This is a special seminar to introduce two new members of our department! Dr. Danielle Cass and Gonzala Campillo-Alvarado will give 10-15 minute flash talks introducing themselves, their interests, and the questions that intrigue them. Come join us as we welcome them into the chem team!

Monitoring metal pollution in our environment 

Danielle Cass earned a BA in Chemistry and German from University of Wisconsin Green Bay and a PhD in Chemistry at University of Oregon, under the guidance of Professor J. Andrew Berglund. Her doctoral work focused around understanding how RNA, a code of only 4 nucleotides, is regulated and processed in cells.   However since then she has moved into doing more analytical research, combining her love of numbers with her interest in how molecules move through a system, be it biological or environmental.  For the past 10 years Danielle has been part of the Reed chemistry department, most recently as the coordinator of the general chemistry labs.  When she isn't hanging out at Reed, she is often seen outside trying to convince her kids that moving around outdoors really is the most fun.

Chemistry Beyond the Molecule: New Horizons of Crystalline Organic Materials

Gonzalo Campillo-Alvarado is a crystal chemist and an assistant professor of chemistry at Reed College. His research group integrates modern concepts of organic-, supramolecular-, mechanochemistry, and molecular machinery to engineer crystalline organic materials with functional properties (e.g., conductivity, motion, porosity, photoactivity). His research has direct applications in electronics, petrochemistry, pharmaceutics, separation science, and solid-state reactivity. 

Gonzalo received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Iowa (advisor: Prof. Leonard R. MacGillivray), a M.Sc. in Chemistry from Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos (México), and a B.Sc. In Biopharmaceutical Chemistry from Universidad Veracruzana (México). Before joining Reed, Gonzalo was an Illinois Distinguished Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Gonzalo is a content leader of the science outreach program Cena y Ciencias (Science and Supper), which aims to disseminate science to K-12 students from bilingual families.