2002-2003 Faculty and Staff Activities
David G. Alberg, 1993-, Associate Professor. B.A., Carleton College; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley.
Dave enjoyed a lighter teaching load this year, with a course release during Winter Term. He taught Organic Chemistry I during the fall and Biological Chemistry and Advanced Laboratory III during the spring. Biological Chemistry continues to be a popular course, with 30 students enrolled this year. The high enrollment reflects the growth of the Biochemistry Concentration, which is now among the largest concentrations on campus. Dave continues to serve as the concentration coordinator.
In addition to his regular courses, Dave supervised a comps group this year. Dave and a group of six seniors (Paul Archer, Jane Coughlin, Dominique Fontanilla, Will Myers, Laura Phillips, Julie Rivers) studied the work of Professor David Cane, from the Department of Chemistry at Brown University. The group focused on Professor Cane’s work on the biosynthesis of polyketides. The group gave an excellent public seminar on what they learned over some 13 weeks of study, and the fun culminated in an exciting day of conversation and dining with Professor Cane when he visited campus in early May. Group comps continues to be an exciting endeavor both for the students and our visiting scholars. Indeed, Professor Cane was delighted to participate in his second comps, having been a comps “subject” in the late 1980’s, with a group supervised by Jerry Mohrig.
Dave used the time freed up with his course release last winter to write and submit an American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund grant proposal to support his research. At the time, it appeared that an NIH AREA grant proposal he had submitted a year before was not going to be funded. However, this spring, Dave was happily surprised to learn that his NIH proposal was funded. This grant will provide two years of support for Dave’s research on the design, synthesis, and evaluation of inhibitors of trypanothione reductase (TR), an enzyme unique to the metabolism of trypanosomes and related parasites, many of which are responsible for numerous diseases, including African sleeping sickness.
Last summer, Dave persuaded Chris Clark (’02) to return for a third summer of research in his lab. Chris was joined by Maroya Spalding (’03) and JoAnn Czechowicz (’04). JoAnn has returned for a second summer of research this year, and she is joined by newcomers Aaron Leconte (’04), Linnea Engel (’04), and April Wilhelm (’05). This is an exciting time in Dave’s lab, with a number of projects coming to fruition. Last summer, Chris Clark completed the synthesis of a potential (TR) inhibitor that he and a number of former group members before him had worked on. Maroya Spalding also completed the synthesis of another potential inhibitor. This summer, JoAnn and April have been working hard to prepare and purify samples of the enzyme and are presently using the protein to evaluate the inhibitory activity of these compounds. Meanwhile, Linnea and Aaron are pursuing the synthesis of a number of new potential inhibitors. This past spring, Maroya represented the Alberg research group at the 225th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans, where she presented a poster on her work.
Dave’s course release last Winter Term also provided some time for him to organize the retirement celebration for Jerry Mohrig. By all accounts, “JerryFest” was a great success and Dave enjoyed meeting the host of former Jerry students who returned to campus for the event. Jerry is leaving some pretty big shoes to fill, and we are going to miss him terribly next year and in the years to come. He has had a truly amazing career, and he has shown no signs of slowing down as he nears retirement, especially with his research. Indeed, Jerry again has a large summer research group this year, in his final summer of research.
A number of other professional activities kept Dave busy this year. He reviewed two research grant proposals for the Research Corporation, and he reviewed a manuscript for the journal, Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. He also was involved in a tenure review and a third-year review of colleagues at two other liberal arts colleges. On campus, Dave continues to serve on the Health Professions Advisory Committee (the premed committee) and the Committee on Convocation and Common Conversation.
Charles H. Carlin, 1966-, Charles “Jim” and Marjorie Kade Professor of the Chemical Sciences. B.A.,
Carthage College; Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Carlin is in the midst of the “tapering” process leading inexorably to retirement. This year he taught the advanced organic course (353) in the fall and Organic Chemistry II (234) during the Winter Term. During his spring sabbatical term he enjoyed providing his “clients” with some top-notch golf equipment (or repairs) through his Custom Clubs business, as well as playing several rounds and venturing off to Bay Lake and Vermilion for fishing adventures with his new boat and the local Izaak Walton League (the group of Carleton faculty that have been plying the waters near and far together for the past 30 years).
He also was invited to give a seminar on forensic science at Scotland Yard at Iowa State this spring as a part of a multi-state collaboration of faculty and forensic laboratory personnel that he hopes will extend into those future golden years.
