Jonathan Barnes, PhD, was a student at UK from 2000 to 2006, earning both BS and MS degrees in Chemistry.  Jonathan is now an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis (link to his website). Here Jonathan answers some questions about his time at UK and offers some advice to current and future chemistry students. 

This interview is part of a series conducted by the department called, “UK Chemistry Alumni: Where Are They Now?” This interview was coordinated by Dr. Robert Grossman.

Why did you choose UK for your undergraduate studies?

I chose UK to pursue my undergraduate studies because I thought I wanted to go to medical school and I knew UK’s med school was quite good.  I also grew up a huge Kentucky basketball fan, so I

Professors Anne-Frances Miller, Susan Odom, and Dong-Sheng Yang have received four new grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF).  These highly-competitive awards will fund research projects on electron transfer in flavoproteins (Miller), high potential redox couples (Odom), high concentration electrolytes (Odom), and spectroscopy of transient organometallic complexes (Yang).

Prof. Miller has a strong history of studying enzymatic redox catalysis, including the enzymes superoxide dismutase and nitroreductase. A major portion of Miller’s research involves enzyme engineering, focusing on rational design of flavoenzymes to modify their electronic characteristics. Miller explains, “Just as electrical wires carry power to every room in our houses, cells have dedicated proteins carrying a current of electrons from reactions

Assistant Professor in Chemistry

Department of Chemistry

University of Kentucky

The Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky is seeking candidates for a tenure-track assistant professor faculty position to start Fall 2019.  We encourage candidates with research in the broad areas of biological chemistry or materials chemistry, as well as the ability to take advantage of collaborative opportunities in the Department and on-campus.  A Ph.D. in Chemistry or a related field and postdoctoral experience (minimum of six months) is required.

Interested applicants should apply online at: http://ukjobs.uky.edu/postings/203079. Applicants must include the following: 1) CV, 2) Research Prospectus, including startup budget estimate

This text was lifted from the following article: http://www.caer.uky.edu/caerblog/post/2018/10/01/Burt-Davis-Legendary-U…

Burtron H. “Burt” Davis, a University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research investigator and one of the most revered Fischer-Tropsch synthesis researchers in the world, passed away Friday, September 28 in Lexington, Kentucky. Service details can be found here: http://www.johnsonsfuneralhome.com/book-of-memories/3619109/Davis-Burtron/obituary.php. 

Born in Points, West Virginia, Dr. Davis graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from West Virginia University in 1959 before earning a master’s degree from St. Joseph’s College

By Dave Melanson

Yang Song, a doctoral student in the UK Department of Chemistry and researcher in at the UK Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER), helped lead the research effort on this project.

When Mark Crocker and the biofuels research team at the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) began their work to convert lignin into biofuels and chemicals, some called it a biofuels gold rush.

Little did anyone know how important gold would become to the actual research.

Utilizing a gold-based catalytic system developed in CAER’s Biofuels and Environmental Catalysis Laboratory, the center’s researchers have discovered a method to turn lignin into valuable aromatic compounds. The

Alexis Eugene's (Guzman group) NASA Graduate Fellowship on "Contribution of Model Aqueous Aerosol Formation from 2-Oxocarboxylic Acids to Earth’s Radiation Balance" was renewed. Congratulations, Alexis!

By Gail Hairston

The University of Kentucky Alumni Association — with a committee chaired by UK Associate Provost for Faculty Advancement G.T. Lineberry — regularly honors outstanding UK faculty members with the UK Alumni Professorship Award.

This year, the honors went to Dibakar (D.B.) Bhattacharyya of the College of Engineering’s Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering; D. Allan Butterfield of the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Chemistry; Seth DeBolt of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment’s Department of Horticulture; Brent Seales of the College of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science; and Susan S. 

