WAI « The Erlenmeyer Flask

Name: Daniel Myles

Area of Study: Organic

Position Title: Senior Instructor of Organic Chemistry

Why Chemistry? (What about it initially interested you, etc.)? I fell in love with chemistry in grade 11. Had an inspirational high school teacher. He took me under his wing and even let me helped with the teaching/preparation of his grade 9 science classes. I was fortunate to be exposed to teaching at such an early stage in my career.

Research focus (in non-science terms) or basic job duties? I am interested in synthesizing organic and main group element-containing compounds for their use in molecular electronics.

One thing that you truly love about your job? I love being in the classroom (and in the teaching labs), while working with our highly talented students.

One interesting/strange factoid about yourself. I am Canadian (please don’t hold this against me) and have recently lost my speaking accent, despite what some of my colleagues have to say about the matter. I am also a huge hockey fan (of course!) and my favorite team is the Vancouver Canucks.

Name: Philip Watson

Area of Study / Position Title: Professor (Physical Chemistry)/Associate Chair

Why chemistry? (What about it initially interested you?):

Turned on to chemistry when about 12 after receiving a home chemistry set as a Xmas gift.

Research focus (in non-science terms) or basic job duties?

Used to research chemistry at the surface of things. Nowadays, I teach and look after organizing teaching schedules, scheduling classes, assigning TAs, riding herd over the general chemistry teaching staff.

One thing you truly love about your job?

The light-bulb moment when a student who was struggling with a concept “gets it”.

One interesting/strange factoid about yourself.

I like to play cutthroat competitive duplicate bridge at the local club.

Name: Staci Simonich

Area of Study / Position Title: Analytical Environmental Chemistry, Professor

Why chemistry? (What about it initially interested you?): My love of the outdoors and aptitude for chemistry. Growing up near the Great Lakes and near papermills.

Research focus (in non-science terms) or basic job duties? Conduct research in analytical environmental chemistry that educates students and influences policy.

One thing you truly love about your job? My students and travel.

One interesting/strange factoid about yourself. I grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, have two children, and love to surf, paddle board, bike and horseback ride!

Name: Claudia S. Maier

Area of Study / Position Title: Chemistry, Professor

Why chemistry? (What about it initially interested you?): Chemistry is what makes life possible; every movement, every interaction and communication, every thought, every cure, every biomolecules comes down ultimately to atoms and bonds, i.e. chemistry.

Research focus (in non-science terms) or basic job duties? As a chemist I find it fascinating to reveal the molecular players – the critical biomolecules and the chemical signatures – that are associated with the response of a biological system to diverse stimuli, exposure, chronic diseases and aging. We use mass spectrometry, a very sensitive analytical technique, to detect and identify the players. Knowing the players will in turn open avenues for designing therapies and promoting health.

One thing you truly love about your job? Love the interaction with my students in the classroom and in the lab; there is nothing more rewarding if a student shows you what she/he developed or discovered and then starts to create her/his own story.

One interesting/strange factoid about yourself. Love the smell of horse poop

Name: Mike Lerner

Area of Study / Position Title: Inorganic/Materials Chemistry, Professor

Why chemistry? (What about it initially interested you?): It was some courses I took in my first year at college. Freshman majors didn’t take general chemistry, instead I had one term each of biochemistry and crystallography. I was fascinated and a bit mystified, and they got me hooked into chemistry.

Research focus (in non-science terms) or basic job duties? I’m looking into new intercalation chemistry reactions, and also at the preparation of new nanocomposites materials. These are interesting lately because they are the electrodes used in lithium-ion and related batteries.

One thing you truly love about your job? One thing I love is discussing results from ongoing research projects. Getting results from new experiments means finding out unknown things about nature, and it really feels like being an explorer.

One interesting/strange factoid about yourself. I worked for Stanley Kaplan (the man himself) for several years during college.

Name: Wei Kong

Area of Study / Position Title: Professor in Physical Chemistry

Why chemistry? (What about it initially interested you?): Not much interest in chemistry initially, particularly O chem. Only wanted to do laser spectroscopy because of the mathematics involved.

Research focus (in non-science terms) or basic job duties? Develop a new technique to determine structures of macromolecules, and along the way, understanding fundamental properties of related physical processes.