The capstone adventure of his term “off” was serving as the emcee for JerryFest as Professor Mohrig celebrated his retirement among colleagues, friends, students, and alums. Great Hall was fairly hopping with delight on that fine evening.
Marion E. Cass, 1987-, Professor. B.S., Fort Lewis College; Ph.D., University of Colorado, Boulder.
Marion feels that this academic year was “wonderfully productive and rejuvenating.” Free of the duties of the chair and sponsored for a leave-in-residence during the Fall Term through the Jack W. Eugster ’67, P’02 Endowed Faculty Development Program, she found that this year was primarily focused on teaching and two projects in chemical pedagogy. During her Fall Term leave she worked on two papers, one grant for outside funding, and made plans and contacts for her upcoming sabbatical leave to begin in September. The first paper, “Moving Beyond the Single Center – Ways to Reinforce the Teaching of Molecular Orbital Theory in the Inorganic Course,” was written with colleague Will Hollingsworth and submitted to the Journal of Chemical Education. Will and Marion have been exploring the ideas for teaching molecular orbital theory at the undergraduate level for two years. Last year they supervised a comps group in this field, and this year Marion tried out several “pedagogical experiments” on her inorganic class. She also wrote and submitted a second manuscript to the Journal of Chemical Education titled “Student-Directed Explorations to Learn about Ligands in the Inorganic Chemistry Course,” to outline one way to teach about the diversity and wealth of form and function among ligands found in the field of inorganic chemistry.
In the Winter Term Marion taught the non-science majors course, “Concepts of Chemistry,” as well as Advanced Lab II in chemical kinetics with colleagues Deborah Gross and Dani Kohen. In the spring Marion taught Inorganic Chemistry, Laboratory in Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, and she supervised 11 senior chemistry majors on independent studies in scientific glassblowing. At the end of the Spring Term she attended the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry in Montreal, Canada, with colleague Deborah Gross to learn more about the research she will carry out on her upcoming sabbatical leave.
In the fall, Marion will be heading off with her husband to Sydney, Australia, to work with Professor Gary Willett of the University of New South Wales
to learn experimental techniques in mass spectrometry applied to the study of transition metal complexes.
William C. Child, Jr., 1956-1990; Emeritus Professor, 1990-. B.A., Oberlin College; Ph.D., University of Wisconsin.
Continuing his connection to the local Elder Collegium, Bill was an instructor in one course and a student in another. For the former, he teamed with a colleague to analyze two symphonies by Russian composers. At the Northfield Senior Citizens Center he volunteered as a coach for elementary computer classes and as a monitor for the computer lab. He continued his participation in the St. Paul Civic Symphony, the Cannon Valley Regional Orchestra, a woodwind quintet, and music lessons. A new musical experience this past June was attendance at the Annual Chamber Music Festival, held at Montana State University in Bozeman. For up to six hours a day the 80 participants played in ensembles of four to a dozen members and performed for the others nearly every day. It was an exhausting but rewarding experience. The highlight of Nancy’s and Bill’s travel the past year was a trip with friends to Vienna, where they absorbed music, art, and history.
Steven M. Drew, 1991-, Associate Professor and Chair. B.A., St. John’s University; Ph.D., University of Colorado.
Last year Steve began his first year as Chair of the Chemistry Department. With copious amounts of help from Wendy and past Chairs, he was able to master the complexities of filing paperwork with the Dean’s Office in a timely fashion. In the fall Steve taught “Equilibrium and Analysis” followed by “Introduction to Computers and Electronics in Chemical Instrumentation,” Chem 338, in Winter Term 2003. Steve offered two sections of Chem 338, which is a hands-on laboratory course that teaches the fundamentals of using LabVIEW software to interface various chemical analysis techniques to data acquisition workstations. In addition, the students get an introduction to basic dc electronics including operational amplifiers. In the spring Steve taught Chem 123, “Principles of Chemistry.” Steve continues to refine a five-week lab project in Chem 123 examining the chemistry of metal-acetylacetonate compounds. This project culminates in a two-week student-choice experiment.
This summer marks the last year of Steve’s NIH grant to study the reaction of nitric oxide with iron porphyrins immobilized on carbon electrode surfaces. There will be three students, Elizabeth McEachron (’05), Janel Uejio (’05), and Adam Sunderland (’05), in Steve’s lab working on various aspects of this project. During Steve’s 2000-2001 sabbatical he initiated a collaboration with Prof. Kent Mann at the University of Minnesota studying the analytical applications of platinum double salt materials for gas sensing. Steve and Kent received a Research Site for Educators in Chemistry (RSEC) grant through the NSF and the University of Minnesota to continue their collaboration through this summer. Last summer Anthony Wong (’05) worked at Carleton to support this research effort. This summer Travis Ruthenburg (’04) is working in Kent Mann’s laboratories at the University of Minnesota with RSEC support.
