Undergraduate of the Quarter « The Erlenmeyer Flask

Stephanie Marshall has been named the Winter 2017 Undergraduate of the Quarter and we couldn’t be happier for her. Stephanie was born and raised in Sherwood Oregon, where she went to Sherwood High School; it was here, she discovered her love for teaching chemistry.

Although Stephanie has always been interested in science and teaching, during high school she had yet to determined if it would be the correct path for her. During sophomore year she had OSU alumnus John McGinity as her teacher. She explained that once he noticed her interest in science and teaching he took her under his wing, and guided her towards the tools she would need to make an informed decision about her professional future.

Even though both her mom and her mentor Mr. McGinity both graduated from OSU, Stephanie reported that it still took 4 visits to campus to decide this is the place she wanted to call home. The deciding factor was her visit to the education department. They showed her a great program for her duel major, and she also discovered that the local schools where she could student teach at were also excellent.

Although she is an Undergraduate she has signed on as a T.A. for the CH12X series. She explained that it will be helpful for her teaching experiences as a high school teacher because, “I learned that high school students really like to push your buttons and college students it’s even more.” Even with the hardships of having many students testing their boundaries, she was still shocked to see how dedicated many of her students could be.

When asked about the future Stephanie revealed she hadn’t completely decided her path yet. With her starting her first year of student teaching next year, Stephanie believes that it would be best to wait until after she gets advice from high school teachers before deciding her career path.

The time that Stephanie spends outside of Chemistry is usually outdoors. “I like to be outside a lot; I love to hike, and with the nice weather I do a lot outdoors. I play beach volleyball which is a lot of fun, and do yoga when I’m not playing beach volleyball. It’s just a lot of outdoor activities.” She likes to go hiking in the gorge, explaining that she loved Blue Place because it was so awe-inspiring.

Students like Stephanie are a huge part of what makes our Department so great. We wish her well in student teaching and wherever else her path may take her next.

Alena Vasquez has been named the Winter 2017 Undergraduate of the Quarter and we couldn’t be happier for her. Alena was born and raised in California until she was 18. She moved to Oregon because she said, she just “felt it was where she was meant to live.”

She came to Oregon State University to study Veterinary Medicine. Upon matriculation, Alena discovered that she didn’t really enjoy biology, a major component for her degree program, but she loved Chemistry. Her first chemistry class, a hybrid 23x online class, she took while living in Eugene; it allowed her to come to campus only once a week in order to do the lab. It was during this class that she developed a close bond with Margie.

It was Margie’s advice that got Alena into research for the first time. Alena began working in Rich Carter’s lab and within two weeks, she was loving every moment. She hopes to go on in the future and do something altruistic with her degree that can benefit and help others.

Students like Alena Vasquez are a huge part of what makes our Department so great. We wish her well in the future and hope she finds her altruistic path going forward.

Recently, Department Chair, Rich Carter sat down with Chemistry Undergraduate, Nate Coddington to discuss what brought him to OSU, why Chemistry, and how he feels about being named one of the Fall 2016 Undergraduates of the Quarter.

Nate grew up in Eugene, Oregon, where he attended Willamette High School in the Bethel school district. Nate participated in Willamette’s International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Nate reported that the difference between AP and IB is breadth vs depth. AP teaches the surface of many topics, while IB intensively teaches a few select topics. Nate spent his sophomore through senior years in high school participating in their honors and IB chemistry courses.

Nate chose OSU because he did not want to go to an out-of-state school, and because his brother was already here, studying Nuclear Engineering. He moved to Corvallis to live with his brother while he was transitioning into college life – commenting “it was great having someone who understood his sense of humor while relating to the struggles of college life.” While Nate admits he started as a BB major to support his goal of ultimately becoming a dentist, upon entering the program it quickly became apparent to him that Chemistry was the better choice for his interests and his career path. So, he re-declared, with the premed option, and never looked back.