Prof Mark Crocker's research on the catalytic oxidative depolymerisation of lignin, which could make cellulosic ethanol biofuels commercially viable, was featured in Chemistry World in an article titled "Gold Rush for Lignin Conversion."  Read the article here: https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/gold-rush-for-lignin-conversion/300…

Congratulations to Prof. Steve Yates (University of Kentucky), recipient of the 2018 W. Frank Kinard Distinguished Service Award. Steve will receive his award at the NUCL business meeting during the ACS Fall National Meeting in Boston.

Prof. Yates has been a member of the American Chemical Society since 1971. In the Division of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology (NUCL), he has played an active role division leadership. Prof. Yates held executive roles for 12 years and was the chair during 1992. He advocated for support and recognition of graduate nuclear and radiochemistry programs and served as the editor of an NUCL recruiting brochure during the mid-1980s. He has contributed to the extremely important San Jose and Brookhaven summer schools on nuclear and radiochemistry for undergraduates, both as an instructor and organizer, since 1984. He has campaigned for the return of the

By Dave Melanson

Dave Eaton (right) a research scientist at UK's Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER), mentors Todd Prater, an elementary school student from Floyd County, Kentucky.

At a quick glance, one might not think Dave Eaton and Todd Prater would have a whole lot in common.

Eaton, an Owensboro, Kentucky, native who earned his doctoral degree in chemistry from the University of Kentucky Department of Chemistry, is the consummate, professional researcher. Carbon is his game, and the UK Center for Applied Energy Research’s (CAER)laboratories is his home away from home. Whether he is working on carbon fiber, carbon nanotubes, activated carbon or energy storage applications, Eaton is constantly pushing the boundaries of discovery.

Adapted from the original article by Lindsey Piercy published in UKNOW

LEXINGTON, Ky.​ (Aug.3, 2018) — Could unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), otherwise known as drones, revolutionize weather forecasting? The University of Kentucky continues to conduct groundbreaking research that suggests they could. 

In 2015, a four-university interdisciplinary team began developing small, affordable UAS to measure wind turbulence, atmospheric chemistry, soil moisture and thermodynamic parameters to better understand severe storm formation. The project, known as CLOUD-MAP for "Collaboration Leading Operational UAS Development for Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics," was awarded through the National Science Foundation (NSF) Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

"Having

Graduate Student Anthony Petty received an award for Best Poster at the Gordon Conference on Electronic Processes in Organic Materials. The conference, held in Tuscany, spanned a range of topics at the frontier of organic and hybrid electronics and optoelectronics. Mr. Petty’s poster was titled “The design and synthesis of high performance OFET materials through the crystal engineering of a general aromatic core”.  Mr. Petty is a graduate student in the Anthony group at UK.

Lexington, KY, (July 25, 2018) — Atmospheric particles with high water content also known as aerosol droplets are widely found on Earth and play a significant role in the planetary chemistry and meteorology. These particles are generally produced in relatively clean air after emissions of gases that nucleate and condense. Many times this process is dominated by organic acids that have been observed in heavily polluted cities. A challenging matter that has recently attracted the interest of many experts is the unknown mechanism by which organic carboxylic acids dissolve from the gas phase into such aqueous particles. In the new work by Prof. Marcelo Guzman and his students Alexis Eugene and Elizabeth Pillar at the University of Kentucky in collaboration with A.J. Colussi from Caltech, micrometer-sized droplets were used to show that acetic acid and pyruvic acid behave as

Postdoctoral scholar Dr. Dmytro Havrylyuk received an award for the poster “Ru(II) CYP1B1 Inhibitor Prodrugs with Enhanced Potency” at the 2018 Metals in Medicine, Gordon Research Conference. The project was performed in collaboration with Kimberly Stevens and Catherine A. Denning in the laboratories of Dr. David K. Heidary and Prof. Edith C. Glazer

