Tim Elgren
January 31, 2007

Professor of Chemistry Tim Elgren presented "Halogenase and Oxidative Dehalogenase Activities of Sol-Gel Encapsulated Peroxidases" on Jan. 31 at the "Metals in Biology" Gordon Research Conference in Ventura, Calif. The work presented was done this past summer in collaboration with Hilary Gamble '07, Kathryn Hansen '07 and Marielle Matthews '09. Their efforts focused on the development and characterization of novel biologically active materials which are capable of catalyzing the degradation of toxic halogenated compounds. A grant from the National Science Foundation funds the work.

Karl Kirschner
November 30, 2006
Karl Kirschner, visiting professor of chemistry and co-director of the Center for Molecular Design, spent the past month visiting the Universität Dortmund in the Ruhrgebiet region of northwest Germany. The partnership between Hamilton and the Universität was formed though the efforts of Hamilton's German program and Dr. Walter Grünzweig, chair of the American Studies Program at Dortmund. The relationship has two components: an undergraduate exchange program and a teaching fellow program. Kirschner was there in order to generate interest in a chemistry student exchange. He met with Grünzweig and members of Dortmund’s Chemistry Department. In addition, Kirschner and Jurkschat created a new scientific collaboration to investigate the conformations and energetics of a silicon-phosphorus compound.

November 20, 2006
Marco Allodi '08, Jovan Livada '08, and Meghan Dunn '06 recently published a paper in the Journal of Physical Chemistry A with their faculty research advisors. Allodi was first author, Dunn second, and Livada third. The paper, "Do Hydroxyl Radical-Water Clusters, OH(H2O)n, n=1-5, Exist in the Atmosphere?" explores the effects of hydration on the hydroxyl radical.

George Shields
September 19, 2006
Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields presented a seminar at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, in New York City, on September 12. His talk, "Computational Design of a Small Peptide that Inhibits Breast Cancer" highlighted the work that his students have completed while working with Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Karl Kirschner and himself.

Chemistry Instrumentation Scientist (Posted: 8/13/2006)

Full-time Instrumentation Scientist to support instructional and research activities in the Chemistry Department. Responsibilities include maintenance of the department\u2019s instrumentation used in the research and teaching laboratories and training student and faculty users. Maintenance duties include coordinating the installation of new instruments, upgrading software for existing instruments, maintaining computer data files, performing routine calibration and maintenance, and making recommendations for instrument upgrades. Training responsibilities include developing instructions for usage, becoming familiar with advanced applications of the instruments, and training of individual faculty and groups of students in use and care of the department\u2019s instrumentation.

Qualifications: MS/PhD in chemistry, engineering, or related field required. Extensive use/management of chemical instrumentation, experience in NMR, UV-VIS, FT-IR spectroscopy, and separations techniques (GC/MS and LC/MS). Excellent interpersonal and writing skills; ability to prioritize multiple tasks and deadlines, set goals, and work independently on short- and long-term projects. Opportunity to develop or initiate a research interest in conjunction with a faculty member consistent with the Department\u2019s educational mission.

Laboratory Instructor (Posted 8/13/06)

This is a temporary position for Fall 2006. Lab Instructors are responsible for all aspects of teaching the laboratory sections they are assigned, which may include Introductory Chemistry 120/125 Laboratory and/or Organic Chemistry 255 Laboratory. This includes lecturing on related material; overseeing student completion of lab work; holding office hours for students; grading lab reports; maintaining student grades and coordinating with professors teaching lecture sections of courses.