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Summer Undergraduate Research Institute (SURI) 2025
Congratulations of to the Chemistry Department's seven SURI scholars. The SURI program supports 5 week long faculty-directed independent research projects and is one of the Office of Research and Sponsored programs flagship events. Poster and and short oral presentations are used to convey the results of their work. 2025 SURI Awardees (Advisors) and topics are
Katherine Drummond (Dr. Kolasinski), Spontaneous evolution of hydrogen peroxide from partially oxidized porous silicon
Shakyra Ford (Dr. Ganas), Microwave assisted synthesis of N-doped carbon quantum dots
Katherine Hayner (Dr. Pistos), Development of a LC-MS/MS method for the determination of fentanyl cutting agents in whole blood
Madelyne Salgado (Dr. Voras), Forensic analysis of a wounded book held in WCU special collections
Arabella Sawaked (Dr. Ganas), Sustainable synthesis of a nanodiamond: Cellulose aerogel composite material
Jillian Snyder (Dr. Kwiatkowski), Effects of alcohol and nicotine E-cigarette co-exposure on biochemical changes in developing mice
Devon Womack (Dr. Kwiatkowski), Effects of alcohol and nicotine co-exposure on serum triglycerides in developing mice and their microbiota
Dr. Chirdon awarded Petroleum Research Fund Grant
Dr. Danielle Chirdon has been awarded supplemental award to her American Chemical Society's Petroleum Research Fund grant. This grant will support her work in studying small molecule complexes in heterogeneous catalysts as announced in Chemical & Engineering News.
Science on Tap
Dr. Kolasinski spoke at Science on Tap, May 6th on What is a Chemical Bond? The presentation was followed by a lively round of questions from the audience, achieving one of its objectives of communicating science to a general audience. The organizers informed us that the WCU Chemistry Crew represented the largest ever student participation in all of the events they have held. A slightly shorter version of the talk is available to watch on YouTube. You can see how NBC News 10 reported on it here at this link.
Student Presentations at Pennsylvania Academy of Science
Chemistry students from Dr. Kwiatkowski’s lab presented their research at the 100th Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science in Harrisburg.
Talk Delivered in the Chemistry Department at Drexel University
Dr. Kolasinski spoke at Drexel University's Department of Chemistry, April 10th on Exploring the reactivity of porous silicon and silica surfaces. This talk featured not only recent results but also reviewed techniques for producing porous silicon that were developed at WCU (ReEtching and iMACE). WCU undergraduate researchers who worked on results discussed in this talk include Brett Barclay, Jacob Gogola, Nathan Gimbar, Juliana Hetzel, Jordan Kautzsch, Neil Slichter, Joseph Swanson, and Bret Unger
Dr. Kolasinski presents at Gordon Research Conference on Chemical Reactions at Surfaces
Dr. Kolasinski presented a poster on "Radical Surface Chemistry of Silicon Oxides" at the Gordon Research Conference on Chemical Reactions at Surfaces in Ventura, CA. The presentation featured results generated by undergraduate researchers Juliana Hetzel (now graduated), and Jordan Kautzsch, along with co-workers at Stanford University Yangie Li and Richard N. Zare.
Dr. Chirdon awarded PRF Grant
Dr. Danielle Chirdon has been awarded an Undergraduate New Investigator grant from the American Chemical Society's Petroleum Research Fund. This grant will support her work in valorizing CO2 petroleum byproduct.
Presentation at Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists
Student Tobias Dugger presented their research from Dr. Tom Kwiatkowski’s lab at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS) in Pittsburgh.
Colorful research yields publication for Dr. Chirdon
Dr. Danielle Chirdon published a research article in Synlett with collaborators at Mount St. Mary's University and former student Zach Morrow. The title of the article is "Synthesis of Triarylpyrylium Salts Using a Mild, Eco-friendly Route". As shown in the photo on the right, pyrylium salts are vibrantly colored organic dyes which have increasingly been considered as cheap, metal-free photocatalysts. Methods for synthesizing these compounds generally involve harsh acids or other hazardous conditions. This paper details a new, milder method of synthesis and optimized purification scheme that works in water so that environmentally unfriendly solvents can be avoided and the production of pyrylium dyes can be more sustainable and cost effective.
Dr. Pistos’s research students present at NEAFS meeting
Research students Tyler Vidal, Madelyn Salgado and Ashley Tinervia from Dr. Pistos's forensic toxicology lab, presented their research project to the 2024 Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists (NEAFS) annual meeting in Atlantic City, NJ.
Dr. Hu publishes results on a new fluorescence sensor
Dr. Jingqiu Hu along with WCU undergraduates Bryce Volker and Maima Bogar published their work titled "Selective fluorescence sensors for Cu2+ and Hg2+ ions using acridinium-polymer complex" in Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 2025, 326,125220-12523. The develop protocols that can detect sub-micromolar Cu2+ ions in acidic aqueous solutions or nanomolar Hg2+ ion in near neutral aqueous solutions.