochemistry mode, teaching my first run-through of the new Survey of Biochemistry course, as well as the Biochemistry lab course, in which students made and began to characterize mutant versions of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease that might confer resistance to Paxlovid, the anti-COVID drug. Since I’m always looking for new examples of fundamental biochemical concepts, teaching Biochemistry provides me with an opportunity to explore research areas that I wouldn’t otherwise pay much attention to. This year was no exception, as a search for organisms with unusual glycolysis pathways led me to the biochemistry thermophilic archaebacteria that live in Icelandic volcanos.  (A map of Iceland was the cover illustration for my second exam.)

In the Spring, my only teaching involved helping two students finish up two very different but equally fascinating individual comps papers. That meant that I was mostly in research mode, working with Spencer Delle Fave ’25 to get closer to our goal of characterizing pathogenic mutants of a human mitochondrial enzyme, with Jemsy Mathew ’25 on improving the assay we use in the Biochemistry lab course, and with Sara Abraha ’25 to express helminth aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases in bacteria. The non-teaching term also meant a more structured introduction to the research lab for the four new students who will work in my lab in the summer of 2025. 

Throughout the year, I had plenty of Zoom meetings related to my work with the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. I’ve served for several years on the organizing committee for the society’s annual undergraduate poster competition. This year, I was also one of the organizers for the society’s biennial education meeting, modestly titled Transforming Undergraduate Education in the Molecular Life Sciences, held at Macalester College in St. Paul in July 2025. 

At home, Dani and I continue to adjust to being “empty nesters” – our kids are still on our minds quite a bit. Margo graduated this year and is heading off to a master’s program in Germany this fall. Sofia is going into her senior year.  Both came to ski with us in Utah over winter break. Dani and I took a couple of more local ski trips this year – to Galena, Illinois (where the bottom of the ski hill is the Mississippi River) and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Both places were worth the drive!

William C. Child, Jr., 1956-1990; Professor Emeritus, 1990-. B.A., Oberlin College; Ph.D., University of Wisconsin.

Life these days finds Nancy and me mainly in our condominium and the adjoining neighborhood.  While Nancy is limited to her walker, I venture out for modest walks or opt for the treadmill in our building.  I still manage some photography and the editing of the results.  It was gratifying to visit with some chemistry graduates at the recent alumni reunion.

Steven M. Drew, 1991-, Professor. B.A., St. John’s University; Ph.D., University of Colorado.

This past year I had plenty of students enrolled in my slate of courses.  In the fall I taught the 300-level lab course Computer-Assisted Experimentation for Chemists and our lab science course for non-STEM students: Concepts of Chemistry.  In the winter, because of our large number of chemistry majors, Deborah and I taught an expanded class of Instrumental Chemical Analysis with three lab sections.  Then in the spring I had another overflowing class of 58 students for Principles of Chemistry II and lab.  As you can see from our enrollments, Carleton continues to attract plenty of students interested in chemistry.

During the academic year Sean Zhang (’25) and Anka Raicevic (’25) opted to do research in my lab for their chemistry comps.  We are developing electrochemical deposition methods for making thin films of an iron-chromium-aluminum mixed metal oxide semiconductor that may facilitate photoelectrochemical water splitting.  Sean and Anka did some great work.  They concluded their comps with an extended report and a poster summarizing their results.

I continue to develop new laboratory experiences for our chemistry students.  Testing of a new experiment for Principles of Chemistry I continues.  With the help of Rachel Horness and Isaac Blythe we are developing a new equilibrium experiment using the supramolecular chemistry of a cyclodextrin molecule binding a fluorescent dye molecule.  The interesting aspect of this reaction is that the fluorescence “turns on” upon inclusion in the cyclodextrin.  We have built inexpensive fluorescence viewers with UV-LED excitation sources that students use to observe the degree of product formation.  The students can use their cell phone for semiquantitative fluorescence intensity measurements as parameters like concentration and temperature are varied (classic Le Chatelier’s principle observations).  Finally, the students use UV absorbance to make quantitative measurements of the equilibrium constant value as a function of temperature (van’t Hoff plots!).  Initial results were promising the year before, so we should have enough student learning assessment data with the data from this past year to fully assess the experiment and hopefully publish our results. 

Finally, I have decided to develop a laboratory course on the chemistry of renewable energy that I hope to launch fall 2026.  I’ve received a curricular development grant from the college to support the work and I’ve begun to develop experimental experiences for students.  This past year Will Tan (’27) and Torte Torstenson (’27) worked with me to explore the construction and testing of carbon monolith perovskite solar cells.  They were able to construct functioning solar cells and measure relevant metrics.  Their work will form the basis of an experiment in the course.  This coming year we will explore the construction of some demonstration batteries and the electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen for use in fuel cells.  I find it satisfying that electrochemistry is so central to our renewable energy future.  All those years of studying electrochemical processes are really paying off!

Tricia A. Ferrett, 1990-2025, Professor. B.A., Grinnell College; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley.

This was my last year teaching – and it was honestly one of my best! I focused on living in the moment with my students, with joy and attention to our work together. And — my Carleton email is active, so stay in touch.

Fall term was my last run through Thermo (Chem 343) with 42 students – a record high enrollment. About half each juniors and seniors, they got very good at thinking about energy – and challenging me. Thermo has always been hard to teach (and learn), and I have never stopped learning more of it.  These students even helped us understand some new and subtle aspects of the Carnot engine diagram. The best part was working with them as they read and interpreted how energy analysis provided insight on chemical research problems discussed in literature papers at the end of the course. Each student focused on one paper but I had to master 11 papers!

Winter term, I had 13 students in the Quantum Spec Lab (Chem 302), which this year was top heavy with junior chemistry majors. One highlight was when our new physical chemist, JJ, visited in January and spent an afternoon in lab with us.  He is going to be great! I baked the usual lab cookies for our fun half-day data analysis workshops. My elderly Mom passed away in January.   stepped out for a week for that process and then returned to a much simpler daily schedule without 3-4 hours at her nursing home. 

