Comps, honors papers, and prize-winning works of the Chemistry Department are featured here. All works have been self-submitted by the student authors. Descriptive information about each work is available to search or browse. Access to the full text of the works is limited to current Carleton affiliates with faculty permission. Learn more about how to submit your work and how to request access to the full text of works.
Submissions from 2025
Michael Carey, Chemistry (CHEM) 2025, Understanding the ATP-Mediated CFTR Gating Mechanism Using Biophysical Chemical Techniques
Submissions from 2024
Alana Berger, Chemistry (CHEM) 2024, Quenching Radiationless Relaxation: Towards Understanding and Controlling the Charge Processes that Lead to Efficient Organic Solar Cells
Arden Clauss, Chemistry (CHEM) 2024, Metal-Organic Frameworks for Single-Atom Heterogeneous Photocatalysis
Teddy Friedman, Chemistry (CHEM) 2024, The Characterization of Individual Atmospheric Aerosol Particles: A Review of Methods and Future Goals
Katherine Geist, Amanda Khouw, Casey MacVeagh, Frank Sheffield, Caleb Wataoka, and Wanying Na, Chemistry (CHEM) 2024, Alabugin Group Chemistry Comps
Cassie Huang, David Pille, Vivianne Soforenko, Jack Nelson, and Katie Munro, Chemistry (CHEM) 2024, Homogeneous Catalytic Conversion of Carbon Dioxide to Methanol
Byron Jia, Chemistry (CHEM) 2024, Exploring Electrochemical Deposition Parameters in Semiconductor Production for Solar Water Splitting
Ian Lacey, Chemistry (CHEM) 2024, River Biogeochemistry: Drivers of Stream Metabolism and the Carbon Cycle
Mira Verma, Barclay Shove, Leo Qi, Hannah Ku, Angel Garcia-Ramirez, and Parker Walther, Chemistry (CHEM) 2024, Elucidating the Intricacies of Enzyme Catalysis
Submissions from 2023
Sean Boyce, Emma Watson, William Stepanksi, Lucy Shapiro, Ania Hoang, Nell Shafer, William Chang-Stucki, and Nora Caballero, Chemistry (CHEM) 2023, A Molecular Perspective on Ammonia Chemistry in Atmospheric Water Droplets
Cole Cadaram, Chemistry (CHEM) 2023, Modern Techniques in Electrochemical Organic Synthesis
Eway Cai, Chemistry (CHEM) 2023, Targeted Protein Degradation and Genome Editing as Novel Applications of Chemical Inducers of Proximity
Ben Chao, Chemistry (CHEM) 2023, Electrodeposition of p-Type Mixed Metal Oxide Semiconductors from Aqueous Metal Nitrate Solution
Yoonho Choi, Chemistry (CHEM) 2023, Producing Semiconductors Suitable for Water Splitting with Metal Nitrates
Jackson Cleveland, Chemistry (CHEM) 2023, PHAding Away - Marine Biodegradable Polymers and the Potential of PHAs
Will Feng, Alex Rowell, Allison Teichman, Ethan Li, Gavin Hazen, Helen Jin-Lee, Michaela Polley, Tommy Lisko, and Tony Qiang, Chemistry (CHEM) 2023, A Gold Star Approach: Using Gold Nanostars as a Drug Delivery Vehicle for Cancer Treatment
Ella Hein, Wenlai Han, Hala Soliman, Alek Rabago, Rainey Tilley, Leah Stroebell, Elijah Shore, and Vasilii Vaganov, Chemistry (CHEM) 2023, A Greener Oxidation: Aminoxyl Mediated Electrocatalysis
Felix Lion, Chemistry (CHEM) 2023, Quantum Mechanical Treatment of Spin-1/2 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Jack Mathieu, Chemistry (CHEM) 2023, An Electrochemical Investigation of the Nonaqueous Copper Oxide Depositional System
Noah L. Mueller, Tatiana Jimenez, Connor Grayzel, Ellie Vandel, Eledon Beyene, Meredith Klay, Michael Berler, Seraphel Grosser, and Weiland Wang, Chemistry (CHEM) 2023, Detecting Diseases: Three Remarkable Biosensors
Submissions from 2022
