Chemistry laboratories at Connecticut College are home to my research into the rates and mechanisms of chemical reactions -- how fast molecules react and by what sequences of individual steps. Students who participate in this research are part of an ongoing effort in many laboratories throughout the world to understand how molecules acquire energy and react, the fundamental processes underlying all of chemistry.

Student researchers heat molecules to extremely high temperatures with shock waves and use a variety of analytical instruments, both commercial and custom-designed, to identify the products of the reactions and determine how fast these products were produced.

Many undergraduate students from CC and other colleges participate in this work, both during summers and the academic year, and they frequently present the results of their research at professional meetings and appear as co-authors of research articles in professional journals.

Other scientists at Hollins and Syracuse Universities and at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center have been extensively involved in this work as research collaborators and co-directors of student projects.

At Aerodyne Research, Inc., where I am a Principal Scientist, I build on long-standing interest in the atmosphere and environmental studies. I am a member of two ARI research groups whose missions are related.

In the Center for Aerosol and Cloud Chemistry (CACC), I work with a group of professional scientists and students who are developing laboratory and field instruments that can detect, count and identify small particles -- aerosols -- in the atmosphere. Aerosols are now recognized as a grave health concern and a likely source of climate changes worldwide. CACC scientists are identifying the major natural and man-made sources of aerosols and how they react with sunlight, moisture droplets and pollutant gases, in both the lower and upper regions of the atmosphere. My work in this group at Aerodyne is focused on detection and identification of atmospheric aerosols by optical methods including absorption and emission spectroscopy and laser light scattering.

Another group of scientists, comprising the Center for Sensor Systems and Technology (CSST), is developing methods to detect and identify particles in the air that may pose a biological threat -- biohazards. My research on optical methods of particle detection and identification has direct application in the work of CSST as well.

My work with scientists at other locations expands the horizons of Connecticut College students. I bring back to the classroom and laboratory information about current research methods, and I often arrange for student research assistantships with and/or field trips to visit my research partners.