By Dave Melanson

This project will combine graduate student training with cutting-edge research in mine land remediation, water treatment, crop production and power generation and will help address the need for innovators in food, energy and water systems.

A multidisciplinary University of Kentucky team will provide unique graduate educational opportunities in food, energy and water systems, thanks to a new National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship (NRT) grant.

This UK-based NRT, which is titled IN FElloWS, and an Academy of Innovators at the Nexus of Food, Energy and Water Systems, will be led by Mark Crocker, associate director at the UK Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) and a professor in UK’s College of Arts & Sciences

The Einstein Foundation of Berlin (Germany) has awarded an Einstein Visiting Fellowship to Prof. Anne-Frances Miller (Department of Chemistry) to support collaborative research taking place in Berlin.  In search of insight as to how new materials and devices can make more versatile and efficient use of energy, Prof. Miller has been studying enzymes from ancient lineages of bacteria.  While on sabbatical two years ago, she initiated high-level computations and spectroscopic studies to complement her biochemical work, funded by the N.S.F. That work has now caught the attention of a wider community, and Miller has won a fellowship to spend summers in Berlin extending her studies.  This provides an unparalleled opportunity to exploit cutting edge capabilities in Berlin and add scientific personnel to the project under her direction and that of her collaborator, Prof.

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 13, 2019) — University of Kentucky Chemistry Professor Marcelo Guzman has received a prestigious three-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for research, education and outreach efforts in the field of environmental and atmospheric chemistry.

The $461,000 project, titled "Heterogeneous Aging Mechanisms of Combustion and Biomass Burning Emissions," will focus on how gases, such as ozone, react with pollutants emitted from power plants and forest fires.

"My work with environmental chemistry focuses on the interaction of gases with organic compounds present in low water activity environments such as the atmospheric aerosol, clouds and fog," Guzman said. "Both types of

By Beth Goins

STEM – science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – is not silent. It certainly isn’t still or stoic.

That much becomes clear within a few minutes of visiting See Blue STEM Camp, Robotics Camp, and Chem Camp at the University of Kentucky in June. The hallowed halls of higher education, normally fairly quiet in the lull between semesters, ring with excitement as hundreds of elementary, middle, and high school students become budding engineers, mathematicians, chemists, scientists and computer programmers.

Exclamations such as “Wow!” “Oh no!” or “Yay!” echo from room to room, punctuating evolving stories of problem-solving, teamwork and perseverance through trial and error. In many rooms, students are at work with heads leaning in together to get a closer look at a tablet, circuit component, crayfish, microscope

By Jenny Wells

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 19, 2019) — Saturday, July 20, 2019, will mark 50 years since human beings first landed and walked on the surface of the moon. Nearly 650 million people around the world watched as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped down from the lunar module and left their footprints on the lunar surface. It was described by "CBS Evening News" anchor Walter Cronkite as "the greatest adventure" in man’s history, and remains one of humankind’s greatest symbols of achievement.

As the United States and the world reflect on this historic moment, the University of Kentucky is remembering its own people who played important roles in making it happen. From working on the Saturn V rocket, to designing the parachutes that deployed when the astronauts returned, to

By Autumn Miller

The University of Kentucky is always looking for ways to ensure students have access to the best course material. With textbook prices on the rise, some students have decided to forgo buying textbooks. As an active contributor to student success, the UK Libraries started the Alternative Textbook Grant Program in 2016 to help faculty offer free or affordable course material. For the upcoming year, 10 grants are being awarded.

The Alternative Textbook Grant Program provides UK instructors with assistance in finding or creating educational material that best suits their pedagogical needs and effectively reduces their students’ financial burdens.

By Lindsey Piercy

Although students are excited to start their journey in higher education, there is often a feeling of apprehension. One of the most anxiety-producing tasks? Registering for classes.

Choosing from a variety of professors, scheduling your courses and getting enough credit hours can be extremely stressful. That's why the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky has spent the last three years rethinking and restructuring the process.