Awurama Akyianu, Bella Bettner, Max Gjertson, Miah Kline, Stephen Lavey, Diana Rodriguez, Ananya Shah, David Wilson, and Emma Wrigley, Chemistry (CHEM) 2022, A Journey Through the HIV Life Cycle: Understanding the Vital RNA-Protein Interactions
Alison Block, Ben Brewster, Neil Givens, Colby King, Tali Kottler, Melissa Tan, Samihat Rahman, and Inger Shelton, Chemistry (CHEM) 2022, ChemCam on Curiosity: Probing an Ancient Martian Lake using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
Elie Mer, Chemistry (CHEM) 2022, Serial femtosecond X-ray crystallography as a tool for the characterization of protein structure and dynamics
Renée Smith, Anna Zheng, Zach DiNardo, Lauren Way, Annabella Strathman, Tonny Aton, and Molly Kammann, Chemistry (CHEM) 2022, Chemistry in silico: Modeling Complex Bio-organic Synthesis Using Computational Chemistry
Katherine Taylor, Sarah Cauthorn, Polycarpe Bagereka, Jp Braun, Chloe Lipinksi, Worawin Premrasmi, Isabel Cannell, and Leah Snidman, Chemistry (CHEM) 2022, Unnatural Polypeptides with Beta Residues
Submissions from 2021
Ben Sirulnik, Chemistry (CHEM) 2021, Developments in Biological Nanosensors
Ethan Ta, Chemistry (CHEM) 2021, Exploring Graphene - A Semiconductor for the Future
Submissions from 2020
Kyle Duplessis, Chemistry (CHEM) 2020, Effects of Quantum Tunneling on Low Temperature Reactivity in Astrochemical Contexts
Noah Marcel, Chemistry (CHEM) 2020, Memristors as Synapse in Neuromorphic Computers
Ian McCarthy, Chemistry (CHEM) 2020, Electron Bifurcation
Submissions from 2019
Natalie Bulger, Chemistry (CHEM) 2019, How Drug Metabolism Plays a Role in Drug Therapy Development for Major Depressive Disorder
Austin Heuer, Chemistry (CHEM) 2019, Cookstoves and the Environment: How Traditional and Improved Cooking Technology Affects Earth’s Climate
Cullen Irvine, Eavan Donovan, Benjamin Greenvall, Casey Lee-Foss, Adam Nijhawan, and Zoya Siddiqui, Chemistry (CHEM) 2019, Nanocrystal Conductivity: Paving the Road for Electrons
Ruby Kazemi, Chemistry (CHEM) 2019, Cancer Cell Survival and Proliferation: Remodeling of the Cell's One-Carbon and Glutamine Metabolism
Submissions from 2018
Wisdom Akpan, Brittany Brookner, Byun Ben, Isaac Donnell, Lydia Hanson, Hiroshi Nakajima, Austin Rae, Malu Suresh, and Aditya Vaze, Chemistry (CHEM) 2018, Engineering Life: Exploring Novel Applications of Directed Evolution
Saki Amagai, Anirudh Appachar, Sam Diaz de Leon, T.J. Lynch, Isaac Martinez, Katherine Ortell, Paul Peterson, and Sam Purfeerst, Chemistry (CHEM) 2018, Chemical Evolution: An Exploration into the Origins of Life
Lisa Au, Chemistry (CHEM) 2018, Using Nanofibers for PM2.5 Filtration
Sarina Chaiken, Elianna Frank, Keaton Mertz, and Carl Thomas, Chemistry (CHEM) 2018, Heavy-atom Quantum Tunneling
Ben Corman, Chenxi Sun, Madeline Chosy, Raksha Kandel, Clausell Stokes, Kitty Miao, Olubusayo Bolonduro, Kate Faber, and Jack Buckner, Chemistry (CHEM) 2018, Earth's Next Top Model: Constraining Uncertainties in the Carbon Cycle
Ziyu Fan, Chemistry (CHEM) 2018, Applications of Nano-structured Lipid Carrier as an Improved Drug Delivery Vehicle in Cosmetic/Dermal Products
Brandon Kaelin Hilliard, Chemistry (CHEM) 2018, Positron Emission Tomography Ligand Guided Imaging Agents for Tumor Diagnosis and Assessment
Senjie Ma, Chemistry (CHEM) 2018, An Investigation of the Rhodium-catalyzed Asymmetric Hydroformylation of Terminal Alkene
Jia Zhang, Chemistry (CHEM) 2018, The Palladium Mediated Aromatic-Trifluoromethylation Reactions
Submissions from 2017
Kennyi Aouad, Reina Desrouleaux, Teddy Donnell, Clare Leahy, Calvin Phan, Eli Ruffer, and Emily Tonogai, Chemistry (CHEM) 2017, Breaking News: X-ray Crystallography Catches Metalloenzymes in Action!
