Faculty Research Interests

Hind Al-Abadleh

Spectroscopic studies on environmental physical chemistry of surfaces commonly found in atmospheric and soil environments, and application of nano-sized materials to environmental remediation and emissions control.

Louise Dawe 

Small molecule X-ray crystallography and supramolecular chemistry (coordination polymers, metal-organic frameworks, data-mining long-range interactions.) Ethics in chemical education and the integration of crystallography into undergraduate curriculum.

Lillian DeBruin

Functional characterization of membrane micro-domains using biophysical and biochemical approaches. Current projects include role of myelin microdomains in development, maintenance, and disease.

Dmitri Goussev

Synthesis of organometallic compounds of transition metals with ‘pincer’-type ligands for hydrogenation of polar C=O and C=N bonds and applications in catalytic C-H and N-H bond activation, dehydrogenation and functionalization of hydrocarbons.

Ian Hamilton

Computational chemistry: structure, dynamics, and reactivity of clusters and complexes of interest in environmental chemistry. Theoretical chemistry: quantum-classical correspondence, kinetic- energy functionals, Information Theory.

Geoff Horsman

Biochemical characterization of microbial enzymes and pathways. Current projects include natural products biosynthesis and metagenomic exploration of microbial phosphorus mineralization mechanisms.

Masoud Jelokhani-Niaraki

Biophysical properties of membrane-interacting proteins: the structure, biological function and ion transport properties of mitochondrial uncoupling proteins and the mechanism of biological activity of natural and synthetic antimicrobial peptides.

Vladimir Kitaev

Synthesis and optical properties of nanoparticles (NPs). Control of shape, size and functional properties of gold and sliver NPs. Metallodielectric composites. Chiral NPs and clusters. Photochemical transformations of nanoparticles.

Stephen MacNeil

Synthetic organic chemistry; preparation and applications of new ionic liquids; synthesis and Applications of condensed aromatic and heteroaromatic systems; construction and applications of helicenes and related compounds.

Kenneth Maly

Design, synthesis, and characterization of new organic materials. Organic building blocks that self-assemble to form new liquid crystalline materials with applications ranging from organic electronics to gas storage and catalysis.

Scott Smith

Aquatic environmental chemistry with applications in water treatment and environmental protection. Projects are driven by regulatory requirements from the water treatment and metal industries, e.g. wastewater phosphate removal.

Michael Suits

Structural biology using X-ray crystallography and biomolecular interactions. Research interests are modes of carbohydrate recognition and degradation by microbial proteins.