Bringing you the latest news from students, faculty, and alumni
Thank you to Chris Connelly ’15 for donating his time and expertise in meeting with students in the Analytical Chemistry class at Emmanuel College yesterday! Chris has a lot of experience and insight on how to get started in the biotech and big pharma industry in Boston. He also shared the importance of analytical chemistry in his daily work. Guest speakers are fantastic and I’m always looking for more volunteers. Thanks...
The department is excited to announce a new course being offered in Fall 2021 called the Chemistry of Brewing. Students will have the opportunity to learn about the impressive amount of chemistry that goes into the process of brewing – from water chemistry to sugars to yeast biochemistry there’s a lot to cover. There’s also amazing biology, physics, and engineering involved making this a multi-disciplinary course. Now add in the business, economics, history, political science, and aesthetics involved and there’s really a lot to learn. This course is designed for students with no prior college-level science, so all are welcome. It is not fitting as an elective for the chemistry major, but is a fun general elective course....
The Department is excited to congratulate Dr. Carley Henderson on her recent promotion to Senior Lecturer. Dr. Henderson has been teaching at Emmanuel College since 2013 and has brought so much to the development of the organic chemistry lecture and lab over the years. She has worked with students on amazing projects in Advanced Chemical Synthesis, such as the synthesis of the flavor components of strawberries, and has introduced many liberal arts students to the joy of chemistry in Chemistry of Art and Chemistry of Everyday Life. She has been a leader in our department and a great resource for students groups including the Chemistry Club and the Science Living Learning Community (SLLC). Congratulations Dr....
A new course was offered last Spring 2020 in the Department of Chemistry and Physics called Seminar in Chemistry. Variations on this course have been taught in the past in our department – the focus on ethics, scientific writing, and the application of chemistry is so essential to our major – but it had never been taught with a theme of social justice. In fact, chemistry and social justice are two areas that have not previously been put together to any great extent in chemistry education, though some examples do exist. The students in the course, with their professor Dr. Aren Gerdon, set out to examine the connection and came up with some inspiring examples. This course and the connection between chemistry and social justice was recently described in the Journal of Chemical Education (click to read the abstract). Connecting Chemistry to Social Justice in a Seminar Course for Chemistry Majors This work highlights something unique about Emmanuel College and the Department of Chemistry and Physics. We can and want to use amazing and in-depth chemistry to make a...
The Department of Chemistry and Physics would like to send a very happy welcome to new members of our department, Lecturer Dr. Jessica Bocanegra and Visiting Assistant Professor Dr. Juan Duchimaza Heredia! We are excited for all that they bring to our department and to Emmanuel College. Please join us in helping them to feel at home in the WSC! Dr. Juan Duchimaza Heredia earned his PhD in Physical Chemistry at Iowa State University after double-majoring in Chemistry and Computer Science at Ithaca College. He completed postdoctoral research in computational physical chemistry at Boston University and served as a Science Teacher/Mentor at Fusion Academy in Newton, MA. Dr. Heredia has a special interest in hiking (seeing nature), filling out crossword puzzles, and reading comics. This fall semester Dr. Heredia will be teaching Physical Chemistry lecture and lab as well as Principles of Chemistry lab. Dr. Jessica Bocanegra earned her PhD in Organic Chemistry at the University of Vermont after completing an ACS-certified major in Chemistry at The College of New Jersey. She has extensive...
The Department of Chemistry and Physics, especially the lab managers, faculty, student workers, and IAs, would like to say a sad farewell and a hearty congratulations to Darren Cornell! Darren has been the Assistant Lab Manager in our department for almost four years and has kept us all going strong in every kind of lab and tech situation imaginable. Darren recently finished his MS in Management from Emmanuel College and we are thrilled that he has a new position in compound management at Sanofi Genzyme. Since he will only be across the river in Cambridge, we expect to see Darren on campus again soon. Best of chemistry in your new position and congrats...