Nate told us that his favorite class was, hands down, Organic Chemistry. “It was just so full of great professors,” he said. But the teacher that resonates the most for him was Dr. Vince Remcho. “Dr. Remcho taught my Honors Gen Chem class,” Nate said. “He was always so happy when teaching.”

Currently, Nate is doing research in Dr. Sandra Loesgen’s lab. Her research group focuses on natural products, specifically bio-active compounds like penicillin. Nate’s research is a spin-off of Dr. Loesgen’s PhD thesis on epigenetic modifications. He’s hoping his research will result in unlocking new genes to produce previously unseen compounds. He’s hoping to be able to obtain some usable results very soon so he can start writing his honors thesis on this topic.

Nate still plans to enroll in dental school after graduation. His mother is a hygienist and he says he loves working with and helping people. Dentistry, he says, has always just clicked with him. “It’s so revered in our culture and I’ve always just thought, ‘I want to be this.’” He would like to do some job shadowing before graduation but says it is been difficult finding a slot due to doctor/patient confidentiality. He is not giving up yet though.

In his spare time, Nate is the President of the OSU Chapter of the National Society for Collegiate Scholars (NSCS), a community service and professional development based society that is currently working toward being recognized as an Honor Society.

Students like Nate are part of what makes our Department so great. We could not be more proud of him and wish him nothing but success in his future endeavors!

Chemistry Major, Jason Sandwisch, the newest Fall 2016 Undergraduate of the Quarter recently sat down with Department Chair, Rich Carter to discuss what brought him to OSU, his favorite parts of the program and his plans for the future.

Jason was born in Vancouver, Washington. He then moved briefly to Colorado with his parents, but ultimately grew up in the small town of Banks, Oregon. He attended Liberty High School where he immersed himself in the sciences with the help of his freshmen biology teacher and swim coach Paul Hanson. Hanson would go on and recruit Jason to the swim team, where he spent the next four years competing.

Jason was very enthusiastic about biology and others sciences. He decided to pursue a Chemistry Major coming out of high school because of his senior year AP chemistry course. The class was small which resulted in a good amount of student/teacher interaction. The class focused mainly on class work and book work, but not a lot of time was spent doing laboratory work. Due to the lack of lab experience in high school, he decided a university with a good undergraduate research would be important for his educational goals.

While attending an Oregon State Fall Preview, Jason was impressed by how many people spoke to him about undergraduate research. He was already leaning toward matriculating here as his brother also attended OSU. “It’s nice to know someone where you’re going.” During Jason’s first term, Dr. Neal Sleszynski mentored him and suggested that he pursue the URSA Engage undergraduate research grant, which led him to conduct research for Dr. Kenneth Hedberg. Throughout this experience, he studied gas phase electron diffraction on 1,1,3,3-tetramethylcyclobutane. More recently, he studies spiropentane alongside Dr. Joseph Nibler and his undergraduate researcher, Blake Erickson (Winter 2016 UGQ).

During the summer of 2015, Jason also did research in Dr. John Simonsen’s lab in the College of Forestry. He worked with Johnny Hergert (Fall 2015 UGQ), conducting research on new polymer blends using cellulose nanocrystals. Other research projects with Prof. John Simonsen included Jason working for a local start-up called EcNow Tech. Here, Jason helped develop plant-based plastic material. His favorite part of all his various research has been being able to apply physical chemistry principles and problems solving aspects. “I took physical chemistry last year and before that I was working with all these experimental instruments such as FTIR, but never realized the basis for how they actually worked.”

Jason says he doesn’t have a favorite professor, “I enjoyed all my chemistry classes.” Overall, he really enjoyed taking Organic Chemistry from both Dr. Paul Blakemore and Dr. Chris Beaudry. He also loved the challenge of CH 464, taught by Dr. Chong Fang. His favorite class was CH 421 – Analytical Chemistry taught by Dr. Sean Burrows. “He’s just a great person. He was funny, understanding and really wanted you to learn the material. He didn’t make it hard, but stressed the important points. Being taught Analytical chemistry by him was an awesome experience.”

