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Lead PI Professor Michael Stevenson and Co-PI Professor Kai Burrus at San Francisco State University received a collaborative grant of $379,057 from the National Science Foundation for their project entitled “Assessing the Impact of Engaging Students as Active Change Agents in Chemistry Curriculum Reform Using Scientist Spotlights.” This project will adapt and implement the Scientist Spotlights intervention to engage students in authoring and experiencing culturally responsive curricula in chemistry courses and assess the impact of the Scientist Spotlights interventions on student affective and academic outcomes in chemistry courses.

Congrats, Dr. Stevenson!

This summer the Karney Research Group hosted several groups of local high school students participating in USF’s College Access Program (CAP). USF students Amanda Nilsen and Ben Quinn, and recent graduate Ishika Jain led the CAP students through computer molecular modeling activities and answered questions about the college experience and application process.

Two of our recent chemistry graduates are starting their PhD studies this fall.

John Guardado (’23, left) will join the Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics PhD program at Caltech.

Justin Samford (’24, right) will start in the Chemistry PhD program at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Best of luck to John and Justin!

In August 2023, student researchers in the Chemistry Department attended the American Chemical Society National Meeting. Six USF undergraduate students presented posters of their research. Check out the Research page for more details.

Isabella Escutia (’25) is a recipient of the Clare Boothe Luce Undergraduate Scholarship. This two-year scholarship supports undergraduate female students in STEM. Izzy is currently conducting research in Professor Herman Nikolayevskiy’s lab. Bravo, Izzy!

Njeri Forester (‘26) and John Guardado (’23) have been recognized as American Chemical Society Scholars. This distinction comes with a $5,000 scholarship in support of tuition and fees. Congratulations to Njeri and John!

Professor Amrita Bhattacharyya has received a one-million-dollar grant from the Department of Energy for her project entitled “Deciphering the Role of Anaerobic Microsites for Hot Spot/Hot Moment Dynamics of Metal Redox Chemistry and Methane Emissions within Riverine Floodplains.” With collaborators from USF (Amalia Kokkinaki), CSU East Bay, and SLAC, Dr. Bhattacharyya and her research students will investigate metal redox processes and methane emissions at terrestrial-aquatic interfaces.