OFF-CAMPUS STUDENT RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS
INTRODUCTION
Another year passes and another venerable chemistry faculty member has retired. This spring we celebrated the many contributions that Chuck Carlin has made to the teaching and learning of chemistry at Carleton. Chuck’s distinguished teaching career spans 37 years and has influenced the lives of thousands of Carleton chemistry students. The many letters and emails we received to congratulate and thank Chuck were very heartwarming. Chuck was honored this spring on many occasions, including a seminar and dinner with current students and a reception with alumni and friends on reunion weekend. I speak for the entire Chemistry Department, past, present, and future, when I say we love you Chuck and wish you all the best. Luckily, Chuck won’t be totally absent from the department next year. Due to a temporary shortage of faculty, Chuck will be back as a “junior” faculty member teaching half-time for one more year.
It has been great to hear from so many Carleton chemistry alums this year. You all make us proud with your numerous accomplishments in chemistry, medicine, the law, nonprofit work, education, and other vocations. The statistics generated by the NSF continue to show that the Carleton Chemistry Department is one of the top baccalaureate sources of Ph.D.’s in chemistry and biochemistry. While this is only one measure of success, it does demonstrate that you are very talented people, and the faculty here at Carleton are privileged to have had you as students. Rest assured that cohorts of talented students continue to find a home at Carleton. Though there are many financial pressures on the college, with good leadership and the support of the community, Carleton will continue to flourish. Nonetheless, the philosophy of liberal education that drives this place is in danger of being lost or diluted in today’s commercial and materialistic society. Fewer and fewer people value education for the sake of personal betterment, but rather only focus on the financial payoff. The faculty here are continuously reassured by the intellectually curious students that come to Carleton, not to become elitists, but to receive an elite education that will help direct them down the road of life-long learning. We hope that you have benefited from the time you spent in the Chemistry Department and will reciprocate by guiding future students towards institutions like Carleton.
Steven M. Drew, Chair
STUDENT HONORS AND AWARDS
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY UNDERGRADUATE AWARD IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Alexandra Schmitt (’05)
AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTS AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHEMISTRY
Nicholas Boekelheide
B.A. DEGREE WITH LATIN HONORS
Summa Cum Laude – Jonathan Takahashi
Magna Cum Laude – Nicholas Boekelheide, Louisa Carr, Sun-Young Choh, Linnea Engel, Eric Feise, Renee Frontiera, Sheng-Ying Lo, Martha Montgomery, Nicholas Penner, Brandy Rippy, Matthew Sheldon, Britta Veitenheimer, Charles Weber, Andrew Wild
Cum Laude – Sally Charles, Aaron Leconte, Lea McMartin
CLASS OF 1963 FELLOWSHIP
Katherine Sammons (’05)
CRC PRESS FRESHMAN CHEMISTRY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Erin Addison (’07)
DISTINCTION IN THE MAJOR
Renee Frontiera, Brandy Rippy, Matthew Sheldon, Jonathan Takahashi
DISTINCTION ON THE SENIOR INTEGRATIVE EXERCISE
Renee Frontiera, Brandy Rippy, Matthew Sheldon, Jonathan Takahashi
DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS
Aaron Leconte (’04), Andrew Nieuwkoop (’06), Meghan
Thurlow (’05)
FRANZ EXNER AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN CHEMISTRY
Aaron Leconte, Matthew Sheldon
JAMES FINHOLT PRIZE IN INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Sheng-Ying Lo
LAURENCE McKINLEY GOULD PRIZE IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES
Renee Frontiera
HONORS IN INDEPENDENT STUDY
Lea McMartin
HYPERCUBE SCHOLAR FOR WORK ON COMPUTERS IN CHEMISTRY
Travis Ruthenburg
PAT LAMB AWARD FOR ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
Britta Veitenheimer
LARSON INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP
Aistis Tumas (’05)
MORTAR BOARD
Nicholas Penner
NCAA POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP
Britta Veitenheimer
PHI BETA KAPPA
Nicholas Boekelheide, Renee Frontiera, Jonathan Takahashi, Britta Veitenheimer
RICHARD RAMETTE TEACHING AWARD
Sally Charles
SIGMA XI