After graduation, Jason wants to pursue a Ph.D. in physical chemistry by studying excited state chemistry. He is interested in the University of Washington due to the broad selection of potential faculty focused in his area of interest. He is also excited about the wide array of options that are available to him after graduate school. His summer internship with EcNow Tech really opened his eyes to what’s available after school. “At this point, I’m unsure about my specific career path, but four years ago I wasn’t sure about my major I just want to go to graduate school and then find my path.”

Students like Jason are a huge part of what makes our Department so great. We wish him well with graduation, graduate school and beyond.

Dang Nguyen has been named one of our Spring 2016 Undergraduates of the Quarter and we couldn’t be happier for him. Dang was born in Colorado, but his parents moved to Portland when he was three-years-old, so he considers himself an Oregonian. He attended Clackamas High School where he was first exposed to Chemistry by his OSU Alumni Chemistry Teacher, Mr. Sytsma.

Being one of the best engineering schools in the country and fairly close to home, OSU quickly became the clear choice for him however, during his freshman year, everything changed. Dang commented on one of the turning points in his life, speaking about Dr. Richard Nafshun, who was his General Chemistry at the time. “He has a teaching style that made me want to learn more about chemistry. The more chemistry I took, the more I enjoyed it; so, I switched.”

Dang has been doing undergraduate research with Maduka Ogba in Professor Paul Cheong’s lab for almost two years. He said they were working on non-classical hydrogen bonding research using computational chemistry, something he found very interesting. At the end of the academic year, they were working on a manuscript that Dang is hoping will reach publication.

He was unable to list just one favorite instructor, but was pretty adamant that his favorite class was experimental chemistry. “Experimental chemistry is more of an application and hands-on experience. I like this class because it’s a bridge between the two core concepts that one needs to fully understand a subject; theory and implementation.”

During his spare time, Dang is the president of the Chemistry Club. He also is an undergraduate TA for the general chemistry 12x and 23x sections and worked in the mole hole tutoring students. Upon graduation, he will be attending graduate school here at OSU, in the College of Education in the hopes of getting his Masters. He plans on teaching high school chemistry and math in the future; saying his teaching style is to use a lot of demos and applications. He feels like high school is the best place to do that.

Congratulations to Dang for being named a Spring 2016 Undergraduate of the Quarter. We’re proud to add you to this growing list of great students!

Shannon Davis has been named one of the Spring 2016 Undergraduates of the Quarter and we could not be happier. Shannon grew up in a modest suburb of Seattle. She attended Lynnwood High School which she reported was incredibly ethnically diverse and described her experience there as awesome. She took AP Chemistry while there and remembers Chemistry being the only AP test she didn’t pass. “That’s why I chose Chemistry,” she remembers. “I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.”

She came to OSU because she wanted to attend a PAC-12 school and with her choices being OSU and UW, she wanted something a little smaller and a little farther from home, so OSU was the obvious choice. “Plus,” she said, “my dad went here.” She originally matriculated into Chemistry with a chemical engineering option, but quickly discovered she liked the general chemistry sequence and switched to the advanced chemistry option. She remembers having Dr. Richard Nafshun for her general chemistry instructor and said it was an amazing experience.

Shannon says her favorite class has been the Experimental Chemistry series with Dr. Christine Pastorek and Emile Firpo. She also stated that they quickly became her favorite instructors.

Shannon has been doing Undergraduate Research for Dr. Jennifer Field since just after fall term of her junior year. She said she trained for a whole year before she was able to do actual research. Now, she’s using liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry to close mass balance in soil extractions. She says it’s been challenging and slower going than she thought originally.

When asked about extra-curricular activities, Shannon indicated that what she really enjoyed were the Family Science and Engineering Nights and Discovery Days. The outreach and chemistry volunteer work were a lot of fun.

