NEW FACULTY MEMBERS CREATE GOOD CHEMISTRY
A new beginning of sorts for Old Dominion University's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry has translated into a windfall of grants.
Faculty members who have joined the department since last September have obtained or brought with them more than $1 million in funding, said Kenneth Brown, department chair.
"The way things are looking, we'll get even more," Brown said. "A lot of this is due to the synergy between the sciences. When you see these grant (applications) going out, they have the names of a lot of different people on them. That's been very helpful."
New chemistry faculty members include:
Kenneth Mopper, professor, came to Old Dominion from Washington State University in January. He has conducted biogeochemical research in Antarctica and transferred $400,000 in grant funds when he joined the faculty.
Mopper's research concerns how light affects the marine carbon cycle.
Robert Dias, assistant professor, arrived in September from the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif., where he was a postdoctoral fellow. His research interests include isotopic ratio determination and information on sources of organic material.
Dias is heading a proposal to the National Science Foundation for isotope ratio mass spectrometer equipment, which seeks approximately $180,000 in NSF funds that would match $160,000 from Old Dominion.
Ross Edwards, assistant professor, also joined the department in September from the Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State University. He studies ice-core chemistry and the atmospheric chemistry of remote regions.
He and Associate Professor John Donat are co-principal investigators on an NSF grant.
Elizabeth Minor, assistant professor, came to Old Dominion from Oregon State University and received $25,000 grant from the American Chemical Society (ACS). Minor has studied organic chemistry and uses mass spectrometry in her research.
Jennifer Radkiewicz, assistant professor, in 2000 completed her post-doctoral research at The Scripps Research Institute. She studies computational chemistry and received a $25,000 ACS grant.