Dean Mark Kornbluh takes great pride in offering innovative core classes — courses that were originally designed with freshmen in mind. “We want to make sure our incoming students start their college career on the right foot, with all

By Lori Adams

The University of Kentucky has released its Dean's List for the spring 2019 semester. A total of 6,562 students were recognized for their outstanding academic performance. 

To make a Dean’s List in one of the UK colleges, a student must earn a grade-point average of 3.6 or higher and must have earned 12 credits or more in that semester, excluding credits earned in pass-fail classes. Some UK colleges require a 3.5 GPA to make the Dean’s List.

The full Dean's List can be accessed by visiting: www.uky.edu/PR/News/DeansList/.

The University of Kentucky is increasingly the first choice for students, faculty and staff to pursue their passions and their professional goals. In the last two years, Forbes has named UK among the best employers for diversity and

By Madison Dyment

The following article appears in the spring 2019 edition of Ampersand, the UK College of Arts and Sciences magazine. Check out the full issue here.

UK Chemistry's fab lab is a hands-on laboratory extending from the materials chemistry track. The progressive technology allows students to gain practical experience creating materials and models used in modern devices. Photo by R. Wayne Cross.

The "fab" in the University of Kentucky's new "fab lab" may stand for fabrication, but a quick trip inside reveals technology and work that is nothing short of fabulous. Now in its second semester of operation, the fab lab is a hands-on laboratory extending from the materials chemistry track. The lab is offered as a course for UK chemistry students looking to experience hands-

By Whitney Hale

Lewis Honors College member Angela Jones, of Attica, New York, is a junior majoring in biology and chemistry.

The University of Kentucky Office of Nationally Competitive Awards has announced that juniors Angela Jones and Tom Shelton and senior Eura Shin have been awarded Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships. The three UK students are among 496 students nationwide selected to receive the 2019 Goldwater Scholarship.

This year's Goldwater Scholars were selected based on academic merit from a field of 1,223 mathematics, science and engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of 443 of the nation's colleges and universities.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program

By Jennifer T. Allen

The following article appears in the spring 2019 edition of Ampersand, the UK College of Arts and Sciences magazine. Read more here.

For the last 10 years, Edith (Phoebe) Glazer, an associate professor of biological chemistry in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, has focused on creating new cancer therapies. As an inorganic chemist, she knows there is both a good and bad history of inorganic chemistry in cancer therapies. Drugs made from platinum are effective and successful. Cisplatin remains one of the most commonly used chemotherapy drugs, but Glazer says there hasn’t been a significantly better inorganic drug produced in the cancer field in the last 30 years. She is working hard to remedy that and develop a research platform where

Prof. Anne-Frances Miller has been named the 2019 recipient of the William E. Lyons Award, co-sponsored by the University of Kentucky’s Martin School of Public Policy and Administration and the Department of Political Science in the College of Arts and Sciences. This award is given each year to an individual associated with the university who has given outstanding service to UK, the community or the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

The award is named in honor of William (Bill) E. Lyons, former professor of political science and public administrator, who during his tenure at UK, also served as director of the Martin School and chair of the Department of Political

The Department of Chemistry would like to congratulate the following winners from this year’s Regional Undergraduate Poster Competition.

First Place : Allison Lane – University of Kentucky, Butterfield Group

Second Place: Julie Simon  – Indiana University

Honorable Mentions:

·         Christian Powell – University of Kentucky, DeRouchey Group

·         Taylor Secrest  – Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

·         Jonathan Nelson – University of Kentucky, Graham Group

Photos from this year’s Regional Undergraduate Poster Competition can be found, here: 

By Jenny Wells

Travis (TJ) Schuyler (left) with Gary Pundsack, CEO of Stratodynamics Inc., hold the HiDRON glider. Schuyler, with UK chemistry Professor Marcelo Guzman, engineered the atmospheric-sensing equipment that was integrated into the glider.

A University of Kentucky doctoral student and chemistry professor have measured environmental variables during high-altitude, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flights for the first time, reaching a better understanding of meteorological conditions to enable the next generation of weather forecasting models.