Upon graduation, Shannon will be attending U Mass Boston to study marine science. She’s currently unsure of what she wants to do post-PhD, but is leaning toward teaching. She does know, she’s excited about moving cross-country.

Congratulations, Shannon! It is talented students like you that make OSU Chemistry such as special place.

Congratulations to Marshall Allen on being selected as one of the Winter 2016 Undergraduates of the Quarter.

Marshall grew up in Bend, Oregon. He graduated from Summit High School, home of the Storm; where he was a member of the swim team. He remembers taking AP Chemistry his sophomore year from Mr. Mohel and “really, really” enjoying the class.

Marshall reported that he debated between OSU and Cal-Tech. However when OSU offered him the Presidential Scholarship as well as admittance to the Honors College, he decision became pretty clear. When Marshall arrived at OSU, he was originally a chemical engineering major. After speaking with Chief Chemistry Advisor, Dr. Christine Pastorek at a START session, he shifted his focus to a dual degree in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry.

Marshall took Organic Chemistry as a freshman which he loved. He remembers his other classes being mainly filler; leaving a greater amount of time to focus on chemistry. Then, his sophomore year, he took Advanced Organic Chemistry (CH 471) from Dr. Chris Beaudry. He said this class was great because in it Dr. Beaudry presents more modern reactions and touches on some graduate school topics. The next year, Marshall also took Spectroscopy (CH 435) from Dr. Sandra Loesgen – a class he says was hands down, his favorite.

When asked about his favorite teacher, Marshall replied that it had to be Dr. Chris Beaudry. Since attending his class freshman year and well as performing undergraduate research in his lab, Dr. Beaudry has become as much a mentor as a teacher to him.

Marshall is currently completing an internship at Maxim Integrated in Portland. Maxim Integrated fabricates integrated circuits and Marshall is involved in some process control and cost savings projects for the company.

After his internship and completing his BS degree from OSU in chemistry, but his plan is definitely to continue on to graduate school. Prior to his internship, his focus was on obtaining a job in academia, but his internship experience has opened him up to new horizons. He plans to speak more with Dr. Beaudry as he plans his next steps.

We’re so proud to have students like Marshall Allen in our department and are looking forward to seeing all he will accomplish.

Blake Erickson has been named one of our Undergraduates of the Quarter for Winter term 2016. He grew up in Fairview, Oregon where he attended Reynolds High School which has one of the largest student bodies in the state of Oregon.

Blake said he didn’t even consider an out-of-state school because it would have been too costly, but was lucky to have such a great research university here in the state of Oregon. Upon arriving at OSU, Blake cycled through Biology and then Biochemistry/Biophysics before deciding on Chemistry as his major. Blake commented how much he enjoyed the organic chemistry sequence with Drs. Chris Beaudry, Kevin Gable and Dwight Weller, but it was the experimental labs with Drs. Christine Pastorek and Emile Firpo that really sealed his decision to be a Chem major. Blake has shown tremendous breadth in chemical interest. His favorite course so far was the second term of Physical Chemistry with Dr. Chong Fang where they studied Quantum Chemistry. He liked it so much he took it twice, once as a student and once as an undergraduate teaching assistant. He is currently doing undergraduate research with Dr. Joe Nibler exploring the vibrational/rotational structure of perdeutero-spiropentane. They have just submitted earlier this year their first paper specifically on the ground vib/rot structure of the molecule and are currently working on analysis of some more of the upper states.

Graduate School is definitely in Blake’s future, as he’s already been accepted to UC Berkeley’s Chemistry graduate program. He’s leaning toward academia upon getting his PhD because he loves research, but also has enjoyed teaching others about chemistry, so it will be a good balance for him.

In his spare time at OSU, Blake was also a member of the OSU Marching Band where he got to perform at a variety of sports events.

Students like Blake are the reason the Chemistry Department is so successful in educating future scientists. Congratulations, Blake!