Finally, my last course really was my “dream course”,  a small discussion-based seminar in spring term on the nanochemistry literature (Chem 362). After surveying some cross-cutting ideas (surface, shape, size, self-assembly, defects, and Bionano) as a foundation, students voted to read and lead discussions on 2 papers each by Moungi Bawendi, Christy Haynes, and Paul Hammond. Then, for the first (and last) time, I gave them fairly free rein to design the last few weeks of the course. After some thoughtful discussion, they decided to study lipid nanoparticles used as delivery vehicles for COVID mRNA vaccines (and for CRISPR therapy for Baby KJ), molecular DNA machines (Paul Wiess), and nanoelectronics (Cherie Kagan).  I found it amazing and amusing that the students left the hardest topic for last – nanoscale field effect transistors (FETs).  We had to learn to electronics! But as one student said in class, “We did it!”   A mentor of mine many years ago told me I would be a master teacher when I taught a course that the students largely designed and led – this was it.  It only took me 3 plus decades to get there.

My final comps experience was in supervising two long papers that stepped out of my wheelhouse (of course). Sara Abraha helped us both learn about research on drug therapies for 3 kinds of breast cancer, all targeting the Hsp90 protein. We were both highly motivated by the breast cancer context. Josh Lecuyer studied hypergolic ionic liquids, possibly safer and greener alternative rocket fuels. I eagerly watched his story evolve to the best part of his paper aptly titled “Was it all a lie?”, which documented a surprising (and exciting) turn of events in the entire field.

As I leave Carleton, I will truly miss everyone – students and department and college colleagues. Yet, I am more than ready to redirect my energy after 37 years of teaching and 22 years of intense caregiving of kids and my Mom.  The wildflowers and pollinators in my home prairie are calling me, along with a healthier lifestyle minus the race through my packed daily schedule. I will have time to do the other things I love: tutor small kids in reading, art (several kinds), music, reading, gardening, exercising, US travel (the wilderness calls…), cooking, friends, and family. 

Carrie Flesch, 2023-, Chemistry Laboratory Manager and Instrument Technician. B.S., University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. 

With nearly two years under my belt, this year began to feel more familiar and routine. I had the privilege of working alongside Athena Pitsavas as the chemistry lab assistant, and together we completed numerous organizational projects in both the prep room and various lab spaces.

Over the summer, I attended the NAOSMM conference, where I began my involvement with the Membership Committee. This role gave me the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations with vendors throughout the conference and across the year. One of the highlights was the keynote speaker’s presentation on service dogs in laboratory settings—a topic close to home, as we had successfully implemented accommodations for service animals in our labs over the past year.

On the instrumentation front, we upgraded several UV-Vis spectrophotometers. The new models, equipped with Peltier temperature control, will enhance experiments in upper-level chemistry and biochemistry labs.

Outside of work, life shifted a bit with Josephine away at school. My daughters and I took advantage of the summer to explore the Ontario Provincial Parks in Canada, camping at sites right along the shores of Lake Superior. We also ventured to South Dakota for the first time, where I completed a 30K race and we explored Badlands National Park.  Kara wrapped up her 8th season performing in The Nutcracker and celebrated her 13th year of dance in the Senior Repertoire program. She also took on assistant teaching duties at the dance studio and earned her driver’s license—a big milestone. Meanwhile, Josephine successfully completed her first year at UW-Stout, pursuing a major in Animation and Digital Media.

Deborah S. Gross, 1998-, Professor. B.A., Haverford College; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley.

This has been a complicated year. In the fall, I taught ENTS 289, Climate Change and Human Health. Formerly, this class was part of a winter break off-campus program, but this offering was stand-alone. I worked with a great group of 22 students to dig into the complex areas of climate change and its input on our health. They were creative in many ways and thought about the complex systems inherent in these topics from a wide variety of perspectives. A highlight of the class was inviting many visitors who are engaged in climate and health-related work in a variety of venues (many were alums, some were not; a few were from campus, but most were not). I hope that students completed the course with a sense that they can tackle complicated topics, find interesting connections within and between aspects of the topic, and make a contribution to things that they care about.

In the winter, I co-taught CHEM 330 and 331, Instrumental Chemical Analysis and its associated lab, with Steve Drew. We had a super-sized class and the students did a great job with learning how to run a wide variety of instruments (from elemental to molecular analysis, using spectroscopic, mass spectrometric, and electrochemical methods). The material in this class is always fun and relevant to real world analytical challenges. I also had the fun opportunity to “sub in” and teach the FOCUS Sophomore Colloquium in the winter, as the faculty mentor working with that cohort was on a one-term leave. I got to work with a great group of students who were preparing STEM-related demos to carry out with kids at the Greenvale Community School. They did excellent work and it was nice to get to know them better.

During the winter, I also worked with two excellent comps groups. In ENTS, I co-advised a group with Nancy Braker, the Director of the Arboretum. We worked with 4 students (Mia Beeman-Weber, Geoff Bynum, Tyler Chodera, and Gitanjali Matthes) who did an interesting project entitled “Climate Adaptation in Southeastern Minnesota: Multiscalar Decision-Making and a Case Study of the Carleton College Cowling Arboretum.” They talked with a lot of practitioners and thought hard about how forest managers think about vulnerability of forests in the changing climate. In Chemistry, I advised a group of students who looked into the complicated problem of PFAS, or “forever chemicals.” The group (Daniel Chen, Elida Coronado, Hiroki Coyle, Andrew Dale, Cassie Gerard, Lexi Kingma, Padmini Konidena, Jemsy Mathew, Sarah McKinley, Coral Outwater, and Abby Persell) dug into the chemistry, policy, environmental and health impacts, and future of PFAS molecules. They spoke with scientists working on detecting PFAS in the environment, a representative from a company that historically has manufactured PFAS but is phasing it out, and scientists who are working on a commercial method for degrading and destroying PFAS in water. Their study culminated with a visit from Professor Matt Simcik, an environmental chemist in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. Everyone learned a lot!