Other professional activities have kept Steve busy the past year. Steve reviewed two NSF proposals. In addition, he evaluated the research of a colleague at another institution as part of the colleague’s tenure review. In February Steve served as a panelist for a “Preparing Future Faculty” course at the University of Minnesota, and in April he served as a judge for “Student Research Day” at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. Finally, Steve will be teaching a chemistry course for non-majors in the fall. To better prepare for this challenge, Steve attended a NSF Chautauqua workshop in June titled “Chemistry for Non-Science Majors: The Chemistry in Context Curriculum.”
Tricia A. Ferrett, 1990-, Associate Professor. B.A., Grinnell College; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley.
During Fall Term, Trish taught Chem 122 and continued to focus on the interdisciplinary issues of global climate change and dietary fat using ChemConnections modules. Visitor Phil Camill (Carleton biology) helped students understand paleoclimate and natural forces that drive long-term global temperature. Trish also taught Chem 304 with Will Hollingsworth and enjoyed working with a new group of eager chemistry majors. Trish is now planning new courses and comps experiences in biophysical chemistry and nanoscience.
Trish took an unpaid family leave during Winter/Spring Terms to await arrival of her adopted son from Korea. Adam Joon-Ha Baraniak was born on August 22, 2002. Trish and Tom brought Adam home from Seoul on February 14, 2003. Trish spent February through mid-June at home learning how to be a mom and working on scholarship.
Trish spent much of her unpaid leave working on a new scholarly project that will likely extend for a decade. Growing out of the ChemLinks/MC2 NSF-funded chemistry systemic reform initiative of the 1990’s, a national consortium of faculty is interested in developing new science-rich interdisciplinary curricular materials. The idea is to address the national need for scientific literacy by engaging students in complex and consequential societal problems so they learn how to rigorously apply and synthesize scientific knowledge, confront disciplinary differences and conflicts, and make reasoned decisions. One part of the project involves reading and “translating” the literature on the research on learning and student intellectual development so new materials and pedagogical approaches are informed by recent developments in cognitive science, curriculum reform, and educational psychology. Trish is the co-PI on an NSF CCLI proposal submitted in June 2003, working with many science faculty around the country. Trish is now preparing other proposals to fund aspects of the new initiative.
Trish’s summer 2003 research group is tackling two projects related to the new initiative. One goal is to develop an interdisciplinary prototype module on global climate change. With the help of Carleton faculty Mary Savina (geology) and Phil Camill (biology), Britta Veitenheimer (chemistry major, ’04) and Trish are developing a “storyline” and data-rich activities about paleodroughts, recent droughts, climate systems, and abrupt climate change. In collaboration with Joanne Stewart’s group (Hope College), Jade Bender (psychology major, ’05) is reading books and articles on student intellectual development and translating these ideas, with concrete examples, into language that college science faculty can understand and use. Jade and Trish recently revised the ChemConnections global warming module, to be published soon with W.W. Norton.
Trish led a session and helped with workshops on ChemConnections modules at the 17th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education (BCCE) in Bellingham, WA, in July 2002. She attended a leadership planning meeting for her new project at Hope College in late September. She also went to Boulder, CO, in January to work with the small “grant-writing team” to focus project goals and plan proposals. Trish attended an ACM Meeting on Interdisciplinary Studies at Beloit College in October. Trish also attended the Carleton mid-career faculty workshop in December 2002, where she had a chance to talk with other faculty about mid-career shifts in scholarship.
Trish just became Project Director for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) proposal due in October 2003. This proposal has led to long-term planning efforts for exciting new interdisciplinary science initiatives at Carleton. Trish continues to play a major role in the summer Environmental Studies at Carleton (ESC) outreach program for high school students and teachers. Trish and Tom Baraniak are doing a new ESC project on haze detection and pollution, and Trish is continuing activities on acid rain and climate change with the help of her summer research students. She will also co-lead an ESC trip to Long Lake, MN, in July. Trish was recently elected to be Co-Chair Elect of Carleton’s Education and Curriculum Committee (ECC).
Trish will be working on a 2/3-time contract for several years to free up time for parenting and her new curricular project. Trish and Tom are adopting a second infant from Korea, with arrival expected in spring 2004. Recent vacations have been to the North Shore of Lake Superior. Trish and Tom are happily situated in their Northfield home as they redecorate and prepare for a second baby.
