Department of Chemistry

chemistry, seminar, professor, inorganic, assistant, physical

Seattle, Washington — Pacific Time

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32nd Chemistry Awards Dinner

This event is by invitation only. If you are a current Chemistry student who has won an award from another UW department or from an external agency, please contact Diana Knight by January 15, 2025. If you are an alum of the Department of Chemistry and are interested in attending, please contact Diana Knight. The Department of Chemistry is committed to providing access and accommodation. To make a request connected to a disability or health condition for this event, contact us at chem59x@uw.edu. Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: chem59x@uw.edu. Event Types: Special Events. Wednesday, April 30, 2025, 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM.

Chemistry Education Seminar: Professor Ingo Eilks

Organic Seminars "Chemistry Education and Education for Sustainable Development: Justifications, Models, and Classroom Experiences" Professor Ingo Eilks - Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy, University of Bremen Host: Lutz Maibaum This talk explores key concepts of sustainable development and their implications for the future of chemistry education. It offers a rationale for reorienting the chemistry curriculum in alignment with the principles of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Various models for integrating ESD into chemistry instruction will be presented and exemplified through classroom practices at both lower and upper secondary levels. These cases demonstrate that merging the philosophical underpinnings of ESD with chemistry teaching holds significant promise for fostering students’ general educational competencies—particularly those relevant to building a more sustainable future. At the same time, this approach promotes a more nuanced and balanced perspective on the role of chemistry within societal and… Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Bagley Hall (BAG). Campus room: BAG 154. Accessibility Contact: chem59x@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Monday, May 5, 2025, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.

Paul C. Cross Endowed Lecture in Physical Chemistry: Prof. David Hu

Physical Seminars Paul C. Cross Endowed Lecture in Physical Chemistry, "Mosquitoes, earwax, and bird baths" Professor David Hu - School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Tech Host: Sarah Keller We show three recent experiments where we search for general principles in long-standing biological problems. First, we ask how mosquitoes target hosts for blood-feeding. We use 3D infrared cameras to track mosquito's flight. We use Bayesian inference to determine the mosquito's behavioral forces based on the direction, speed, and distance from the host. We then proceed into the mammal ear, where we find earwax has properties of both a fluid and a solid. These properties prevent the crawling and grooming of insects. Lastly, we discuss the mystery of bird-bathing, which may be involved in helping keep feathers fastened together. Dr. David Hu is Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Biology and Adjunct Professor of Physics at Georgia Institute of Technology. He earned degrees in mathematics and mechanical engineering from M.I.T.… Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Guggenheim Hall (GUG). Campus room: GUG 220. Accessibility Contact: chem59x@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Event sponsors: This lecture is supported by the Paul C. Cross Endowed Fund, dedicated to the memory of Professor Paul C. Cross by his family and many friends and colleagues in 2002. Prof. Cross was a distinguished physical chemist who led the effort to elevate the UW Department of Chemistry to national prominence when he served as professor and chair from 1949 to 1961. Prof. Cross promoted departmental growth through the expansion of the graduate program, his emphasis on the acquisition and construction of revolutionary… Tuesday, May 6, 2025, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM. For more info visit biosciences.gatech.edu.

Physical Chemistry Seminar: Prof. David Hu

Physical Seminars "Reversible organs, timed urine, and cubic poop" Professor David Hu - School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Tech Host: Sarah Keller In this talk we present scaling laws describing "things coming out" of animals. Reversible clothing has a long history, but animals were the first to use reversible organs to attack prey, spread poison, and eject toxins. We show experiments with marine bloodworms, which use pressure to evert their proboscis, and muscles to retract it. We next present scaling laws for release of liquid and solid waste from mammals, highlighting the time to urinate and the ability of wombats to produce cube-shaped poop. Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Chemistry Building (CHB). Campus room: CHB 102. Accessibility Contact: chem59x@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Wednesday, May 7, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM. For more info visit biosciences.gatech.edu.