In the spring, in a fluke of scheduling, I didn’t teach. Instead, I took on a few independent studies, including working with a student to understand how climate model downscaling works and is applied in models of wildfire smoke, and with another on a survey-based study to explore what motivates people to use and to give their time as a volunteer in a national park near her home.

Throughout this year, I worked closely with Mo Kaitany (Biology ’24) who served as the FOCUS Coordinator. She did a stellar job of running FOCUS and making sure that the students in the program were supported and connected. One challenge that we faced this year was the termination of the North Star STEM Alliance, an NSF funded program through the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP). This program, which was centered at the University of Minnesota, had been providing funding to FOCUS and the Summer Science Fellows program since 2008. While the loss of the funding is really unfortunate, we are grateful to Carleton for filling in the funding for the next few years.

Ongoing staffing changes in the department are rapidly changing its face. Trish Ferrett retired at the end of this year, as did Tami Little. We also said goodbye to Isaac Blythe, a visitor for the past two years and Athena Pitsavas, our Chemistry Technician. In the fall, we look forward to welcoming Jun Jiang, a new experimental physical chemist who will join us from Lawrence Livermore National Lab.

This spring, Markus as I welcomed two new cats into our house. Aggie (it’s a chemistry-themed name… can you guess what color she is?) and her daughter Mini are making sure that we are always hearing purrs. We traveled to both Switzerland and California a few times this year, which was lovely.

Gretchen E. Hofmeister, 2002-, Professor. B.A., Carleton College; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley.

I was an administrator in the Dean’s Office during the height of the COVID pandemic. Since returning to the role of professor at Carleton, I am double-downing on the aspects of my work that I think are crucial for my students—and for society—at this moment in time, as we adapt to a post-COVID and AI-dominated environment. I have recently noticed that students arrive in college with less confidence in working with chemicals and laboratory equipment than in the past. They feel uncomfortable and anxious about building and mixing things and they are afraid of “doing something wrong.” They tend to rely on grades to assess their learning, and they have little idea of the expectations for self-motivation and self-direction that are necessary in the world outside of school, whether it’s in a laboratory or other setting. Therefore, my main focus (apart from teaching organic chemistry!) is to build students’ social, laboratory, and communication skills, and their self-confidence, so that they can thrive in future chemistry classes and the world outside of Carleton. 

When I teach Organic I, I try to foster productive, face-to-face peer interactions in the classroom, enabling students to benefit from learning with and from one another, as well as from me. This means that I establish groups in the classroom, and my mini-lectures are interspersed with time for team-based concept application and problem solving. Given the density of material covered in Organic I, I still struggle to find a good balance in this regard. Fortunately, every new group of students presents an opportunity for me to improve!

I believe that working in person, in the lab, with students, is the most important way I can ensure that their Carleton education will matter to them in the long run. Therefore, I developed a new course, Research in Synthetic and Mechanistic Organic Chemistry, and taught the first iteration of this course in the Spring Term. Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences, or CUREs for short, are high-impact practices that are known to play an important role in promoting students’ persistence in science. They are particularly meaningful for marginalized groups or first-generation students, who typically experience more barriers to access a research opportunity. In order to prepare for teaching this course, I studied the question, “What are the most important CURE components for increasing students’ sense of belonging or agency?” 

Here are the answers that I identified from other teachers of CUREs: 

• The work must be novel and important; the results must matter to the world outside their sphere. 
• Students must have opportunities for iteration and improvement; these enable them to overcome obstacles and become expert at something. They also promote both a sense of community, because they share their knowledge with one another, and individual confidence, because they develop expertise.
• Finally, the students must have a sense of ownership over their project; they need to care about how the project is progressing.

This past Spring Term, 17 students embarked on this new venture with me. The pre-requisite for the course was to complete the 200-level sequence of chemistry courses—in other words, students did not need to apply in order to participate. The course was structured around two projects: the first was a study of the effect of electron donating or withdrawing groups on the degree of Z/E isomerization in a Suzuki-Miyaura vinyl-aryl coupling (SMC) reaction. For the second project, students prioritized working in one of three areas: (1) continuing to study the electronic effects on Z/E isomerization in SMC; (2) developing a greener SMC synthesis of Z-alkenes; or (3) applying the SMC in the total synthesis of Combretastatin A-4. Based on their preferences, I divided them into groups of two or three and all of the groups within a particular area developed a research proposal together. 

The structure of the course addressed the three criteria identified above, as follows:

• The projects were all novel and student results would be of interest to the chemical community. For example, the first project was designed to test a published hypothesis regarding isomerization in SMC coupling of vinyl halides. 
• Students were able to iterate and improve because the reactions they performed in the first project were used again in the second project. They were able to improve their yields and independently analyze their NMR spectra.
• There were multiple groups working in each area for the second project. This provided opportunities for them to work together to devise a proposal, coordinate synthetic work, and analyze results.
• By allowing students to develop their own proposals, they were invested in the work and felt ownership over it. 

In addition to planning out the research projects, I developed a curriculum for research in organic chemistry. This entailed creating learning modules or standard operating procedures related to safety, lab skills and equipment, interpreting spectra, writing a standard operating procedure, searching the literature, keeping good lab notebooks, writing email updates to their PI, and giving flash presentations. While many of these had been developed by my colleagues or me over the years, I also developed many of them from scratch.