James E. Finholt, 1960-2001; Emeritus Professor, 2001-. B.A., St. Olaf College; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley.
Last year Jim said the future is hard to predict. He still stands by that statement. In July a great trip to Norway and Northern England was cut short after he fell off a railroad platform and completely smashed his left shoulder. Jim and Bev flew back home, and he immediately underwent a long surgery to repair the damage. His left arm was immobilized for two months before he was able to start rehab. Fortunately, he has almost fully recovered and has few limitations. He can’t raise his arm high enough for a tennis serve, but his tennis partners say his underhand serve is really no worse than what he could dish out with an overhand serve.
Travel continues to be an important part of Jim’s and Bev’s lives. They spent two weeks last fall exploring the wildlife in Costa Rica. This spring they made an extensive AMTRAK trip to visit relatives on the East Coast. American trains are really pretty nice, and they highly recommend this form of travel. They also made several trips to Ann Arbor to visit grandchildren (and their parents). On their last trip they drove over the top of Lake Superior and spent several nights tent camping.
Professional activities have included reviewing a number of journal manuscripts, making a site visit to review the work of a small college in the Midwest, and conducting some chemistry activities with Cub Scouts, church groups, and a group of ten to twelve year old home school kids.
Work on revising the City of Northfield Charter continues as does service on the Board of Trustees of our church. A new activity has involved helping senior citizens learn how to use computers. The Northfield senior organization has developed an excellent computer education program and its classes are always filled. Jim has given up on his battle with creeping Charlie and has concentrated his efforts this year on killing moles. He caught number four this morning.
Deborah S. Gross, 1998-, Assistant Professor. B.A.,
Haverford College; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley.
This year started out a lot like last year for Deborah in terms of teaching, with Fall Term off, granted by the Dean’s Office as a compensation for research with students during summers, and a course-release granted by the Dean’s Office in the winter to work with a relatively new department instrument. As usual, Spring Term and its high level of busyness overshadowed the relatively calm early part of the year.
Last summer, Amy Silverberg (’02) and Lexie Schmitt (’04) worked in Deborah’s lab, although most of the research was carried out in Atlanta, GA, where the group participated in the Atlanta Aerosol Nucleation and Real-time Characterization Experiment (ANARChE). Six weeks of gathering aerosol composition data with two single-particle mass spectrometers (“Wallace” is the instrument at the University of Minnesota which was purchased through an NSF grant funded jointly to Carleton and the University, and “Gromit” is the instrument purchased through an NSF grant to Carleton) kept us very busy. This large data set will take some time to fully analyze! Additionally, a great deal of work was done analyzing data collected with “Gromit” during spring 2002 in the Engine Research Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Deborah presented posters about various aspects of this work at the American Association for Aerosol Research annual meeting (October, Charlotte, NC) and the American Society for Mass Spectrometry annual meeting (June, Montreal, QC). Lexie presented a poster about other aspects of the work at the American Chemical Society spring meeting (March, New Orleans, LA). Additionally, Deborah presented this research at Haverford College and to the Deleware Valley Mass Spectrometry Discussion Group in November, and at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University in March. A portion of the diesel emissions work was published in the Society of Automotive Engineers technical papers series in March, which is quite exciting! Amy and Lexie are co-authors of this paper.
This summer, Lexie Schmitt (’04), Renee Frontiera (’04), and Margie Mattmann (’05) are working hard to analyze the data collected during ANARChE, as well as to analyze data collected by Lexie and collaborators at the University of Wisconsin, during a trip this winter. The end of the summer will take the group and “Gromit” to Southwestern Colorado and then to Yellowstone National Park, to characterize the ambient aerosol composition and to correlate it with mercury emissions from local and regional sources (i.e., a coal-fired power plant in Colorado and natural emissions in Yellowstone).
In the winter, Deborah had a long awaited opportunity to teach in the Advanced Lab program, and had a terrific time teaching Chemical Kinetics to the juniors, and working with Marion Cass and Dani Kohen, with whom the course was team-taught. The student to faculty ratio was an enviable 8.3:1 and it was a lot of fun. Next year will provide Dani and Deborah an opportunity to try their hands at this course again, and there are already schemes afoot to make it even better!
In the spring, Deborah taught a wonderful group of students in Chem 230, Equilibrium and Analysis. This was the first term where the labs were small enough (18 each) to have students safely and sanely carry out independent projects at the end of the lab, and it was fun to see titrations of sour-patch kids done with amazing seriousness.
