Chemistry and Biochemistry News

Happy Thanksgiving from the Faculty and Staff of the Chemistry Department!

Chemistry alumna (BS ’11, MS’12) Katie Pryor has a career in the scientific industry that most students are not aware exists. Katie (above, left) is a LCMS Product Specialist with Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, Inc. with its U.S. headquarters based out of Columbia, MD. Shimadzu is one of the largest suppliers of analytical instrumentation in the world. Katie’s specialization is in liquid chromatography/ mass spectrometry (LC/MS), and she travels throughout the country sharing her knowledge and expertise. As a small part of her job at headquarters she attends expositions across the nation and sometimes internationally. She regularly attends Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, or Pittcon as it is commonly known, American Society for Mass Spectrometry Conference, the American Chemical Society National Meeting, which most recently convened in Washington, D.C, and the Society of Forensic Toxicology conference. Her traveling is not limited to just conferences, she also travels when customers need to be trained or need one-on-one help with their systems. When asked how her Stevenson degree helped her in her career, Katie said “I have to remember organic chemistry on a daily basis: learning how a compound interacts with ionization sources, or how it will travel and interact with a LC column and mobile phases. Customers are working on applications daily and it is part of my job to help them with their method development. Listen in Analytical Chemistry and Statistics as well, LCMS method development is governed by guidelines that require a lot of math and statistical data.”. She also has the good fortune to work with a fun group of people!

Departmental sweatshirts are back! If you would like to place an order for a hoodie, please bring $25 cash or check payment to the GA office in N119 of the Manning Academic Center. Payments are due November 27th, 2017. Sizes available: adult, S, M, L, XL and 2XL. Contact Corinna at ccarter2@stevenson.edu for more information.

Biochemistry junior Joseph Acqui recently presented his research on the effects of methamphetamine on various molecular and behavioral activities and the connections between methamphetamine consumption and addiction at the 17th Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students in Phoenix, Arizona The work leading up to the presentation was conducted at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, over the summer. Joseph also applied for and was awarded a DREAM (Diversity Resources for Enrichment, Access and Mentoring) Award, which paid for all of his expenses for his trip, lodging and expenses.

Chemistry and Science Faculty Lindsey Jones, Michelle Foss and Dawn Ward participated in the Ingenuity Project event that recently took place at the Brown Advisory building, where Dr. Ward served on a STEM careers panel. Stevenson is a sponsor of this program, which works to identify and provide advanced instruction for gifted students in grades 6-12 in the Baltimore City Public School system. The faculty attended the Innovators’ Tea and had the opportunity to meet female students who are participating in the program at the high school level. There the students have the opportunity to network and make contacts with invited female professionals in STEM fields.