Dr. Havrylyuk described the development of highly potent and selective inhibitors of Cytochrome P450 1B1 (CYP1B1), an enzyme that is involved in cancer initiation, progression, and resistance to treatment. CYP1B1 is overexpressed in a wide variety of human tumors, giving it the title of “universal tumor antigen”. The enzyme catalyzes the 4-hydroxylation of 17β-estradiol to form a 3,4-quinone, which reacts with DNA, inducing mutation. CYP1B1 is also implicated in cancer

Congratulations to Alysia Kohlbrand who received a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship from UK’s Chellgren Center. This award will support Alysia to work with Drs. Edith (Phoebe) Glazer and David Heidary in the Chemistry Department, to study the effects of small molecule inhibitors on Nitric Oxide Synthase. These enzymes are used in the body to catalyze the production of nitric oxide (NO), an important signaling molecule which plays a central role in human biology. Using engineered cell lines containing fluorescent tags, Kohlbrand will study the half life of NOS in the presence of inhibitors using live cell confocal microscopy, which is particularly useful for this study because it allows for images to be taken over a long period of time without killing the cells, and creating clear, detailed images.

PhD student Namal Wanninayake received an award for first place for his poster at the 2018 North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Meeting.

NAMS is a professional society that promotes membrane science and technology, ranging from fundamental studies of membrane material science to process application and development. This year NAMS conference was hosted by The University of Kentucky and King Abdullah University of Science & Technology in Lexington, KY. 

http://www.membranes.org/2018/index.html

As a part of the program, the

This article is part of a series of articles on “UK Chemistry Alumni: Where Are They Now?”  Here we feature former undergraduate Steven Chapman, class of 2016, who is now a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Steven's research at UW focuses on improving methodology in photocatalysis for asymmetric synthesis. Here Steven answers some questions about his current research, experiences at UK, and provides some advice for current undergraduates.

Could you tell us about your research project at the University of Wisconsin?

The focus of our lab is the development of photocatalytic methodology for asymmetric synthesis using visible light. Photochemical synthetic methods provide a complementary approach to traditional methods because the substrate’s primary reactivity occurs from its excited state rather than its ground state. My project

By Olivia Ramirez

Photo Courtesy of UK Athletics | Dr. Robert Hosey with a student athlete.

When an athlete takes a hard hit or fall, one of the first things that comes to the minds of coaches, athletic trainers, team physicians and spectators is the risk of concussion. Protocols are in place to assess if an athlete has sustained a concussion or if they can be cleared to go back into the game. However, there is some ambiguity between physicians as to what constitutes a concussion.

That's why over the next three years and with a nearly $1 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, researchers at the University of Kentucky are studying whether a rapid blood test could serve as another means of support in diagnosing concussion.

Darius Allen Shariaty, class of 2016, now works at Miltech UV International in Stevensville, MD. Allen's undergraduate research at UK focused on new binders for silicon anodes in lithium-ion batteries.  In addition to a patent application, his work recently led to a publication in Journal of the Electrochemical Society on which he is the first author. At Miltech, Allen works to develop polymer binders using UV curing methods.

This interview is part of a series conducted by the department called, “UK Chemistry Alumni: Where Are They Now?” This interview was coordinated by Dr. Susan Odom.

What made you decide to apply to UK? To accept the offer for admission?   

I enrolled at UK in the middle of a transition period of my life. At the time, I was a member of touring

This May we celebrate and recognize the career of Professor Dennis Clouthier, who is retiring from UK after over thirty years of teaching, research, and service to our university community. While it is impossible to quantify Clouthier’s impact on academic and scientific communities, here an attempt is made to highlight some of his most notable accomplishments.  

Clouthier is well known for his pioneering work in molecular spectroscopy, using high-powered lasers to examine reactive intermediates that are particularly difficult to study. His pioneering work has led to the development of new laboratory methods, such as pyrolysis jet spectroscopy, and has significant implications for fields as diverse as understanding the fabric of the cosmos and reducing computer chip impurities.

As a teenager, Clouthier dreamed of making a career out of doing laser light shows for rock