All the time that’s not spent with research or teaching these days is spent planning the details of Deborah and Markus’ TWO weddings, which will take place this summer. The first will be in California and the second in Switzerland, to best accommodate both families. While both Deborah and Markus were intrigued with the idea of finding a place halfway in between to gather everyone (The Arctic? The Azores? A ship on the ocean?), it eventually did seem too complicated. It’s not many people who eagerly await their second wedding even while planning the first!
Gretchen E. Hofmeister, 2002-, Associate Professor. B.A., Carleton College; Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley.
Gretchen thinks it is great to be back at Carleton; she was last here in 1994-96 teaching introductory chemistry and advanced laboratory. This past Fall Term she taught a first-year seminar titled “The Chemistry of Drugs.” It was a fun course to teach, since the content was not dictated by external standards but rather by Gretchen’s and the students’ interests. The goal of the course was to teach important concepts in chemistry in the context of learning how various types of drugs affect their desired or undesired physiological responses. In the Winter and Spring Terms she taught Organic I, which she had taught previously at Gustavus Adolphus College. The shorter terms at Carleton serve to intensify and compress coverage of the material, so she had to modify her approach to teaching this familiar subject in order to accommodate this difference.
In the spring she team-taught with Dave Alberg Advanced Lab III, a course in which students learn the theory and practice of spectroscopy, primarily NMR, in organic chemistry. She introduced a new experiment to Carleton, which was improved from an earlier version that she developed at Gustavus by incorporating analysis by gas-chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Our brand-new GC/MS instrument demonstrated the power of that technique, by enabling students (along with 13C NMR) to identify the five major terpenes present in cumin seed oil. She also enjoyed getting to know a number of the junior majors through teaching this course.
Gretchen’s other main task this year has been to set up her research program at Carleton. The goal of her research is to develop new metal-based reagents that will selectively control the outcome of organic transformations or polymerization reactions, similarly to how biological enzymes selectively control the transformation of biological metabolites or the synthesis of biological polymers. Specifically, she is working on preparing new bis- and tris-phenols for coordinating metals such as titanium and aluminum and exploring the catalytic role of the metal complexes in the preparation of poly(lactic acid), a biodegradable polymer.
Gretchen currently has two students, Karen Gibbins (’05) and Charlie Weiss (’05), working on setting up the laboratory in Jim’s old space and learning and extending the synthetic chemistry that was initiated at Gustavus. Her generous start-up package from Carleton is rapidly being spent to equip her laboratory. She recently purchased a new double-wide glove box for performing air-sensitive synthesis. She also plans to purchase an instrument for analyzing the molecular weights of the polymers that they prepare. After this is in place, they will no longer be required to travel to the University of Minnesota for this analysis.
In the past year, a full paper written with undergraduate students from Gustavus concerning the synthesis and characterization of trisphenols and titanium and aluminum complexes of these trisphenols was published in Inorganic Chemistry. At the spring 2003 national meeting of the American Chemical Society, three of Gretchen’s undergraduate research students from Gustavus presented their research results from the summer of 2002. She was able to join them in New Orleans for the conference, and they explored the French quarter together. She also was awarded a three-year grant from the Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society to support summer research students.
Altogether, these activities have kept Gretchen so busy that she has yet to notice the “gain” of two hours a day from losing her commute to St. Peter!
William E. Hollingsworth, 1986-, Professor. B.S., B.A., University of Texas, Austin; M.S., Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley.
Will taught 344 (Quantum Chemistry) and Advanced Lab I in the fall and 128 (Principles of Environmental Chemistry) in the winter. It was fun teaching the environmental class for a change in the dead of winter which made for outdoor sample collecting that was bracing. The class was also unusually small which was great for getting the class to work well as a unit and feel comfortable speaking up in class. He had the spring off from teaching due to an internal leave. Taken together with last year’s sabbatical leaves, this year’s internal leave allowed him to spend some time reconnecting with research projects and identifying some new ventures. Notable among these projects was the completion of the molecular orbital paper he has been working on with Marion Cass over the past few years. Over many starts, redefinitions, and reincarnations, they are finally happy with the current paper which outlines a new way to extend the teaching of MO’s in the inorganic course. They are hoping to develop this rich area more in the near future.
