Research Opportunities
Research oppotunities are available to chemistry students throughout the year, especially in the summer. Students have participated in summer research programs at Luther and at institutions such as Northwestern University, the University of Iowa, the University of Georgia, the University of Minnesota, Montana State University and Iowa State University. Through these programs, students can experience specific facets of chemistry research that often help them direct their careers after graduation. These programs also provide students with valuable contacts in the science community.
The following is a listing of chemistry professors and their research interests:
| Biodegradable polyesters and polyolefins derived from agricultural products. | |
| The development of optically active transition metal catalysts for the production of novel polymers. Specifically, we are targeting environmentally-friendly polymers derived from non-petrochemical feedstocks. Examples include biodegradable polyesters and polyolefins derived from agricultural products such as corn and fatty acids, respecively. | |
| Correlation of optical spectroscopies to molecular structure; Laser spectroscopy. | |
| Principle investigations have used pulsed-lasers, circular dichroism, and flurescence energy transfer to determine protein conformations. | |
| Lipid Research | |
| The metabolism and intracellular transport of lipids are two areas of biochemistry that especially interest me. With the use of fluorescent analogs of cholesterol and sphingolipids, I am investigating how cells internalize and modify these molecules. My work involves both model liposome-membranes as well as fluorescent microscopy on cultured cells to answer biochemical questions pertaining to the mechanisms of these processes. The majority of my training in this field came from my postdoctoral experience in the Laboratory of Dr. Fred Schroeder (1988-1991), currently at Texas A&M and a recent sabbatical from Luther College (2000-2001) in the laboratory of Dr. Richard Pagano of the Mayo Clinic. | |
| See http://faculty.luther.edu/~mertzecl/resear.htm | |
| ESR spectroscopy of free radical intermediaes in biological systems; laser spectroscopy. | |
| Most of my research since graduate school has involved the use of electron spin resonance to study free radical intermediates in the metabolism of xenobiotics. I collaborate with a chemist at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in North Carolina which is a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). I have also spent a sabbatical at Northwestern University where I learned about Raman spectroscopy. At Luther College I have been working with our laser spectroscopy instrumentation to develop fluorescence and Raman experiments to use in upper level courses. | |
| Host-guest Supramolecular photochemistry and photophysics (with application to PhotoDynamic Therapy) |
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| We are interested in studying how the structure of a photochemical probe (or guest) can affect its ability to interact with a biologically relevant supramolecular structure (ie: host). More specifically we are currently studying porphyrin probes and how they interact with protein solutions and vesicles (cell mimics), by using various fluorescence spectroscopy techniques. Porphyrins are the current leading candidates for new photodynamic drug therapies (PDT), and our basic research helps explain how structural features help or hinder various drug candidates' abilities to interact with key biological components. |
Research Presentations
Images from recent poster presentations: (click on the thumbnails for larger images)
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NCUR Meeting at Salisbury University in Maryland Spring 2008 Stephanie Lim ('09) Research done at Luther College |
NCUR Meeting at Salisbury University in Maryland |
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ACS Meeting in New Orleans |
ACS Meeting in New Orleans Spring 2008 Carson Bruns ('08) Research done at Chulabhorn Research Institute, Bangkok Thailand |
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Midstates Meeting in Chicago - Fall 2007 (from left to right) Alison Douglas ('09) Janet Brenton ('09) Research done at Luther College |
Midstates Meeting in Chicago - Fall 2007 Britta Anderson ('08) Research done at The University of Arizona |
Midstates Meeting in Chicago - Fall 2007 Jay Dicke ('08) Research done at The University of Georgia |
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ACS Meeting in Chicago - Spring 2007 |
ACS Meeting in Chicago - Spring 2007 (from left to right) Paul Stellmacher ('07) Joan Widin ('07) Not pictured - Jordan Stracke ('08) Research done at the University of Minnesota |
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ACS Meeting in Atlanta - Spring 2006 |
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