One thing you truly love about your job? The freedom to imagine

One interesting/strange factoid about yourself. I do not like and cannot stand watching any games on baseball or golf.

Name: Doug Keszler

Area of Study / Position Title: Distinguished Professor of Chemistry; Director, Center for Sustainable Materials Chemistry (CSMC); Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies, College of Science.

Why chemistry? (What about it initially interested you?): My father worked as an engineer for IBM, so I was exposed to high-tech from a very early age. That exposure led to an intense interest in the chemistry of materials.

Research focus (in non-science terms) or basic job duties? I am responsible for the research, education, outreach, and diversity activities of the Center for Sustainable Materials Chemistry, a Phase-II Center for Chemical Innovation; we annually support approximately 100 researchers. For the College of Science, I am helping to grow the research enterprise and enhance graduate education.

One thing you truly love about your job? Working with a broad network of colleagues and students in academics and industry.

One interesting/strange factoid about yourself. I am a retired shepherd. In past times, I herded sheep with my border collie – Kate. (We also won national titles in Dog Agility)

Name – I am Chris Knutson
Area of study / position title – I am an instructor of chemistry.
Why chemistry? (What about it initially interested you, etc.) – I first became interested in chemistry when my father became ill with cancer due to chemical exposure, and was subsequently treated with chemistry. Luckily for me, he lived through that ordeal. Then, while working as a lawn and garden specialist, I ended up selling massive amounts of the chemicals that gave my dad cancer over the counter to anyone who decided that they wanted to pour them into the groundwater. At that point, I realized that improving chemical education is needed in this country so I decided to become part of the solution to that problem.
Research focus (in non-science terms) or basic job duties? I teach future engineers about the wonders of small-scale matter, and the basics of materials science.
One thing that you truly love about your job? I love working with the talented youth who want nothing more than to make the world better for their children than they inherited it.
One interesting/strange factoid about yourself. I am a Lego maniac.

Name: Luanne Johnson

Area of Study / Position Title: Media and Event Coordinator

Why chemistry? (What about it initially interested you?): Initially, I started because I was unemployed and needed a paycheck, but over time, I’ve come to love this department. Telling the world (through social media) all the cool accomplishments of my faculty is really interesting to me.

Research focus (in non-science terms) or basic job duties? I am in charge of creating, curating and disseminating media; digital, print and social about the happenings and accomplishments of the Chemistry Department. I also organize most of the departmental events.

One thing you truly love about your job? We’ve recently started making videos when someone receives an award or major achievement. I LOVE this portion of my job and hope to expand on it in the near future.

One interesting/strange factoid about yourself. I am allergic to pork.

Name: Sandra Loesgen

Area of Study / Position Title: Assistant Professor in Chemistry

Why chemistry? (What about it initially interested you?): My high school teachers in chemistry and biology really loved their jobs and taught science with enthusiasm. In 7^th grade, our class won a science fair working on allergy inducing proteins and peptides and since then, I am excited to work in a lab and look at health related chemistry!

Research focus (in non-science terms) or basic job duties? Drug Discovery. We focus on identifying new biologically active substances from rare bacteria and fungi. Most people have taken penicillin to fight a bacterial infection at least once in their life, but only few people know that this is a fungal metabolite and still one of the most used antibacterial drugs we have nowadays. Our research is focused on finding new potential drugs and to test them against pathogenic bacteria, cancer, and viruses and we are particularly interested in their chemical structures and mode of action.

One thing you truly love about your job? I love working with students and explore chemical structures provided by nature. There is noting better than collecting a sample, isolate microbes, and explore their chemistry and medicinal potential.

One interesting/strange factoid about yourself. I can eat Nutella with a spoon.

The Erlenmeyer Flask

Where diverse minds inspire endless innovation.

Tag Archives: WAI

Who Am I? Wednesday – Daniel Myles

Who Am I? Wednesday – Phil Watson

Who Am I? Wednesday – Staci Simonich

Who Am I? Wednesday – Claudia Maier

Who Am I? Wednesday – Mike Lerner

Who Am I? Wednesday – Wei Kong

Who Am I? Wednesday – Doug Keszler

Who Am I? Wednesday – Chris Knutson

Who Am I? Wednesday – Luanne Johnson

Who Am I? Wednesday – Sandra Loesgen

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