Teaching this course was one of the most joyful teaching experiences of my life. The regular “aha” moments, the student enthusiasm, and the incoming research results kept me on my toes and energized me. Watching students gain confidence in the lab was inspiring. The student evaluations were positive in similar ways. When asked to what extent the course increased their confidence in their ability to do research, three-quarters answered a lot, and one-quarter said a fair amount. The results were the same when asked to what extent the course increased their ability to take ownership of their project. In answer to the question, “In your opinion, what are the most important benefits of taking this course?” frequent comments included both expressions of increased independence and confidence in the laboratory, and awakened curiosity about their research and the field, more generally. Altogether, this was a successful “alpha version” of the course and I hope to be able to teach it again.

I also enjoyed collaborating with my colleague, Kaz Skubi, in leading a comps group that studied the work of Professor Vy Dong, who is on the faculty at the University of California at Irvine. The students focused on Dong’s work using chelating groups in various ways to activate C-H bonds, specifically for hydroacylation. In addition to her chemistry talk, Professor Dong gave an informal presentation and answered questions about her career trajectory, as a first-generation student who became a faculty member at an R-1 institution. The students deeply appreciated her wisdom and enthusiasm and her visit was a great success.

Regarding my research activities, six students from my research class will do independent research with me in the fall term. They will be building on their results from the spring term, which I hope will yield more progress and continue to develop their confidence and capacity in organic chemistry.

It has been a challenging year, but very rewarding! I have traveled a great deal this summer and Dave and I have hosted many friends and family members at our lake cabin.

William E. Hollingsworth, 1986-2024, Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus. B.S., B.A., University of Texas, Austin; M.S., Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley.

Rachel Horness, 2022-, Visiting Assistant Professor. B.A., Kalamazoo College; Ph.D., Indiana University.

When I started my visiting position at Carleton, I never imagined that I would one day be reflecting on my third year here and getting ready for a fourth. Many of the students that I worked with in my first year here have graduated or are getting ready for their senior year. It’s been a privilege to see them grow into so many roles in the department and the college over the past few years.

I spent the fall and winter terms teaching Chem224, which was an absolute joy. It was interesting to see how two groups of Chem224 students can be so different. In the fall term, many of the students knew me from previous terms of Chem123. Students seemed to enter with more confidence, excitement, and a feeling that they knew generally what they could expect from me and the class. In the winter term, I got to remember what it’s like to get used to a completely new group of students and took the chance to reflect on what it’s like for students getting used to a new professor. Throughout both terms I was lucky to have the support and insight of a very experienced prefect, Miriam Shteyman. The process of reflecting with another individual who experienced both classes from a different perspective was invaluable.

In the spring term I was mostly focused on teaching Chem123, with just a little tase of Chem224. Chem224 remains quite popular, and in an effort to accommodate as many students as possible in the class, we were lucky to have the resources to open a third lab section. I got to be in the lab with a small group of Chem224 students. It was a reminder of how much the small liberal arts college experience has to offer. The amount of time myself and TAs were able to spend one-on-one with individuals in my section of 14 students allowed us to support a diversity of needs. Chem123 was where I spent most of the rest of my energy. Having insight into Chem224 and Chem123 simultaneously highlighted the ways that I could better prepare students in Chem123 for their future homework by building a more solid foundation. This was also the first term I encountered a drastic uptick in the use of generative AI tools in class assignments. I’m excited to start working on ways to incorporate these tools to support student learning.

The host of “see ya laters” at the end of the year were challenging, but seeing returning alumni was inspiring even during a tumultuous time. The summer will include travels to Japan and Michigan, as much baking as I can handle, and celebrations with loved ones.

Daniela Kohen, 2002-, Professor. B.A., Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina; Ph.D., University of Notre Dame.

I do love teaching our chem majors! The biggest highlight of my teaching year was that I taught them
every term! Kinetics in the fall, Quantum and Comps in the winter, and Computational Chemistry in the
spring. Do not misunderstand me; I also love teaching introductory chemistry. However, there is
something magical about being able to share complex topics that I truly love with so many dedicated,
hard-working, and bright students. Guiding and supporting students as they navigate Carleton’s chemistry
major is a real privilege.
To make it extra special, my comps group delved into the work of Mark Allendorf, whom some of you
might remember from his time here as a Benedict Distinguished Professor in 2022. Another treat!
Research is another source of pleasure (as well as hard work and a lot of learning). My research group
continues to participate in a collaborative project funded by the DOE, involving three groups from other
institutions. Collaborating with other groups at R1 universities is rewarding. It provides my students (and
me) with the opportunity to engage in research that would otherwise be inaccessible. This collaboration
focuses on studying porous materials, such as zeolites and metal-organic frameworks. I have been
working on these materials since the beginning of my independent research career. Still, in this
collaborative project, our team aims to enhance, develop, and expand computational and theoretical
chemistry methods and data-driven scientific approaches for adsorption cooling and separation
applications. Kiran Myneni (’28) joined our group, joining Lizzy Arnell (’27), who started last year. This
summer, Lizzy was able both to continue the work she started under my supervision on ammonia
behavior within cationic zeolites and to gain an experience similar to what she would have received if she
had gone to an R1 university for summer research, working directly under a graduate student at the
University of Minnesota on natural gas purification. We also continue to collaborate directly with Matt
Whited, supporting his research group by using quantum chemistry to gain insight into the reactivity of the systems they study. Claire Lee-Zacheis (’26), who continued working throughout the academic year, and Marie Schumacher (’26), who joined us last spring and stayed over the summer, are making significant progress in understanding the complex role of sterics in silicon-metal cooperative chemistry.

On the personal front, life as “empty nesters” with Joe is pretty good. Margo graduated from Haverford
and is heading to Germany to do a master’s in Molecular Biology and Evolution, and Sofia is at Skidmore
for one more year. They still make time for family adventures, which is quite a delight.

Tamra Lahom, 2023-; Assistant Professor, B.S., Georgia State University, M.Sc. & Ph.D., Emory University.