Nicholas Boekelheide, Louisa Carr, Sally Charles, Sun-Young Choh, Eric Feise, Aaron Leconte, Sheng-Ying Lo, Lea McMartin, Martha Montgomery, Kristen Randall, Travis Ruthenburg, Matthew Sheldon, Jonathan Takahashi, Britta Veitenheimer, Andrew Wild
OFF-CAMPUS STUDENT RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION for AEROSOL RESEARCH ANNUAL MEETING
Renee Frontiera
Alexandra Schmitt (’05)
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY NATIONAL MEETING
JoAnn Czechowicz (biology)
Aaron Leconte
Elizabeth McEachron (’05)
Nicholas Penner
Travis Ruthenburg
Adam Sunderland (’05)
Janel Uejio (’05)
Charles Weiss (’05)
Andrew Wild
COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY RESEARCH CONFERENCE
Eric Feise
Gregory Haman (’06) (biology/philosophy)
Meghan Thurlow (’05)
NCUR CONFERENCE
Kristen Randall
WINCHELL SYMPOSIUM
Charles Weiss (’05)
ENROLLMENTS
| Fall Term | ||||||||||
| 115, Chemistry in Context | 30 | Drew | ||||||||
| 122, Introduction to Chemistry | 11 | Ferrett | ||||||||
| 123, Principles of Chemistry | 36 | Kohen | ||||||||
| 230, Equilibrium and Analysis | 37 | Gross | ||||||||
| 233, Organic Chemistry I | 43 | Alberg | ||||||||
| 234, Organic Chemistry II | 11 | Chihade | ||||||||
| 304, Advanced Laboratory I | 17 | Ferrett, Hollingsworth | ||||||||
| 344, Quantum Chemistry | 21 | Hollingsworth | ||||||||
| 353, Organic Chemistry III | 13 | Carlin | ||||||||
| 391, Independent Study | 1 | Staff | ||||||||
| 392, Independent Research | 1 | Staff | ||||||||
| 394, Student-Faculty Research | 13 | Staff | ||||||||
| Winter Term | ||||||||||
| 123, Principles of Chemistry | 40 | Drew | ||||||||
| 233, Organic Chemistry I | 43 | Alberg | ||||||||
| 234, Organic Chemistry II | 30 | Hofmeister | ||||||||
| 305, Advanced Laboratory II | 25 | Gross, Kohen | ||||||||
| 320, Biological Chemistry | 14 | Chihade | ||||||||
| 343, Chemical Thermodynamics | 26 | Kohen | ||||||||
| 354, Lasers and Spectroscopy | 9 | Hollingsworth | ||||||||
| 355, Lasers and Spectroscopy Laboratory | 7 | Hollingsworth | ||||||||
| 391, Independent Study | 2 | Staff | ||||||||
| 392, Independent Research | 1 | Staff | ||||||||
| 394, Student-Faculty Research | 9 | Staff | ||||||||
| 400, Integrative Exercise | 26 | Staff | ||||||||
| Spring Term | ||||||||||
| 123, Principles of Chemistry | 32 | Kohen | ||||||||
| 128, Principles of Environmental Chemistry | 25 | Hollingsworth | ||||||||
| 230, Equilibrium and Analysis | 37 | Drew | ||||||||
| 233, Organic Chemistry I | 17 | Chihade | ||||||||
| 234, Organic Chemistry II | 50 | Carlin | ||||||||
| 306, Advanced Laboratory III | 18 | Chihade, Hofmeister | ||||||||
| 328, Environmental Analysis | 11 | Gross | ||||||||
| 329, Environmental Analysis Laboratory | 6 | Gross | ||||||||
| 345, Statistical Thermodynamics | 6 | Kohen | ||||||||
| 351, Inorganic Chemistry | 18 | Hofmeister | ||||||||
| 394, Student-Faculty Research | 23 | Staff | ||||||||
| 400, Integrative Exercise | 24 | Staff |
GIFTS AND GRANTS
Steven Drew was awarded an American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund Type B $50,000 three-year grant titled “The Synthesis and Characterization of Chiral Platinum(II) Extended Linear Chain Materials and Their Potential Application as Gas Sensing Transducers.”
The American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund continues to support the research of Gretchen Hofmeister.
Trish Ferrett received a Wallin Faculty Development Grant for $7,087 and a Curriculum Development Grant of $1,313 ($8,400 total) from Carleton College to fund her work on science-rich interdisciplinary curriculum development. Funds are supporting two summer 2004 students and supplies.
The Dow Chemical Foundation continues to support chemistry at Carleton through its Chemistry Undergraduate Scholarship Program. This past year they provided funding for three student scholarships at $4,000 each. In addition, the department received $1,875 for summer research and other needs.
Funds were received from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to support the summer research of one chemistry student.
A few years ago the estate of James D. Morrison gave $10,000 to support the annual Dr. James D. (’30) and Julia P. Morrison Lectureship. The lectureship was held this year by Professor James Heath of the California Institute of Technology.
David Alberg continues to receive support from a National Institutes of Health AREA grant for his project, “Inhibitors of Trypanothione Reductase.”