His research over this period also saw some transitions and modest retooling. First, this was the year that Matt Bush graduated and finally left the group after quite an extended period. His contributions and lab stewardship have been much appreciated. Margaret Lo (’04) and Matt Sheldon (’04) have joined on to work this summer. After an analysis of the current research equipment and available support literature, they are now launching a modest set of studies studying the wavelength-dependent fragmentation patterns of Mn2(CO)10 in order to map out how the metal-ligand and metal-metal bond-breakage channels compete as the color moves toward the ultraviolet from the visible. Although the current YAG/dye laser system has less resolution than the original excimer system, it does offer much more stable and adjustable laser powers. They will exploit this in their attempts to better quantitate the information being obtained in these complex multiphoton pathways.
Will continues to participate in activities outside the department such as ENTS (Environmental and Technology Studies), a faculty reading group on The Blank Slate, the Summer Teachers’ Institute, and the summer program Environmental Studies at Carleton. This year, he also chaired the committee reviewing the Biology Department. Of particular note was his selection to go with a faculty group on a winter-break trip to China. Along with seeing some of the sights in and around Beijing, Xi’An, and Shanghai, it was really great to spend time with a range of faculty from “across campus.”
Julie Karg, 1988-, Chemistry Technician. B.S., Mankato State University.
Julie worked with professors to develop and prepare new laboratory exercises this past year and with organic chemistry faculty to help them adopt a new laboratory textbook for teaching the labs associated with Chemistry 233/234. She also made major and minor exercise upgrades to previously performed experiments. She attended a Dreamweaver computer software workshop offered at the college and subsequently took over the duty of managing the Chemistry Department’s weekly electronic newsletter, “The Weekly Beaker.” In addition, Julie participated in our new faculty hire for fall 2003.
Daniela Kohen, 2002-, Assistant Professor. B.A., Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina; Ph.D., University of Notre Dame.
This last year has been a good year for Dani. She loved teaching Chemical Thermodynamics and Advanced Laboratory II to a fantastic group of students in the Winter Term and Principles of Chemistry (Chem 123) in the spring to another fantastic group. She learned so much from all of them, and she is pretty sure the students learned quite a bit as well! There were so many good questions asked and so many cool moments in the lab…it was a pleasure!
This summer Dani is doing research with three students, Greg Haman (’06), Meghan Thurlow (’05), and Eric Feise (’04), introducing them to life as theoretical and computational physical chemists. They are using atomistic simulations to understand and characterize at the molecular level how small gas molecules interact with pure CO2 in the pores of molecular sieves, and how this interaction changes in the presence of other gases present in the atmosphere. The goal of these studies is to provide a basic understanding of the processes that underlie the use of molecular sieves as filters to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. In doing this kind of research the learning curve is steep, but the results are very satisfying, and Dani is hoping that her student collaborators enjoy their work as much as she does. In August, Dani’s group is planning to meet with groups from other undergraduate institutions that do computational and theoretical work to share experiences and learn from each other. Dani is looking forward to seeing the students in her group develop over the summer and her research program get established. A major step towards achieving this last goal was to acquire a Beowulf computer cluster last fall, in cooperation with Arjendu Pattanayak, a physics professor. The Beowulf cluster, a supercomputer that is 50 times faster than a top-of-the-line personal computer, will greatly increase Dani’s and Arjendu’s groups’ ability to study realistic systems. This computer cluster was partially funded with a Faculty Start-up Grant Program for Undergraduate Institutions, granted to Dani by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation last July.
On a personal note, Dani and husband, Joe, welcomed their first child, Margo Mae Chihade in September last year. As last year’s report predicted, Dani spent the Fall Term neither teaching nor doing research, but nevertheless with plenty of learning. She was learning how to be a mom. And it was (and is) a beautiful and intense experience!
Brian T. Mars, 1983-, Laboratory Manager. B.A., California State University, Chico.
This year Brian undertook the task of replacing the old Hewlett-Packard GC/MS. We got nearly 20 good years out of the old instrument, but it was becoming unreliable and Hewlett-Packard (now Agilent) would no longer support it with service. The new instrument is a Shimadzu QP-5000 designed by a Nobel Prize-winning chemist from Japan. The old system was sold to Chemical Consulting, a newly started business in Northfield.
Jerry R. Mohrig, 1967-2003, Herman & Gertrude Mosier Stark Professor in the Natural Sciences. B.S., University of Michigan; Ph.D., University of Colorado.
After four years of half-time teaching and a total of 36 years at Carleton, Jerry is retiring. By the end of the summer, he and his undergraduate research colleagues hope to bring closure to their research on the electronic factors which influence the stereochemistry of base-catalyzed 1,2-elimination reactions.