Jerry R. Mohrig, 1967-2003; Herman and Gertrude Mosier Stark Professor of the Natural Sciences, Emeritus, 2003-. B.S., University of Michigan; Ph.D., University of Colorado.

Danielle Morisette, 2025-, administrative assistant for Chemistry and Geology.

Richard W. Ramette, 1954-1990; Laurence M. Gould Professor of the Natural Sciences, Emeritus, 1990-. B.A., Wesleyan University; Ph.D., University of Minnesota.

email: rwramette@gmail.com 

Kaz Skubi, 2023-, Assistant Professor. B.A., Carleton College; Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison

Another busy year comes to a close! In the fall, I was on paternity leave with my daughter, before she started daycare in the winter. It was a special few months, and I feel immensely fortunate that I was able to take off this time to be with her. Of course, almost immediately after starting daycare, we were hit by the onslaught of illnesses, ear infections, etc., so it was also a pretty rough way to end 2024.

In the winter term, I taught CHEM 306 (Spectrometric Characterization of Organic Compounds) for the first time. I had a remarkably small class of only 6 students, which allowed us to do a lot of small group exercises and talk through ideas in a more conversational way, which was great! The students learned a ton about NMR spectroscopy and there were some nice points of overlap with both quantum and instrumental chemical analysis, which were also offered the same term. It’s always so rewarding for students taking these courses concurrently to see the same concepts from different perspectives, or to have their understanding in one area lead to a “lightbulb moment” in another. 

This year, Gretchen and I also co-led a comps group on the work of Vy Dong (UC Irvine), specifically focused on rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydroacylation. Our group did not have a ton of experience with organometallic catalysis going into the process, so they had a challenging task of getting up to speed in short order, but they rose to the occasion. Watching students learn and teach each other is always so rewarding, and the amount of progress that happens during those last few weeks of comps leading up to the presentation is truly impressive.

In the spring, I also taught CHEM 234 (Orgo II). Maybe it was karmic retribution for having a tiny 306 class in the winter, but this Orgo II course was 67 students! We barely all fit in Olin 141, and it was a constant challenge to keep everything moving smoothly. Fortunately, I had a great group of students, and two excellent prefects to help. This is now my third time teaching the class, so it’s starting to feel a bit more comfortable, and I was able to work on fine tuning some of the common “pressure points.” But obviously that’s still a work in progress. Chris and I also got a small internal grant to work on updating the Orgo II labs, specifically focusing on safety and green chemistry. So we will hopefully have more to report on that in the next year or two.

As we moved into the summer, I welcomed back one student (Noah Reid ’25) and four new researchers (Zoe Morton ’25, Lizzy Johnstone ’26, Lisa Li ’26, and Matilda Pro ’26) to join my lab. We continued our work on radical addition reactions, and really started to flesh out the scope of this project. As is always the case with research, things didn’t go quite according to plan, but our results are still quite interesting, just not what we expected. I am excited to continue research in the coming academic year, when the full team of students will be back in lab.

Matthew T. Whited, 2010-, Professor. B.A., Davidson College; Ph.D., California Institute of Technology.

It was a busy and challenging year for me. Much of my time has been dedicated to administrative responsibilities, continuing to serve as Department Chair and STEM Director. Both the Chemistry Department and STEM Board have done great work this year. On the Chemistry side, I am particularly pleased with the outcomes of all our recent hiring, as we have continued to go through turnover in the department (much of it anticipated) and welcome new colleagues. At both the department and college level, we have been spending lots of time thinking about student-faculty research, including how to make these experiences the best possible for our students, how to increase the number that are available (especially as federal funding for programs like REUs becomes less certain), and how to ensure sustainability for faculty across the arc of their careers. These are challenging questions, but it has been wonderful to work on them with such committed and innovative colleagues. We were not immune to the chaos that has hit much of higher ed during the past 8 months, as the National Endowment for the Humanities “Curricular Bridge” grant that I co-managed with Prof. Baird Jarman in Art History was cancelled, along with effectively all NEH grant commitments (fortunately, we were able to run a workshop in December on this topic before the funding was cancelled). We still are trying to find ways to move important cross-disciplinary work forward, even when grant support is not reliable, and I’m sure this will be a focus of upcoming College fundraising efforts.

My group is entering our final year of the initial grant term for our NSF RUI project exploring new approaches to group-transfer oxidations at metal/silicon bonds. I have been fortunate to work with a great group of students over the past year, including several who just graduated (Collin Pearson, Annika Stewart, Aidan Khan, and Sergio Yap). It has also been fantastic to welcome new students into the lab this summer: Marie Schumacher, Kiana Giuliani, Dina Prohofsky, and Liam Atkins. All of this research, which has involved extensive collaborations with Prof. Dani Kohen, is reaching the point of publication on a couple of fronts (slower than I’d like, but such is the nature of undergraduate research alongside teaching and administrative commitments). We were also thrilled to have our ACS PRF proposal funded this year, which will support extension of the NSF work into metal/germanium and metal/tin chemistry, and I anticipate that this will be a major focus of our work during the next few years.

It was great to get back to teaching Principles of Chemistry I with Problem Solving (CHEM 124) this past year, after several years away, and I am stoked to get back to my favorite course (Inorganic Chemistry) in the upcoming academic year. While I did not lead a comps group last year, I am also very excited to be bringing Prof. Tim Swager (MIT) to Carleton in the upcoming year for a comps visit.

On the home front, we now officially have two middle schoolers (amazing that neither of them was even born when we first moved to Northfield). The kids are keeping us busy, and Charlotte is continuing awesome work in the grants office at Carleton (in fact, she is just wrapping up work on an NSF grant of her own as lead PI on a proposal to find better ways to support small-college grants offices). I write this as our summer research term wraps up and the family gets ready to head to Michigan for a week of down time (Upper Peninsula and Traverse City), so we do still manage to get away every once in a while in spite of everything! We always love to hear from alumni, and please do swing by if you find yourself in Northfield!

