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Research With FacultyChemistry majors at Chapman University are engaged in a variety of research activities with chemistry faculty that prepare them for graduate school, medical school or other careers in science, medicine, pharmacology or for careers in industry. Food Science and Nutrition undergraduate majors work with faculty on the annual food product development competition, while Masters students may engage in substantial research projects in food chemistry and irradiation chemistry. Some current research opportunities with faculty are described below.Dr Catherine D. Clark is an aquatic photochemist who measures the optical properties of dissolved organic matter and the kinetics and mechanism of reactions of compounds with sunlight. Her work focuses on the surface sunlit waters at local wetlands and beaches. Recent projects are focused on using the optical properties of humic substances produced from the degradation of plants to track the source of water inputs to highly polluted coastal sites, and hence identify sources of water pollution. Dr Warren De Bruyn is an atmospheric chemist who studies the levels and sources of trace gases in the atmosphere that impact global climate. He is particularly interested in gases over the oceans, and frequently travels on field trips and research cruises to measure trace gases in places like Hawaii, Guam and the equatorial Pacific Ocean. He uses primarily trace analytical techniques with GC/MS instruments. Dr Michael Griffin’s research focuses on signal transduction across a cell membrane. The goal of his work is to understand the molecular mechanisms by which cell surface receptors communicate with the inside of a cell. Genetically modified tissue culture cells are used to investigate receptor activated events using classical pharmacological techniques. He supervises students interested in medical research.
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Dr Christine Hughey’s research in environmental analytical chemistry focuses on how crude oil changes when it is accidentally released into the environment. Pollution by crude oil and petroleum products is an environmental concern in southern California as the area houses refineries, pipelines and storage/transportation facilities. Of particular interest, is the role of bacteria which degrade the oil by “eating” it. Compositional changes are monitored with the use of mass spectrometers housed at the National High Magnetic Field Lab (Tallahassee, FL) and at Chapman. Laboratory biodegradation studies are conducted to better understand biodegradation processes in the environment. Dr Christopher Kim is an environmental geochemist and our newest faculty member. He studies the ability of iron oxyhydroxide nanoparticles to remove heavy metals such as arsenic, copper, mercury, and zinc from solution. This has direct benefit to the cleanup of contaminated waters from abandoned mining regions. He is hoping to locate some regular field sampling sites near campus to look at metal concentrations in various soils and sediments. Dr Daniel Wellman’s research is in synthetic organic chemistry. Marine and fresh water environments are colored in part because of certain organic compounds dissolved in the water. Quinone moieties in these compounds are important electron transfer agents in the interactions with sunlight. His research involves the synthesis of model quinone compounds related to naturally occurring quinones. He developed a hypothesis that the quinone moieties originate from the natural quinones biochemically synthesized in animals and plants. |
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