Jerry was deeply touched by his April retirement party, dubbed JerryFest. With over 40 Carleton alums returning for the festivities, it was a marvelous occasion. There was a morning symposium on undergraduate science education with Jeanne Pemberton of the University of Arizona, Jeanne Narum of Project Kaleidoscope, and Dean Shelby Boardman participating in a spirited discussion. In the afternoon research symposium, former colleagues Carol Fierke (’78), Steve Schultz (’81), Martha Oakley (’86), and Randy King (’88) spoke about their research, and Jerry summed up the insights gained from 25 years of research at Carleton. An evening party in Great Hall, with colored hats, good humor, and testimonials concluded the day’s events. It was great fun. At the end of May Jerry spoke at the Carleton Honors’ Convocation on “Frangipani.” The experiences of Spring Term were so memorable that Jerry is threatening to retire again next year.
The final summer in the Mohrig lab has six Carleton students doing research, with financial support from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. The effects of pKa and leaving group are again a high priority in the elimination studies. Lea McMartin (’04), Andrew King (’04), and Jane Coughlin (’03) are studying the stereochemistry in 1,2-elimination reactions of deuterated b-trimethylacetoxybutyrate esters and thioesters, to compare to the results of our earlier research with the analogous acetoxy substrates. To complete our understanding of elimination reactions at the E1-cB interface, Nick Penner (’04) is studying solvent effects on reaction rates, and Heidi Spoelhof (’03) is completing a study of possible alkene isomerization under our reaction conditions. Martha Montgomery (’04) is using NMR to study the conformational populations of substrates whose stereochemistry we have been comparing. In addition to maintaining an active research lab, Jerry again served as coordinator of the Chemistry Department’s undergraduate research program. He spoke in January on “Learning through Chemistry: Four Decades of Research with Undergraduate Collaborators” in the faculty scholarship series sponsored by Carleton’s Learning and Teaching Center.
The new editions of Jerry’s organic chemistry laboratory text were published by W. H. Freeman this year. The work is divided into a techniques book, featuring an emphasis on modern spectroscopy, and a lab manual, featuring inquiry-based projects and experiments. He had the pleasure of using both books in his last Organic Chemistry II course.
Jerry continued as a consultant to the Committee on Professional Training of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and attended its meetings in Boston, Tucson, and New Orleans. He attended the poster session at the New Orleans National ACS Meeting, where four of his undergraduate research colleagues presented their work. Jerry’s organic chemistry molecular-recognition module, “Why We Get the Flu Every Year,” was featured in the final report of the Bio2010 Committee of the National Research Council, as an example of an effective connection between chemistry and biology courses in the undergraduate curriculum. In October, he served as a consultant to the chemistry program of the University of Minnesota, Morris. In January, Jerry reviewed ROLE proposals for the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation. He continued to serve on the advisory committee for the Research Site for Educators in Chemistry at the University of Minnesota.
Adrie, Jerry, and two close friends spent three weeks traveling in Sicily last fall and had a great time. More travel is likely when Jerry retires in September. He will also be doing a fair amount of writing, as he prepares a series of articles on the research that he and his undergraduate colleagues have done at Carleton.
Richard W. Ramette, 1954-1990; Emeritus Professor, 1990-. B.A., Wesleyan University; Ph.D., University of Minnesota.
Dick and Lee have enjoyed retirement in Arizona since 1997, but are glad for summers at their cabin in Minnesota. In May Dick addressed the Green Valley Forum on the topic, “Uranium and You: From the Big Bang to Nuclear Garbage.” A manuscript, “Why Does a Helium-filled Balloon Rise?” has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Chemical Education. A photograph of his “Iodine Thermometer” will be featured on the cover of that journal in the August issue. Dick continues as Fitness Instructor for GV Recreation and, in March won medals for swimming and shuffleboard in the GV Senior Games. He also wrote a computer program for shuffleboard simulation.
Robert C. Rossi, 2001-2003, Visiting Assistant Professor. B.S., University of Wisconsin, Madison; Ph.D., California Institute of Technology.