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Faculty Bibliography

Publications

“Leveraging Student Partnerships in Chemistry Education: A Service-Learning, Students-as-Partners
Course Teaching Social Context in Undergraduate Chemistry” J. Chem. Ed., 102 (2025). Randa L.* and
Kohen D. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c01157

Conference Presentations (* indicates presenting author):

Hanna Hunde and Gretchen E. Hofmeister* “Developing a More Sustainable Suzuki-Miyaura Synthesis of E– and Z-Anethole,” poster presented at the MACTLAC Conference, Gustavus Adolphus College, September 26, 2024.

Idiosyncratic features of helminth aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, Sara Abraha*, Alison Block*, Max Gjertson*, Molly Kamman*, Noah Mueller*, Jack Nelson*, Jevon Robinson*, Seth Warner*, David Wilson*, and Joseph Chihade, Anti-Helminthics VI:Drugs and Vaccines for Controlling Nematode, Cestode and Trematode Parasites, Toronto, Canada, September 2024

Relative Stability of Pathogenic Human Mitochondrial Alanyl-tRNA Synthetase Mutants, Spencer Delle Fave*, Jemsy Mathew*, Jens Bartel* and Joseph Chihade. DiscoverBMB annual meeting, Chicago, IL, April 2025

Khan, A.*; Lee-Zacheis, C.*; Whited, M. T.; Kohen, D. “Computational investigation of silicon-metal cooperative chemistry to catalyze group transfers” 269^th ACS National Meeting, March 2025

Lee-Zacheis, C.*; Khan, A.*; Whited, M. T. “G/16 and crest investigation of silicon-metal cooperative chemistry in catalysis” 269^th ACS National Meeting, March 2025

Stewart, A.*; Pearson, C.; Whited, M. T. “Effects of sterically encumbered pincer-type cobalt silylenes on silicon-metal cooperation” 269^th ACS National Meeting, March 2025

Khan, A.; Lee-Zacheis, C.; Whited, M. T.; Kohen. “Computational investigation of silicon-metal cooperative chemistry to catalyze group transfers” ACS Poster, San Diego, CA. March 2025.

Lee-Zacheis, C.; Khan, A.; Whited, M. T.; Kohen. “G/16 and crest investigation of silicon-metal cooperative chemistry in catalysis” ACS Poster, San Diego, CA. March 2025.

Myneni, K.* and Arnell, A. “Using Zeolites to Isolate Gases in Energy-Relevant Applications”. Talk. Mu3C, Purdue University, July 2025.

Marie Schumaker. “A computational approach to tuning the sterics and electronics of silicon-metal cooperative chemistry” Mu3C, Purdue University, July 2025.

R. Singh, Wang, N., Wolters, H.*, Prenra, Tsapatis, M., Siepmann, J.I., Kohen D. “Ammonia’s interaction with MFI zeolites nanosheets.” Gordon Research Conference, Andover, NH. August 2025

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Gifts and Grants

Carleton Curricular Innovation Grant, “Designing a Greener Organic Chemistry Lab,” $2,400 (Chris Calderone and Kaz Skubi)

Carleton Curricular Development Grant, “Development of a Laboratory Course on the Chemistry of Renewable Energy,” $4000 (Steve Drew)

Matt Whited continued work on a research grant for $356k from the National Science Foundation to support the project, “RUI: CAS-SC: Promoting Group-Transfer Reactions at Metal/Main-Group Bonds.” This award supports work toward utilizing bonds between earth-abundant metals and silicon to enable new types of catalytic reactions important for fuels transformation and pharmaceutical synthesis, and is thus supported by the NSF’s Critical Aspects of Sustainability – Innovative Solutions to Sustainable Chemistry (CAS-SC) initiative.

Matt Whited received an Undergraduate Research (UR) award for $70k from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, in support of the project “Development of Metal/Tetrylene Bonds as Scaffolds for Cooperative Small-Molecule Activation.” This project is an evolution of prior work on silicon-based systems in the laboratory, exploring how transition metals can be paired with heavier group 14 elements (germanium and tin) to enable transformations of small molecules like carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide that would not otherwise be possible.

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Seminars

CCCE, Career Center, Integrated STEM Center, and Fellowships Seminar (9/20/24)

Bill Arnold, University of Minnesota, Fluorine beyond PFAS: Tracking fluorine during photolysis of fluorinated pesticides and pharmaceuticals (9/27/24)

Preparing for Our Tenure-Track Candidates (10/4/24)

Jessica Lamb, University of Minnesota, A physical organic chemist’s approach to polymer synthesis and catalysis (10/11/24)

Undergraduate Student Research and Internship Symposium

Matt Bush ’03, University of Washington, Seattle, New Mass Spectrometry Based Technologies for Biophysics and Structural Biology (10/25/24)

Research Recruiting – Interested in doing research on campus this summer?

Sarah Kennedy, Carleton College, Toxic Landscapes of Labor: Using pXRF Spectroscopy to Identify Heavy Metals in Archaeological Soils (01/17/25)

Ahmed Badran, Scripps Research, Expanding the Chemical Space of Cellular Protein Translation (01/24/25)

Jenny Yang, UC Irvine, Electrochemical CO2 Capture, Concentration, and Conversion (01/31/25)

Mark Thompson, University of Southern California, 21^st Century Alchemy: Making Copper Look Like a Noble Metal (02/14/25)

Brittney Mikell ’13, Bubble Line Brewing “From Chemistry to Pharmacy to Beer – The Liberal Art of the Pivot” (02/21/2025)

Sharon Pitteri ’01, Stanford, Exploiting Aberrant Glycosylation in Cancer for Diagnostics (02/28/2025)

Erick Leggans, Grinnell College, There and Back Again: A Journey of a Chemist in Natural Product Drug Design and Syntheses (04/04/2025)

