Research in Chemistry

There is no better way to learn chemistry than to do chemistry — and there’s no better way to do chemistry than to do research. When you’re doing research, there is no "answer in the back of the book", your instructor doesn’t know the answer, and you can become the expert on your project. Those things you learn in your courses finally begin to really matter as you begin to be able to use them to solve chemical problems. You are also likely to have the opportunity to present your work to peers — either at the Student Research Symposium held annually on campus, or at a professional meeting.

Summer research students relax at a Cedar Rapids Kernels minor league baseball game.

One of the advantages of being at a school like Coe is the opportunity to do research with one of your professors. This can take place during the academic year — as an independent study — or during the summer. And don’t wait — you can start your first year at Coe! The best way to decide which route is best for you is identify an area in which you are interested and talk to that professor about the background and time necessary for a successful project. (Don’t be shy — we’re always happy to talk about our research interests!) Keep in mind that summer positions at Coe include pay, free housing, and a free course credit. While Coe’s Research Experience for Undergraduate site funds students from across the nation to come and do research at Coe, it is also open to Coe students.

• Biochemistry – Prof. Maria Dean
  The sea gives up some of its secrets to Dr. Dean and her students. Two sea worms, Phragmatopoma lapidosa (reef building worm) and Pectinaria Goldii (ice cream cone worm) make protective coverings using sand or coral and a bio cement produced by the sea worms. The cement is extracted and the inorganic and organic composition is analyzed using chemical and instrumental methods. The ultimate goal is to isolate and sequence the cement proteins and study the protein refolding process that is responsible for their strength and durability. Through a collaborative project with Dr. Tom Tauer in the Biology Department, the sequence analysis of the cement proteins is used to study the genes involved in the two worms and to express large quantities of the intact proteins for further study.
• Gas and Glass Chemistry- Prof. Steve Singleton
  Students in Dr. Singleton's group have the opportunity to study gas phase reactions relevant to atmospheric and combustion processes. These projects involve using a fast-flow reactor and laser spectroscopy system to study the kinetics and products of several important radical reactions. One project made available to students will study of reactions between excited atomic oxygen and fluorinated ethers. Dr. Singleton also collaborates with the Coe College physics department in studying the structure of glassy materials. This work involves using laser induced fluorescence and multi-photon ionization to learn about the structure of glasses. He also uses computational modelling techniques to further understand the mesostructure of these materials. This work has important applications in the design and properties of glass.
• Environmental Chemistry- Prof. Marty St. Clair
  Research opportunities with Dr. St. Clair are in the general area of environmental chemistry. An ongoing study investigates the nitrogen budget for the Cedar River between Cedar Rapids and Waterloo. Samples are analyzed for a variety of nitrogen and phosphorus containing species using both chromatographic and spectroscopic methods. Results are then correlated with watershed characteristics such as land use, soil type, and precipitation. Questions to be addressed in this project include the dynamics of nutrient interconversion, the significance of groundwater recharge versus surface flow, and the importance of non-nutrient species as biological limiting factors. A second project, in collaboration with Professor Michelle Scherer at the University of Iowa, investigates the fundamental mechanism of the reactions of reduced iron species in the environment. A wide variety of techniques – including voltammetry at a rotating disc electrode, Mössbauer spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy – are used to probe these reactions. A collaborative proposal from the University of Iowa, the University of Wisconsin, the University of California at Berkeley, and, yes, Coe College, recently received support from the Nanotechnology Interdisciplinary Research Team (NIRT) program at NSF for $1.4 million over the next three years.
• Organic and Organometallic Chemistry- Prof. Scott Stoudt
  Research in Dr. Stoudt's group is focused on the synthesis, structure and reactivity of hypervalent compounds, particularly those of the Group 14 elements. Representative projects include: synthesis of Ar₃CSnX₃ (X = F, Cl, Br, I) complexes and characterization using ¹H, ¹³C and ¹¹⁹Sn NMR; studies on the rotational dynamics (e.g. aryl ring "flipping") in Ar₃CSnX₃ compounds using dynamic NMR methods; synthesis and characterization of Ar₃CCCZ (Z = H, CF₃), a potential example of a compound featuring hypervalent carbon; and electronic structure calculations on Group 14 hypervalent species using semi-empirical and ab initio MO methods. Students participating in this research encounter many of chemistry's core topics including bonding theories, stereochemistry, "wet" synthesis and instrumental methods.

The First Year Research Experience at Coe

The First Year Research Experience (FYRE) at Coe College offers exceptionally qualified students the opportunity to begin their college careers by doing science. Students selected as FYRE Scholars will work side-by-side with Coe faculty and students on a wide variety of research problems ranging from atmospheric chemistry to forest ecology. FYRE Scholars will be a part of a nationally-recognized undergraduate science program and work with state-of-the-art scientific instrumentation.

Click here to explore the program.

Off-Campus Opportunities

Coe’s location in Cedar Rapids allows students the opportunity to explore careers which utilize chemistry in industry. Coe chemistry students have held internships or part-time jobs at:

• Cargill — an international provider of food and agricultural products and services with 124,000 employees in 59 countries
• Penford Products — a specialty starch manufacturer with research and development facilities here in Cedar Rapids
• Rockwell-Collins — one of the largest manufactuers of avionics equipment in the world.
• ADM — one of the worlds largest processors of corn, soybeans, and wheat

Students interested in health-related careers can take advantage of the proximity of Cedar Rapid’s two hospitals, Mercy and St. Luke’s, as well as literally dozens of medical offices with a 10-block radius of campus. A May Term course, Internships in Health and Science, offers opportunities for students to explore career opportunities.

There are also a number of possibilities for students to do research off-campus. The Oak Ridge Science Semester offers the opportunity to carry out research at a national laboratory during the fall semester of the junior or senior year. While Coe has its own Research Experience for Undergraduate site to which Coe students may apply there are also many other sites at research universities across the nation. You can search the sites for areas of interest, and begin applying midway through the fall semester.

Chemistry Club member Matt Bream prepares to demonstrate the "glowing pickle."

Be sure to participate in the Chemistry Club, Coe’s American Chemical Society student affiliate group. This group helps host speakers and organizes chemistry-related activities on- and off-campus. Recent events have included helping to host Science Fun Night, doing demonstrations at local elementary schools, participating in National Chemistry Week at Cedar Rapids’ Science Station, and taking road trips to visit graduate schools.