Danae Bowen, Jackie Dowling, Owen Freed, Dylan Saline, Mike Trenerry, and Seth Waag-Swift, Chemistry (CHEM) 2017, Dyes and Dots: The Chemistry of Harvesting Sustainable Energy
Amy Chen, Chemistry (CHEM) 2017, Modifications and Properties of Catechol-Functionalized Self-Healing Polymers
Gabriella Sophia Chen, Chemistry (CHEM) 2017, Understanding the Mechanisms by which phosphorylation of Site 1 of PDH-E1 and an adjacent Tyr272 residue promotes the Warburg Effect in Cancer cells
Nayon Park, Chemistry (CHEM) 2017, Designing a Super Material: Sonochemical Functionalization of Graphene
Amrit Kaur Vasdev, Chemistry (CHEM) 2017, Analysis of Activation and Inactivation of TrkB receptor in the Context of Sarcopenia
Submissions from 2016
Nathan Matz Livingston, Chemistry (CHEM) 2016, Editing in the Aminoacyl tRNA-Synthetases
Lindsey Catherine Weber, Chemistry (CHEM) 2016, HIV-1 Entry Inhibitors: A Review of Structure-Based Drug Design Targeting the Conserved Hydrophobic Pocket of gp41
Submissions from 2015
Kirstin Kim Cook, Chemistry (CHEM) 2015, Elucidating NCX Function from Structure
Eleanor Beatrice Munger, Wanqi Yu, Rebecca Morelle Velazquez, Shant Raffi Douzdjian, Joe Willenborg, and Ahna Weeks, Chemistry (CHEM) 2015, How do Proteins Fold?
Binh Duc Nguyen, Chemistry (CHEM) 2015, The Development of Organic Polymer Solar Cells
Runze Si, Chemistry (CHEM) 2015, Synthesis, Purification and Characterization of Coordination Polymer Made with [Ni(acacCN)2(H2O)2-2H2O and AgBF4
Kiera Bridget Wilhelm, Christian Abel Olivares, Isabel Zhen Han, Aurapat Ngamnithiporn, Mary Eleanor Wootton, Tamara Damjanac, and Katie Emma Blise, Chemistry (CHEM) 2015, Picking Up Good Vibes: Following Structural Dynamics of Fibril Aggregation with Two-Dimensional Infrared Spectroscopy
Submissions from 2014
Julia Gaebe Bakker-Arkema, Molly Elizabeth Bostrom, Julia Edith Greenwald, Kevin Lynch Johnson, Lucas Alexander Morrill, Brandon James Taitt, and Conor Chase Lynch, Chemistry (CHEM) 2014, We're so F'd: Poly- and Per-Fluorinated Alkyl Substances in the Environment
Alexander Monroe Deetz, Chemistry (CHEM) 2015, Formation of Chlorosilyl Pincer-Type Rhodium Complexes by Multiple Si-H Activations of Bis(phosphine)/Dihydrosilyl Ligands
Edward William Lozier, Chemistry (CHEM) 2014, The Progression of Graphene Functionalization: The Covalent Attachment of Fullerenes to Graphene for Use in Photovoltaic Solar Cells
Soon Kai Poh, Chemistry (CHEM) 2014, Applications of Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) in Art Conservation
Reid Mahlon Whitaker, Alissa Severson, Aaron Buckley, Kate Richards, Scott Laurence Erickson, Ben Truax, and Emma Helen Southgate, Chemistry (CHEM) 2014, Started From the Genome Now We're Here: Functional Annotation of Enzymes
Submissions from 2013
Kim Bauer, Tyler Bechtel, William Gagne-Maynard, Erik Klontz, Kenichi Miyamoto, John Mullaney, and Katherine Ratliff, Chemistry (CHEM) 2013, Eric Anslyn Group Comps in Chemistry
Joseph W. Boerma, Meredith A. Borden, Anna C. Brezny, Daniel E. DeRosha, Christian E. Padilla, and Nicholas C. Wright, Chemistry (CHEM) 2013, One Word: Polymers. The Development of Ruthenium-Based Catalysts for Ring Opening Metathesis Polymerization
Allison Christine Cardiel, Chemistry (CHEM) 2013, Photocatalytic Water Treatment and Remediation with TiO2
Elaine Downie, Bee Lee, Brady Still, Adrienne Werth, Alex Lai, David Hanna, and Ted Harmon, Chemistry (CHEM) 2013, From RNA to Loren Williams and Beyond: An RNA perspective of cations involvement in the evolution of life
Michael James McClellan, Chemistry (CHEM) 2013, Synthesis of Co(en)3 and Co(diNOsar): Improving an Undergraduate Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory
Michael James McClellan and Deborah Gross, Chemistry (CHEM) 2013, After the Spray: Investigating the Fate of Particles from Cyclodextrin-Containing Air Fresheners