Paramjit Arora, New York University, Protein Domain Mimics as Rationally Designed Modulators of Biomolecular Function (04/25/2025)

Mark Allendorf, Sandia National Laboratories, Breaking the Rules: Using Nanoscaling to Overcome Unfavorable Thermodynamics (04/28/2025)

Vy Dong, UC Irvine, Choose Your Own Adventures in Metal-Hydride Catalysis (05/02/2025)

Matt Simcik, School of Public Health: University of MN, The Environmental Chemistry of PFAS (05/09/2025)

Shizuka Hsieh ’93, Trinity Washington University, A Trish-launched trajectory over life’s potential energy surfaces, from spectroscopy to environmental justice (05/16/2025)

Anna Lauko ’19, Computational design of serine hydrolases (05/23/2025)

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Senior Comps Talks

Waadaa Daka, Ananth Iyer, Aiden Lesneski, Alice Mongane, Quan Nguyen, Audrey Parrott, Ben Schneider, Lizzet Solache Salgado, Annika Stewart/Arora’s group: “Designing Synthetic Peptidomimetics to Inhibit Protein-Protein Interactions”

Sam Chackerian, Aurora Davis, Margaret Hall, Katie O’Leary, Isabelle Riley, Frankie Saraniti, Ben Scott-Lewis, James Walutes/Allendorf’s group: (need title)

Spencer Delle Fave, Adrian Gonzalez, Miles McDermott, Collin Pearson, Kate Thomas, Kate Ulrich, Sergio Yap, Yeriel Yoon/Dong’s Group: “Forging Sustainable C-C Bonds: Development of Rhodium-Catalyzed Hydroacylation”

Daniel Chen, Elida Coronado, Hiroki Coyle, Andrew Dale, Cassie Gerard, Lexi Kingma, Padmini Konidena, Jemsy Mathew, Sarah McKinley, Coral Outwater, Abby Persell/Simcik’s group: “Forever Fluorinated: The PFAS Problem“

Individual Paper Comps Presentations: 

Beckett Schafer – “The Biosynthesis of Cylindrospermopsin: A Potent Toxin Produced by Cyanobacteria”

Josh Lecuyer – “Ionic Liquid Rocket Propellants – Was it all a lie?”

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The Class of 2015

Arafat Akinlabi

Nathan Bamberger – Swarthmore, PA

Katie Blise – Portland, OR

Molly Burness – Washington, DC

Kirstin Cook – Beverly Hills, CA

Tamara Damjanac – Chapel Hill, NC

Eli Danson – Bensalem, PA – Originally from Wisconsin and the 2015 Charles Carlin Prize recipient, Eli Danson took his talents to Chapel Hill, where he earned a Master’s in Exercise Physiology from UNC. While there, he started coaching a high school swim team and quickly fell in love with being on the pool deck. Over the next eight years, he coached at the club and college levels, including time with UNC and the University of Pennsylvania. At Penn, he had the chance to coach Olympian Matt Fallon to an American record in the 200-meter breaststroke and a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships. In July, Eli made a career shift and started a new role at McMaster-Carr, where he’s enjoying the challenge of working in supply chain. He lives in Philadelphia with his girlfriend, Sitong, and their 19-week-old mini Aussie Shepherd puppy, Biscuit.

Alexander Deetz – Cincinnati, OH

Shant Douzdjian – Seattle, WA

Peter Downie – Minneapolis, MN

Eliza Green – Somerville, MA

Isabel Han – Singapore

Christian Hansen – Evanston, IL

Jacob Hassing – Plymouth, MN – After graduating in 2015, Jacob stumbled into industrial lubricant R&D and somehow never left. He has spent 10 years in the industry, working for a variety of companies and developing a wide variety of products for the industry. In this time he got married in 2016 and followed his wife to Chicago that same year so that she could pursue a medical degree. Upon completion of her schooling in 2020, they returned to their home state of Minnesota and had their first child, a son, Rowan, in 2021. Their daughter Siena followed in 2024. In his extremely limited free time Jacob likes to golf, bike, and spend time with his family and friends.

Connor Hodges

Aurora Janes – Philadelphia, PA

Laramie Jensen – Seattle, WA

Michael Kane

Sam Keyes – Minneapolis, MN

Vayu Maini Rekdal – Berkeley, CA

Libby McKenna

Billy Moua

Nora Munger – Seattle, WA

Aurapat Ngamnithiporn

Christian Olivares

Devin Oliver

Kyle Olson – Milwaukee, WI – After graduating in 2015, I spent 1 year in St. Paul, MN doing an Americorps program with College Possible. I then went to medical school at the Medical College of Wisconsin, graduating in 2019. I completed my residency in internal medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, WI. I now still work at MCW as a hospitalist and bedside proceduralist, and I help train future generations of physicians. In the middle of all this I married Hannah Reed (class of 2015). We live in Milwaukee with our son Oliver, daughter Lilly, and cat Arthur.

Nikhil Pandey

Katherine Pavlekovsky

Alex Polk

Runze Si – Northfield,MN

Rebecca Velazquez – Denver, CO – After graduating in 2015, Rebecca moved back to Salem OR. and worked as a veterinary assistant while coaching kids soccer, taking additional classes online and tutoring at Western Oregon University. After graduating from Oregon State University veterinary school in 2022 she moved to San Francisco where she worked at the SFSPCA. In 2024 Rebecca moved to Denver to be with her partner and now works at a private practice helping the dogs and cats of Denver.

Xiaodi Wang

Ahna Weeks – Carrboro, NC

Kiera Wilhelm

Joseph Willenborg

Molly Wootten

Wanqi Yu – McLean, VA

Other Alumni Contributions

Mark Bach ’78 – I started a new job from September 2024 at Chief Medical Officer at GentiBio, where are focused on developing engineered T regulatory cell therapies for treating, and potentially curing, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. We are targeting Type 1 Diabetes initly.