Rob started out this school year predictably enough, teaching Chem 123 in the Fall and Winter Terms, and much fun was had by all. It wasn’t a re-run, though, the students were amazing and, of course, Rob managed to come up with new and even sillier things to say. Not wanting to be typecast, and with the demand for Chem 123 replace-a-profs abating, he decided to make himself useful in the spring by revisiting his Chem 370/ENTS 369 concoction, dubbed “Solar Energy Conversion and Solid State Devices,” and team-teaching a new course, ENTS 100, “Science, Technology, and Public Policy,” with Joel Weisberg of the Physics Department. The former took a more applied tack this term and wrapped up with a detailed case study on Carleton’s impending move to install and operate a wind turbine locally: which, by the way, got a unanimous economic and overall practical thumbs-up from every student! The latter class found Rob in the strange position of being “the conservative in the room” more often than he expected, playing foil to Joel’s insightful, playful, and extremely educated liberal slant! As a freshman seminar, this course was populated by a more diverse audience than other classes Rob had taught, and he was surprised to find this less scientific audience more likely to trust the conclusions of scientists than either Rob or Joel. Throughout discussions on weapons of mass destruction, genetic manipulation, and energy and transportation policy, Rob kept coming back to a new slogan: “Scientists are people too! (And we are subject to the same human failings, vanities, and occasional bouts of strength of character that other people are.)” Team-teaching an ENTS freshman seminar was a wonderful experience, and he thanks the department for the opportunity!
Rob was also lucky enough to invite his undergraduate mentor and hero, Dr. John Wright of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to Carleton to give a spectacular seminar. With the seminar falling on Valentine’s Day, he and John managed to arrange a double date with their sweethearts, over which they discussed many things, including the life of a professor and a professorial spouse.
That topic was on Rob’s mind a great deal this year, this being the culmination of his two year trial-run at being a professor. After much soul-searching, he finally concluded that he “still hadn’t found what he’s looking for,” and will be spending the summer trying his hand at auto repair while becoming more involved in politics (action being desperately needed on the latter front). Who knows where he’ll end up? Having thoroughly convinced himself that “My work here is done,” he’s off on a “continuing mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilization, to boldly go where no one has gone before...” Or something like that. Speaking of which, he has a flight to Gatwick in about four hours and hasn’t packed yet. He’ll have to thank Carleton profusely for three wonderful years, memories that will last forever, and warm and caring friends, and then scoot to the airport!
Wendy J. Zimmerman, 1970-, Administrative Assistant.
Wendy and her student office assistant, Lindsey Kneuven, work together to ensure that things run efficiently in the departmental office. Lindsey graduated this year after working in the office for three years and will be missed. Wendy is the editor of the Annual Report and “The Weekly Beaker,” the department’s weekly newsletter.
FACULTY BIBLIOGRAPHY
M. E. Cass and W. E. Hollingsworth, “Moving Beyond the Single
Center – Ways to Reinforce the Teaching of Molecular Orbital Theory in the Inorganic Course,” Journal of Chemical Education (in press).
S. M. Drew, J. E. Mann, B. J. Marquardt, K. R. Mann, “A Humidity Sensor Based on Vapoluminescent Platinum(II) Double Salt Materials,” accepted for publication, Sens. Actuators B.
T. M. Pappenfus, J. D. Raff, E. J. Hukkanen, J. R. Burney, J. Casado,
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R. V. Kirss, S. Laursen, S. Anthony, T. Ferrett, H. Mernitz, G. Lisensky, Chemistry: The Science in Context, Instructor’s Resource Manual with ChemConnections Activities, W. W. Norton, 2003 (in press).
S. Anthony, T. W. Brauch, E. J. Longley, J. Bender, T. A. Ferrett, “Climate Change: What should we do about Global Warming?”, a ChemConnections module, W.W. Norton, 2003 (in press).
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W. O. Appiah, A. D. DeGreeff, G. L. Razidlo, S. J. Spessard, M. Pink, V. G. Young, Jr., G. E. Hofmeister, “Linear Trimer Analogs of Calixarene as Chiral Coordinating Ligands: X-ray Crystallographic and NMR Spectroscopic Characterization of Chiral and Achiral Trisphenolates Complexed to Titanium(IV) and Aluminum(III),” Inorganic Chemistry 2002, 41, 3656-3667.
A. Goj, D. S. Sholl, E. D. Akten, D. Kohen, “Atomistic Simulations of CO2 and N2 Adsorption in Silica Zeolites: The Impact of Pore Size and Shape,” Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2002, 106, 8367-8375.
J. R. Mohrig, C. N. Hammond, P. F. Schatz, T. C. Morrill, Modern Projects and Experiments in Organic Chemistry, 2nd Edition, W. H. Freeman, 2003, 397 pages.
J. R. Mohrig, C. N. Hammond, P. F. Schatz, T. C. Morrill, Techniques in Organic Chemistry, W. H. Freeman, 2003, 301 pages.