Second Seattle Organic Chemistry Seminar: Professor Sarah Reisman

Organic Seminars "Necessity is the Mother of Invention: Natural Products and the Chemistry They Inspire" Professor Sarah Reisman - Chemistry, California Institute of Technology The chemical synthesis of natural products provides an exciting platform from which to conduct fundamental research in chemistry and biology. Our group is currently pursuing the synthesis of several structurally complex natural products, with a particular focus on the development of new convergent fragment coupling and annulation strategies. The densely packed arrays of heteroatoms and stereogenic centers that constitute these polycyclic targets challenge the limits of current technology and inspire the development of new synthetic strategies and tactics. As part of our target-directed synthesis program, are developing machine learning approaches to derisk tactics in the late stages of multistep synthesis. In concert with our total synthesis efforts, we have an active program on the development of new reductive coupling reactions, including… Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Chemistry Building (CHB). Campus room: CHB 102. Accessibility Contact: chem59x@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Thursday, May 8, 2025, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM. For more info visit reismangroup.caltech.edu.

Analytical Chemistry Seminar: Assistant Professor Bin Dong

Analytical Seminars "High Throughput Single Entity Spectroscopy and Super-Resolution Microscopy" Assistant Professor Bin Dong - Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arkansas Host: Bo Zhang Nowadays, our society faces, and will likely continue to confront, an array of formidable challenges, from the crisis of energy shortages to the relentless battle against cancer. Addressing these critical issues necessitates the development of advanced materials for efficient energy conversion and storage and requires advancements in drug development and more effective treatment procedures for cancer. To overcome these challenges, a thorough comprehension of the problems from all perspectives is essential, with a particular emphasis on the fundamental understanding of the physical phenomena governing chemical and biological processes in these issues. This knowledge forms the cornerstone of our ability to tackle these complex issues successfully. Acquiring and advancing this fundamental understanding is crucial, serving as the linchpin… Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Bagley Hall (BAG). Campus room: BAG 154. Accessibility Contact: chem59x@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Monday, May 12, 2025, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM. For more info visit dongresearchlab.uark.edu.

Inorganic Chemistry Seminar: Assistant Professor Carl Brozek

Inorganic Seminars "Size-Dependent Behavior of Porous Nanocrystals" Assistant Professor Carl Brozek - Chemistry, University of Oregon Host: Douglas Reed and Daniel Gamelin Synthesizing metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as nanoparticles is critical for their large-scale processability in real-world technologies and is poised to alter wide-ranging MOF behaviors, especially those related to transport phenomena. Little is known about controlled synthetic techniques, however, and studies into the impact of nanosizing physical properties have only just begun. Here, we present synthetic methods and mechanistic models that enable the precise preparation of MOF particles with conductive, magnetic, optical, and dynamic-bonding behavior distinct from their bulk counterparts. These results include the first analysis of MOFs by solution-state spectroscopy and electrochemistry, revealing size-dependent phenomena and interfacial chemistry impossible to observe with conventional framework materials. Taken together these results offer tools… Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Bagley Hall (BAG). Campus room: BAG 260. Accessibility Contact: chem95x@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Tuesday, May 13, 2025, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM. For more info visit brozeklab.uoregon.edu.

Chemistry Faculty Meeting

* Open session. Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Chemistry Building (CHB). Campus room: CHB 102. Accessibility Contact: Veronica Howell, atchmchr@uw.edu. Event Types: Meetings. Event sponsors: For assistance, please contact Veronica Howell, atchmchr@uw.edu or 206.543.1611. Target Audience: Faculty. Thursday, May 15, 2025, 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM.