Travis Schuyler, a doctoral candidate in the UK Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts & Sciences, working with Marcelo Guzman, built a system for

Researchers from the University of Kentucky departments of Chemistry, Food Science, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering (BAE), as well as the Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) were recently awarded funding from the UK Sustainability Challenge Grant program in order to demonstrate an integrated approach to replace coal and petroleum-generated products with sustainable, biomass-based products. Ideally, the research will lead to jobs for rural Kentuckians suffering from the slowing coal industry as well as help the United States reduce its dependence on foreign oil.

The team, led by Drs. Justin Mobley (Chemistry) and Rachel Schendel (Food Science), has partnered with Buffalo Trace Distillery in order to exhaustively utilize agricultural residues (corn stover and spent distillers grains) generated by Kentucky’s bourbon industry and produce value-added

By Carol Lea Spence

The University of Kentucky is hosting the third annual Expanding Your Horizons Conference for middle school girls and their parents or guardians from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EDT Saturday, April 20. This day of hands-on workshops will inform young Kentucky girls and their parents about exciting career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Women continue to be underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, and they hold a disproportionately low share of STEM undergraduate degrees, particularly in engineering, according to a study from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“Many higher education institutions like UK struggle against the problem of poor retention of female undergraduates in a lot of science, engineering and math majors,” said Ellen Crocker, assistant professor in the

UK CAER's Jesse Thompson (left) and Ayo Omosebi (right) will be developing a system that may offer a viable option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 4, 2019) — The University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) has received an $800,000 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant to turn carbon dioxide (CO2) into valuable products.

Jesse Thompson, a UK CAER research program manager and adjunct faculty member in the UK Department of Chemistry, and Ayo Omosebi, a UK CAER senior research engineer, will be developing a system that may offer a viable option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants. James Landon, a UK CAER principal research engineer, and Kunlei Liu, UK CAER associate director of research, are also part of the project

By Jenny Wells

The University of Kentucky Chemistry-Physics Building is getting a much-needed transformation.

The central campus staple is currently undergoing a two-phase construction project that will result in a renovation of the third floor, as well as a completely new exterior façade of the building, including a three-story entrance/atrium.

The first phase of the transformation — the third floor renovation — is already underway, and will produce 15 research labs, plus support spaces, equipment spaces and offices. The second phase will bring a new exterior façade, which will include a replacement of the building exterior and roof; construction of a new stair tower, a freight elevator, a new loading dock and entrance additions; and mechanical upgrades in the penthouse.

"When the renovation is complete, this building will be a more pleasant, open

Travis J. Schuyler and Marcelo I. Guzman Contribute the First Stratospheric Measurements with an Innovative Drone Glider.

Photo by Travis J. Schuyler: Sensor System to be mounted into the HiDRON.

Recent work by members of the Department of Chemistry has measured environmental variables during high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) flights. The project goal is to reach a better understanding of meteorological conditions in the upper troposphere and the stratosphere to enable the next generation of weather forecasting models. In order to accurately sample atmospheric weather conditions in the stratosphere, the project has designed a sensor system integrated into a high-altitude glider, called the HiDRON. The HiDRON is a high-altitude in-situ measurement platform developed by earth observation company, Stratodynamics Aviation

The Department of Chemistry is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Justin Mobley and Dr. Jesse Thompson as Adjunct Faculty at the level of Assistant Professor. 

Dr. Justin Mobley is a native of Kentucky who earned a B.S. in Chemistry at Western Kentucky University.  He graduated from the WKU Honors College, completing a capstone project entitled “Synthetic study of para-substituted 5,6-fused ring pyridazines.”  Dr. Mobley completed his Ph.D. at UKy in 2016 under the guidance of Prof. Mark Crocker at the Center for Applied Energy Research (UK-CAER), where he studied oxidative catalytic lignin depolymerization. He went on to a Post-Doc at the University of Wisconsin-Madison under Prof. John Ralph where he studied lignin utilization as well as biomass characterization using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy.  In October of 2017, Dr. Mobley joined