SOAS (First Field Samples!)

Earlier this summer during the months of June and July, we were fortunate to get to participate in the SOAS (Southern Oxidant and Aerosol Study) field campaign in Centreville, Alabama. This field campaign was one of the largest in history, comprising hundreds of researchers from dozens of universities across the United States and around the world. These research scientists gathered to study and advance our understanding of climate change, aerosols, emissions, and the relation between natural and human-related impacts on these topics.

SEM image of aerosol particles 

Besides simply enjoying the beautiful forested region and the benefits of a peanut butter and jelly station, Dr. Andrew Ault and undergraduate Victor Nhliziyo from Tuskegee collected aerosol samples daily. After the arrival of a long-awaited freezer to store the collected samples, the aerosol samples were transported up to Ann Arbor for analysis. Using one of the single-particle techniques to analyze these micro and nano-sized aerosol samples, SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) (a technique used to look at really, really small stuff), our first images were captured!

Zoomed in SEM image of aerosol particles

Oxygen content

First and foremost, we were excited to see that our substrates did indeed have particles on them. Whew! It was also interesting to note the variety of particle sizes and shapes present; we definitely have our work cut out for us studying all these particles! Taking a closer look at some of the particles, we did some elemental mapping to determine their elemental composition. Besides just the pretty colors, looking at these maps can be used to determine what was floating around in the air.

Aluminum content

Carbon content

Sodium content

Vaughan Symposium

Once every year, the Department of Chemistry's graduate student council hosts the Vaughan Symposium, a department wide event in which over a hundred chemistry graduate students present posters of their research. The poster presentations are a way for students to get their projects seen by other students and professors with the hope that possible collaborations could arise. Additionally, the DOW Chemical Company sponsored the symposium and awarded over twenty $400 travel grants to the students with the best posters and presentations. Each poster was graded by two other graduate students and at least one faculty. One graduate student from each cluster (Materials, Organic, Inorganic, Analytical, Physical, and ChemBio) also gave a thirty minute talk on their research. There were several judges for the talks, and the highest graded talk won a $800 travel grant. The 2nd and 3rd placed talks each won a $400 travel grant. In total, DOW supplied over $10,000 to students this year.

Dr. Jerzy Klosin

Dr. Andrei Tokmakoff

The symposium also invited two well known chemists to give presentations on their research. The first keynote presentation early in the morning was given by Jerzy Klosin, a Dow Core R&D Fellow. Dr. Klosin discussed his research in the discovery and development of molecular catalysts for olefin polymerization with tunable reactivity toward alpha-olefins. The second, afternoon keynote speaker was Dr. Andrei Tokmakoff from the University of Chicago, whose talk was titled: Tautomerism in DNA and mechanisms of lethal mutagenesis: A study using 2D IR spectroscopy.

Dr. Victor C. Vaughan

The Vaughan Symposium is named in honor of Victor Clarence Vaughan (1851-1929), one of the first students to graduate from the University of Michigan with a Ph.D. in Chemistry. Vaughan graduated in 1876, and his dissertation is entitled "Quantitative Separation of Arsenic From Each of The Metals Precipitated by Hydrogen-Sulphide in Acid Solution." Dr. Vaughan also earned an M.D. from Michigan in 1878 and later served as dean of the Medical School from 1891-1921. He taught physiological and pathological chemistry, hygiene, bacteriology, and therapeutics at Michigan, among other subjects, and served as the president of the American Medical Association from 1914 to 1915.




Everyone in both the Ault and Pratt labs presented posters at the symposium. While no one won a travel award, everyone did a spectacular job and created much interest among the department in the research projects of the two labs. 

Daniel Gardner (L) and Dr. Andy Ault (R)

Amy Bondy (R) and Dr. Andy Ault (L)

Matt Gunsch (L) and Dr. Kerri Pratt (R)

Rosina Ho Wu (L), Jillian Cellini (C) and Eric Boone (R)