Analytical Chemistry Seminar: Professor Ji Xin Cheng

Analytical Seminars "Seeing the Unseen Using Molecular Fingerprints" Professor Ji-Xin Cheng - Engineering, Boston University Host: Daniel Fu Spectrochemical imaging, using intrinsic fingerprint spectroscopic signals from molecules as a contrast mechanism, opens a new window for understanding life at the molecular level and also enables molecule-based precision diagnosis of diseases. Yet, the intrinsic spectroscopic signal, especially the vibrational signals from chemical bonds, is weaker than the fluorescence signal from a dye by many orders of magnitude. Detecting such weak signal from a tight focus (i.e. a small volume of ~1 femtoliter) under a microscope is extremely challenging and was considered nearly impossible. Ji-Xin Cheng devoted his career to overcoming such daunting barrier through developing advanced chemical microscopes over the past 25 years. In this lecture, Cheng will tell his journey of serendipity-driven innovation, scientific discovery, clinical translation, and entrepreneurship in the growing field of… Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Bagley Hall (BAG). Campus room: BAG 154. Accessibility Contact: chem59x@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Monday, May 19, 2025, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM. For more info visit sites.bu.edu.

Inorganic Chemistry Seminar: Professor Shannon Stahl

Inorganic Seminars "Principles and Applications of Organic Electrosynthesis" Professor Shannon Stahl - Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison Host: Brandi Cossairt Electrochemistry presents unique opportunities for chemical synthesis, but it also faces challenges that hinder widespread adoption of these methods by organic chemists and industrial practitioners. Fundamental thermodynamic and kinetic concepts that are well established in the field of electrochemical energy conversion have important implications for electrochemical synthesis. This talk will feature a series of vignettes from our group’s exploration of electrochemical synthesis, including the role of electrochemical mediators to overcome overpotential limitations often encountered in electrosynthesis and development of new electrochemical oxidation and reduction reactions. Oxidation methods include the development of oxygen-atom-transfer reactions that use water as source of oxygen atoms. Examples include the preparation of sulfoxides from sulfides, epoxides… Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Bagley Hall (BAG). Campus room: BAG 260. Accessibility Contact: chem95x@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Tuesday, May 20, 2025, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM. For more info visit stahl.chem.wisc.edu.

George H. Cady Endowed Lecture in Inorganic Chemistry: Shannon Stahl

Inorganic Seminars George H. Cady Endowed Lecture in Inorganic Chemistry, "Aerobic Oxidation Catalysis: Optimizing the Potential of O2 for Chemical Synthesis" Professor Shannon Stahl – Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin Host: Brandi Cossairt Molecular oxygen is the quintessential reagent for the oxidation of organic chemicals, but its reactivity is notoriously difficult to control. Multiple mechanisms are used to achieve O2 activation and selective reactivity in chemistry and biology. Some of the most versatile pathways use a catalyst that couples two redox half-reactions: (1) reduction of O2 to water and (2) oxidation of the organic molecule - a mechanistic sequence that closely resembles the redox half-reactions in fuel cells. This talk will explore homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts for aerobic oxidation of organic molecules, emphasizing kinetic and thermodynamic principles commonly encountered in the study of electrocatalysts for redox reactions in fuel cells. For example, many homogeneous catalytic… Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Bagley Hall (BAG). Online Meeting Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChT45EErfUqqah_8s62nJuw. Campus room: 154. Accessibility Contact: chem59x@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Event sponsors: The George H. Cady Endowed Lectureship in Chemistry was established in memory of Prof. Cady by his family and many friends and colleagues in 1994. George H. Cady earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1930 under the direction of Joel H. Hildebrand. Cady held positions at the University of South Dakota, M.I.T. U.S. Rubber Company, and Pittsburgh Plate Glass before joining the UW as assistant professor in 1938. He worked on the Man… Wednesday, May 21, 2025, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM. For more info visit stahl.chem.wisc.edu.

Memorial Day

Administrative No classes. Most University offices and buildings are closed. Check with specific offices to confirm. Event interval: Single day event. Year: 2025. Quarter: Spring. Event Types: Academics. Monday, May 26, 2025. For more info visit www.washington.edu.

