Chemistry research
Eight students present at 248th national ACS meeting in Denver
Thanks to an endowment established at Monmouth College by the late chemistry professor Richard “Doc” Kieft, eight students attended the 248th National American Chemical Society Meeting in Denver, Colo., earlier this semester. The students were accompanied by associate professor Brad Sturgeon and lab manager Steve Distin.
Students were selected based on an application focusing on their current chemistry research progress. Each student presented his or her research at one of several division poster sessions.
YeJun Park of South Korea, Morgan Gulley of Mascoutah and Kaitlin Miller of Hobart, Ind., who are advised by associate professor Audra Sostarecz, presented their research within the divisions of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Colloid and Surface Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry, respectively.
“I felt like I was contributing to something bigger than myself when the chemists there said that what I was doing really pertained to what they were trying to figure out,” said Gulley.
Keri Hannie of Pontiac and Skyler Johnson of Glasford, who conducted their research under the guidance of associate professor Laura Moore, presented their research within the Division of Chemical Education.
“I was able to talk with someone from Korea who also works with furfural,” said Hannie. “He was able to get a better understanding of his own research, which I found really inspiring.”
Carley Folluo of Davenport, Iowa, Amanda Hanks of Mount Erie and Chris Knutson of Galesburg – all students of Sturgeon’s – presented their research within the divisions of Biological Chemistry, Chemical Education and Agricultural and Food Chemistry, respectively.
“The Chemical Education session on computational chemistry confirmed for me that we are doing a great job exposing our students to computational methods,” said Sturgeon.
Kieft taught chemistry at Monmouth from 1975 to 2006 and then joined the college’s board of trustees. When he died in 2009, he left $2.3 million to the chemistry department to be used in the areas of scholarships, national meetings and summer research.
Students were selected based on an application focusing on their current chemistry research progress. Each student presented his or her research at one of several division poster sessions.
YeJun Park of South Korea, Morgan Gulley of Mascoutah and Kaitlin Miller of Hobart, Ind., who are advised by associate professor Audra Sostarecz, presented their research within the divisions of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Colloid and Surface Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry, respectively.
“I felt like I was contributing to something bigger than myself when the chemists there said that what I was doing really pertained to what they were trying to figure out,” said Gulley.
Keri Hannie of Pontiac and Skyler Johnson of Glasford, who conducted their research under the guidance of associate professor Laura Moore, presented their research within the Division of Chemical Education.
“I was able to talk with someone from Korea who also works with furfural,” said Hannie. “He was able to get a better understanding of his own research, which I found really inspiring.”
Carley Folluo of Davenport, Iowa, Amanda Hanks of Mount Erie and Chris Knutson of Galesburg – all students of Sturgeon’s – presented their research within the divisions of Biological Chemistry, Chemical Education and Agricultural and Food Chemistry, respectively.
“The Chemical Education session on computational chemistry confirmed for me that we are doing a great job exposing our students to computational methods,” said Sturgeon.
Kieft taught chemistry at Monmouth from 1975 to 2006 and then joined the college’s board of trustees. When he died in 2009, he left $2.3 million to the chemistry department to be used in the areas of scholarships, national meetings and summer research.
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