Erin Elizabeth McDuffie, Chemistry (CHEM) 2013, Developement of a New Single-Particle Research Instrument: The Coupling of ATOFMS and LIBS
Megan Joy Anne Narvey, Chemistry (CHEM) 2013, Corrosion Processes and Conservation Strategies for Metals in Historic Shipwrecks
Evan Philip Osborne, Chemistry (CHEM) 2013, Environmental Trace Analysis: Investigating Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products with Tandem Mass Spectrometry
Submissions from 2012
Katherine Anne Benson, Chemistry (CHEM) 2012, A New Gold Standard: The Potential of the Gold(III) Porphyrin Structure in the Design of Novel Anticancer Therapies
Brian Thomas Kempers, Cody Finke, Katherine France, Ernesto Llano, Kenneth Lum, Erik Olson, and Melody Zhou, Chemistry (CHEM) 2012, DNA, I hear you're single: How single-molecule techniques elucidate DNA replication
Zheyue Yang, Chemistry (CHEM) 2012, Quantum Tunneling and Its Manifestations in Atomic and Molecular Processes
Submissions from 2011
Sam Althauser, Grace Cooper, Dan Cremons, Sophie Hines, Andrew Hooker, Duncan Olsen, and Samantha Leigh Thompson, Chemistry (CHEM) 2011, The Role of Past Ocean Processes in Abrupt Climate Change: Secrets Held by Deep-Sea Corals and Sediments
Ryan Joseph Babbush, Grant Bowen, Kevin Cannady, Martin Granick, and James McMenimen, Chemistry (CHEM) 2011, Surface Charaterization by Raman Spectroscopy
Michael Bonin, Chris Choo, Sara Doyle, Caitlin Dole, Sarah Duane, Jeremy Grevet, and Liz Hecht, Chemistry (CHEM) 2011, A Sweet Biomarker: Asparagine-Linked Glycosylation
Peter James Cormier, Chemistry (CHEM) 2011, The Glutathionylation of α-Ketoglutarate Dehydrogenase and Mitochondrial Complex I: A Possible means of Redox Regulation within the Mitochondria
Benjamin Lawrence Cotts, Anna Gallagher, Kaz Skubi, Ken Ellis-Guardiola, Alex Schefter, Eric Manley, and Nolly Gibbs, Chemistry (CHEM) 2011, Transition Metal-Catalyzed C-H and C-C Activation: How Hydrocarbons Go Boom, Gracefully
John Jerome IV Davis, Chemistry (CHEM) 2011, Solar Hydrogen from Nanostructured Titanium Dioxide Photoelectrochemical Cells
Geun Hee Kim, Chemistry (CHEM) 2011, Bioapplications of Carbon Nanotube
Samantha Leigh Thompson, Chemistry (CHEM) 2011, Emissions from the Construction-Related Grinding of Metal and Carpet Glue
Submissions from 2010
Claire E. Brookmeyer, Sam Cross-Knorr, Adam Fagin, Alfredo Guzman, Musetta Steinbach, and Lisa Wang, Chemistry (CHEM) 2010, The Midas Touch: Au(I) Catalysts in Organic Synthesis
Grant Buckingham, Amelia Zutz, Kevin Pollock, Leng Sok, Bryan Rosett, Greta Kringle, and Michael Lysonski, Chemistry (CHEM) 2010, Probing the Interface Using Vibrational Sum Frequency Spectroscopy
Adrian Chow, Tina Cich, Ross Hamilton, Emily Kobernik, Jingjing Ling, and Christopher Staral, Chemistry (CHEM) 2010, Activity-Based Protein Profiling: Fishing in the Sea of Proteins
Chris Clark, Henry Heitzer, Lindsey Madison, Colin Russell, and Laura Sofen, Chemistry (CHEM) 2010, Molecular Catch and Release: Metal-Ligand Coordination Chemistry
Anna Jolene Mork, Chemistry (CHEM) 2010, Organic Photovoltaics: The Chemistry of Carbon-based Solar Cells
Karen Elizabeth Spettel, Chemistry (CHEM) 2010, The Evolution of 3D NMR Isotope Labeling Techniques in Determining the 3D Structure of Large Proteins
Laura Kim Sugerman, Chemistry (CHEM) 2010, Bottled Art: The chemistry of brewing beer
Katherine Cannon Turnage, Chemistry (CHEM) 2010, Copper Binding to Aß42 and Alzheimer's Disease
Submissions from 2009
Nick Brom, Michael Henneberry, Frederick Kieley, Daniel Mammel, Juan Medrano, Andrew Olson, and Robert Schmitz, Chemistry (CHEM) 2009, Interfacial electron transfer at semiconductor-liquid junctions: implications for powering the planet