Mia Borden ’13 and Joe Boerma ’13 – We welcomed our baby Louis Christopher Boerma in December 2024. We are excited to share our love of chemistry and Carleton with him!

Jackson Cleveland ’23 – Married my high school sweetheart in 2023. Joined Prof. Theresa Reineke’s lab at the University of Minnesota shortly thereafter where I am pursuing a PhD in Materials Science.

Nathan Carroll ’19 – I started a fellowship with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists this July. This is a two-year program where fellows are placed at a public health agency to support epidemiologic surveillance, research, and response efforts under the guidance of two mentors. I am working at the Minnesota Department of Health in the Environmental Health Division, with my projects focused on biomonitoring and reducing lead exposure.

Harry Delugach ’76 – I am now what is called “retired” meaning that I’m teaching part-time at UAH and part-time consulting with a local user experience company. I had the pleasure a couple of years ago to visit with my advisor, professor, colleague and friend Jerry Mohrig in Northfield. Though he had suffered a stroke, his mind (and wit) was still quite sharp as we shared memories of our respective college teaching careers. We talked about our perspectives on our lives, our careers and our relationships, over good food and wine. It was a very special moment for me, and I think for Jerry too.

Samuel Diaz de Leon ’18 – Sam is currently in his 4th year of med school at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and he is looking forward to family medicine residency.

Edward Dratz ’61 – I retired as a Prof. of Chemistry and Biochemistry in June 2023 after 54 years and was appointed to be an Emeritus Professor. As Emeritus I can continue research on nutrition and health as well as mechanisms in Type 2 Diabetes.

Jack Kyte ’67 – Last December I published the second edition of my book, Mechanism in Protein Chemistry. The entire book is open access and can be downloaded by anyone who is interested in it free of charge at the link: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/82r012t8 The Table of Contents gives a detailed summary of the topics that the book covers. There is no publisher other than myself, and there are no restrictions whatsoever on using or sharing the pdf once it is downloaded. The second edition of my book, Structure in Protein Chemistry is also available for download free of charge at the same website: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4kv007vf Jack Kyte Emeritus Professor of Chemistry University of California at San Diego

Nathan Lamarre-Vincent ’00 – I’m in my eleventh year teaching high school. I love teaching chemistry and biochemistry to the students here and finding time to escape to the White Mountains with my youngest son, Kellan.

Cathy Martin ’83 – I don’t work in chemistry. I went to law school a few years after graduating from Carleton. I did a few different things, but I’ve spent most of my career working in regulatory compliance, collections and fraud at credit unions. My chemistry training helped me approach problems logically and not to be afraid of numbers.

Andy Maverick ’75 – I retired from LSU in 2024, and my wife (Anne) and I moved to Colorado Springs. I miss my colleagues, and having a lab, but I still have lots of chemistry stuff to do, and we love our retirement location! I enjoyed attending my 50th Reunion in June 2025, especially the great reception and Jim Finholt remembrance put on by the department.

Will Myers ’02 – I have been in the UK for 12 years now but still enjoy the daily cycling around and all the data. The students and their chemistry are really good, so I’m not too bothered.

Robert Noll ’87 – I’m quite fortunate to have had many interesting experiences over the years. Currently, I’ve been an assistant and now associate professor of Chemistry at Indiana State University since 2012. My teaching assignment is physical and general chemistry.

Richard Novak ’76 – Richard Novak MD is currently utilizing his Carleton chemistry education in his career as an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology at Stanford University Medical School. Thanks to all the Carleton faculty for their wonderful role in my training!

Robert Pearson ’57 – I attended graduation this year to see my grandson, Collin Pearson, graduate with his major in chemistry. He will attend the University of Pennsylvania for his graduate work.

Alex Ruthenburg ’99 – Chicago, IL – After graduating in 1999, Alex attended Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, where he earned his PhD in Chemical Biology and Organic Chemistry in 2005 in the Verdine lab supported by am NSF Predoctoral Graduate Research Fellowship. He then pursued postdoctoral training in the Allis Lab at Rockefeller University in Chromatin Biochemistry as an Irvington Fellow of the Cancer Research Institute. In 2010, Alex started his own Laboratory at the University of Chicago in the Departments of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology as well as Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, as a Neubauer Family Foundation Endowed Assistant Professor and Chicago Biomedical Consortium Junior Investigator. Alex’s program spans a host of traditional disciplines (discovery biochemistry, chemical biology, biophysics, technology development, quantitative genomics and cell biology) with the goal of developing fundamental mechanistic understanding of epigenetic information systems in cancer and early development. His research team has included two Carls: Kathryn Malecek (PhD, Biochemsitry) and Richard Hwang (research assistant). Alex was Promoted to Associate Professor (2017), and honors include Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences (2011), New Scholar in Aging, Ellison Medical Foundation (2013), Research Scholar of the American Cancer Society (2017), and Fletcher Fellow of the Cancer Research Foundation (2024). Alex teaches molecular biology at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and co-directs the Genetic Mechanisms in Evolution NIH training grant. Steven Drew’s Analytical Chemistry remains the most useful course he has ever taken.

Joshua Vang ’02 – We just recloated and rebranded our newly Renovated space, Beyond Smiles DentaSpa, in West St. Paul, MN – The first hybrid Dental and full MedSpa clinic in Minnesota! Come by and visit us anytime! www.beyondsmilesdentaspa.com

Richard Walsh ’78 – Recently was part of the benchmarking team at HPE that posted the performance that put the El Capitan Supercomputer at LLNL at the top of the list of the TOP500 fastest computers in the world with a value of 1.74 EXAFLOPs, or 1.74 million, million, million floating-point operations per second. El Capitan has over 11 million processors and cost the DOE over 600 million dollars.

* Information may not be current. Email Danielle Morisette if you would like your information to be updated.

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