Inorganic Chemistry Seminar: Assistant Professor Alina Schimpf

Inorganic Seminars "Title TBD" Assistant Professor Alina Schimpf - Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego Host: Daniel Gamelin. Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Bagley Hall (BAG). Campus room: BAG 260. Accessibility Contact: chem95x@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Tuesday, May 27, 2025, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.

Organic Chemistry Seminar: Assistant Professor Aaron Puri

Organic Seminars "Connecting genes to molecules in bacterial communities that sequester the greenhouse gas methane " Assistant Professor Aaron Puri - Chemistry, University of Utah Host: Jesse Zalatan Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and a target for near-term climate change mitigation. In the environment, methane is sequestered by bacterial communities. However, little is known about how constituents of methane-oxidizing communities interact with each other and their environment despite the availability of significant amounts of DNA and RNA sequencing data. Bacteria often mediate interactions using natural products: biologically produced compounds with potent bioactivities ranging from warfare to signaling. We are developing methods to link genes in bacteria that grow on methane and methanol with their associated (and underexplored) natural products in pure cultures and complex communities. This includes using inverse stable isotopic labeling (InverSIL) as well as developing a model ecosystem for studying… Event interval: Single day event. Campus room: CHB 102. Accessibility Contact: chem59x@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Thursday, May 29, 2025, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM. For more info visit purilab.utah.edu.

Chemistry Faculty Meeting

* Open Session. Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Chemistry Building (CHB). Campus room: CHB 102. Accessibility Contact: Veronica Howell, atchmchr@uw.edu. Event Types: Meetings. Event sponsors: For assistance, please contact Veronica Howell, atchmchr@uw.edu or 206.543.1611. Target Audience: Faculty. Thursday, May 29, 2025, 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM.

Physical Chemistry Seminar: Associate Professor Loren Kaake

Physical Seminars "A Polymer Thermodynamics Approach to Organic Mixed Conductors" Associate Professor Loren Kaake - Chemistry, Simor Fraser University Host: David Ginger Organic mixed conductors can transport both ions and electronic charge carriers. Many devices which leverage this property have been developed, including biosensors, energy storage materials, light emitting electrochemical cells, organic electrochemical transistors, and neuromorphic computing elements, to name a few. The problem is fundamental to this class of materials and their electrochemical properties. More broadly, the problem of mixed conduction sits at the crossroads of polymer physics and activity-based approaches to electrochemical equilibria. Our group works with in-operando spectroscopy and electrochemical methods to develop the basic science describing the kinetics of ion transport in organic mixed conductors. By varying the position of the contact (top versus bottom) we show that ion transport is not affected by electric fields perpendicular… Event interval: Single day event. Campus room: CHB 102. Accessibility Contact: chem59x@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Wednesday, June 4, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM. For more info visit lorenkaake.wixsite.com.

Chemistry Faculty Meeting

Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry Graduation Celebration

It's time to celebrate the Class of 2025! Family and friends are welcome; no tickets required. Members of the Class of 2025 who would like to participate in the ceremony must RSVP by May 25. Attire: Students are encouraged to wear cap & gown, but it is not required. More information is at the link below. Please send questions to chemadv@uw.edu. Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Edmundson Pavilion (EDP). Campus room: Alaska Airlines Arena. Accessibility Contact: chemadv@uw.edu. Event Types: Ceremonies. Target Audience: Students graduating Summer 2024, Autumn 2024, Winter 2025, Spring 2025, and Summer 2025. Thursday, June 12, 2025, 12:30 PM – 3:00 PM. For more info visit chem.washington.edu.

Juneteenth

Administrative No classes. Most University offices and buildings are closed. Check with specific offices to confirm. Event interval: Single day event. Year: 2025. Quarter: Summer. Event Types: Academics. Thursday, June 19, 2025. For more info visit www.washington.edu.

Independence Day

Administrative No classes. Most University offices and buildings are closed. Check with specific offices to confirm. Event interval: Single day event. Year: 2025. Quarter: Summer. Event Types: Academics. Friday, July 4, 2025. For more info visit www.washington.edu.