Johnny Hergert has been named one of the Fall 2015 Undergraduates of the Quarter and we couldn’t be more proud. He was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, where he attended Wilson High School, home of the Trojans and graduated in 2012. Johnny says he’s always known that he wanted to be a chemist. In fact, his grandfather, Herbert Hergert received his PhD in Chemistry from OSU and his sister also attended OSU.

“I like the details and problem solving, particularly on the small scale. And how applicable to daily life it is,” he replied when asked why he chose chemistry. He also stated that CH 361 and 362 were his favorite classes because, “the integrated labs are so hands on, and I really liked that.” His favorite instructor so far has been Dr. Christine Pastorek, the integrated lab instructor.

Since Johnny is on the Materials Science track of the Chemistry program, it was only natural he started doing research in Dr. John Simonsen’s lab. During the spring of 2014, Johnny started working on cellulose nanocrystals and polymer composites. More recently, he’s begun 3D printing objects to help with the experiments. He says his favorite research topic, though, is renewable materials.

Upon graduation, Johnny will attend graduate school at the University of Colorado, Boulder where he plans to obtain a PhD in Materials Science. He hasn’t decided yet whether that PhD will take him to academia or industry, but we wish him the best of luck either way.

In his spare time, Johnny is a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, and experience has says has had a huge impact on his life. He also enjoys hiking, mountain biking and intramural sports.

It is students like Johnny who make us proud to be teaching the next generation of chemists.

Kenneth Stout has been selected as one of the Chemistry Department’s Fall 2015 Undergraduates of the Quarter. Kenneth was born in San Diego, California but recently moved to Tualatin, Oregon with his family after his father accepted a job at Intel. He attended Mount Carmel High School and chose Oregon State University for his higher education. His decision to attend OSU was partially based on cost, but he was also swayed by the fact that he had family in Washington and Oregon and that OSU accepted his high school AP credits.

Kenneth is currently a junior, dual majoring in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. He finds both of these complementary subjects to be interesting and enjoys the academic challenges they pose.

His favorite class at OSU has been CH 471 – Advanced Organic Chemistry with Dr. Chris Beaudry. It was this class that made him get involved with research and he’s been working in Dr. Beaudry’s lab ever since. He says, “taking this class got me really interested in Organic Chemistry. It’s motivated me to take more Organic classes.” Dr. Beaudry stated, “Kenneth is the best classroom student I’ve ever seen, period. He was in the top few students in O-Chem as a freshman: a class of 125+ sophomores. He took my advanced organic class (CH471) and was the top student in a class of 10 “superachievers”. He’s doing independent work in our laboratory investigating a reaction of a carbon-centered radical that we invented. He’s basically running his own show in the lab like a 2nd or 3rd year graduate student.”

Outside academics, Kenneth says he’s been inundated with opportunities to get involved with campus life. He says his favorite memories are working for a year as a Resident Assistant and spending time in the campus craft center. He says he appreciates that everything at OSU is so accessible.

Upon graduation, Kenneth plans on attending Graduate School and studying more Organic Chemistry. He’s considering post graduate work in either academia or a biotech company, but he says, “it’s early and I’m keeping my options open.”

The Erlenmeyer Flask

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Category Archives: Undergraduate of the Quarter

Undergraduate of the Quarter – Winter 2017 – Stephanie Marshall

Undergraduate of the Quarter – Winter 2017 – Alena Vasquez

Undergraduate of the Quarter – Fall 2016 – Nathan Coddington

Undergraduate of the Quarter – Fall 2016 – Jason Sandwisch

Undergraduate of the Quarter – Spring 2016 – Dang Nguyen

Undergraduate of the Quarter – Spring 2016 – Shannon Davis

Undergraduate of the Quarter – Winter 2016 – Marshall Allen

Undergraduate of the Quarter – Winter 2016 – Blake Erickson

Undergraduate of the Quarter – Fall 2015 – Johnny Hergert

Undergraduate of the Quarter – Fall 2015 – Kenneth Stout

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