As part of a grant to the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Carleton College, Deborah Gross and David Musicant of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science received $287,587 from the National Science Foundation. The University of Wisconsin (PI: R. Ramakrishnan, Computer Science Department, co-PI J. J. Schauer, Environmental Chemistry and Technology Program) received $2,040,000. The four-year grant was titled “ITR: Collaborative Focused Mining of Atmospheric Aerosol Datasets: Integration of Mass Spectrometry and Environmental Monitoring.”
Jerry Mohrig continues to receive support from a National Science Foundation three-year research grant on the topic, “RUI: Stereochemical Determinants in Elimination and Proton Transfer Reactions.”
Carleton College money raised to match the National Science Foundation 1992 Young Investigator Award (NYI) to Trish Ferrett is still supporting her pedagogical research and curricular development for her new project. Combined NSF and Carleton-raised funds total to about $458,000 since 1992.
As Jerry Mohrig begins writing manuscripts for publication, he has been awarded a $24,000 grant from the Research Site for Educators in Chemistry program at the Chemistry Department of the University of Minnesota to support his collaboration with Professor Donald Truhlar on theoretical aspects of the research.
SEMINARS
Carleton Chemistry Faculty:
Welcome Reception for Majors
Carleton Chemistry Faculty: What to do After Carleton
Greg Muth, St. Olaf College: The Puzzling Properties of Peptidyl Transferase
Carleton Science Majors: Annual All-Science Poster Session
Paul Fischer, Macalester College: A Quest to Synthesize Intramolecular Amine-Stabilized Transition-Metal Boryl Complexes: The Adventure Begins
Camilla Lieske, Vet Toxicology Resident; Susan Roosenraad,
Northfield High School Math Teacher; Steve Openshaw, Principal
Scientist, Syngenta; Karissa Baker, Upper School Science Teacher;
Brian Klawiter, Archeologist, Superior National Forest; Dave Watts,
President and CEO, ACuTE, Inc.:
Wondering What to do With Your
Life?
Edward Grabowski, Merck Research Laboratories: The Design and Development of Practical Syntheses: A Potpourri of Process Research Problems
R. Lee Penn, University of Minnesota: Nanocrystal Growth by Oriented Aggregation
Brian Steer, Diversa Corporation: An Evolutionary Route to Xylanase Process Fitness
Omar Yaghi, University of Michigan: Design and Synthesis of Crystals Full of Nothing
Peter McMurry, University of Minnesota: Observations of New Particle Formation and Growth Rates in the Atmosphere
Carleton Chemistry Faculty: Summer Research Recruiting
Helen Blackwell, University of Wisconsin, Madison: New Applications for Microwave-Assisted Organic Synthesis
James Skinner, University of Wisconsin, Madison: Ultrafast Vibrational Spectroscopy and Molecular Dynamics of Liquid Water
Benjamin Cravatt, The Scripps Research Institute: Activity-Based Protein Profiling: Chemical Approaches for Functional Proteomics; The 2004 Lecture on Organic Synthesis, Sponsored by Organic Synthesis, Inc.
Paul Cremer, Texas A & M University: Biomembranes on a Chip
Dennis Jacobs, University of Notre Dame: Dynamics of Ion/Surface Reactions in a Low-Earth Orbit Spacecraft Environment
Kate Queeney, Smith College: A Tale of Two (three, if you count hydrogen) Elements
Mike Baca, Sunny Choh, Linnea Engel, Earnie Kim, Nick Penner, Britta Veitenheimer, Carleton Chemistry Majors: Do Looks Matter? An Exploration of the Structural Similarities of AATase and ACC Synthase and the Diverse Fates of their Natural Substrates
Matt Simcik, University of Minnesota: Analysis of Perflurochemicals and Implications for Environmental Chemistry
Jack Kirsch, University of California, Berkeley: Pyridoxal Phosphate Enzymology – From Mechanism to Directed Evolution
Sally Charles, Margaret Lo, Martha Montgomery, Ben Petersen, Kristen Randall, Lexie Schmitt, Matt Sheldon, Jonathan Takahashi, Carleton Chemistry Majors: Making the Switch: Electronics on the Molecular Scale
Nick Boekelheide, Louisa Carr, Eric Feise, Renee Frontiera, Aaron Leconte, Travis Ruthenburg, Carleton Chemistry Majors: Getting Excited by Lasers: Vibrationally Mediated Chemistry
James Heath, California Institute of Technology: Nanosystems Biology; The James D. Morrison Seminar
Seth Cohen, University of California, San Diego: A Model-Based Approach to Metalloprotein Inhibitor Design
Sandra Rodriguez-Cruz, Southwest Laboratory of the Drug Enforcement Administration: A Day in the Life of a Forensic Chemist
F. Fleming Crim, University of Wisconsin, Madison: Using Lasers to Explore and Control Chemical Reactions
Charles Carlin, Carleton College: A Carleton Chemist at Scotland Yard