Chemistry

May 15, 2023

Congratulations Graduates

Congratulations to our 2023 Chemistry Graduates:

Elizabeth Abbate, Miranda Amiro, Ben Crosby, Elyse Czapalay, Albany Goucher, Sarah McEwen, Leah McPherson, Julia Moncrief, Evan Noel, Victoria Smith, Zhongqi Xiang

March 30, 2023

Congratulations Honours Students

Congratulations to this year's chemistry honours students for exceptional performances on their honours defences:

Miranda Amiro
Elyse Czapalay
Julia Moncrief

March 2, 2023

Chemistry Teaching Award

Congratulations to Dr. Bobby Ellis, who was selected by the chemistry students as this year's recipient of the Chemistry Teaching Award for his outstanding teaching. Dr. Ellis taught General Chemistry (CHEM 1023), Inorganic Chemistry (CHEM 2303), Quantum Chemistry (CHEM 3113), Transition Metal Chemistry (CHEM 3313) and Structure Determination (CHEM 3523) this year. Congratulations, Dr. Ellis!

August 2, 2022

Welcome Dr. Sichinga

The Chemistry Department welcomes Dr. Martin Sichinga, who is joining us as an organic chemistry instructor. Welcome Dr. Sichinga!

May 30, 2022

ChemCon 2022

Acadia was well represented at ChemCon, a regional undergraduate chemistry conference that was hosted as a virtual conference by St. Francis Xavier University this year. Acadia students won some awards for their outstanding presentations:

Emily Sabean – Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation in Organic Chemistry

Laura Pickett - Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation in Biochemistry

Lydia Zamlynny – 2nd Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation in Biochemistry

Congratulations to all our students who presented their research!

May 9, 2022

Congratulations Graduates

Congratulations to our 2022 Chemistry Graduates:

Katie Baxter, Grace Flynn, Ethan Gallant, Brette Haines, Andrew Heisler, Emma Jodrey, Brynn Kerr, Zak Khan, Robyn Leonard, Olivia Lynch, Laura Pickett, Eric Sampson, Emily Sabean, Brannan Walsh, Josée Wickeler, Lydia Zamlynny

April 13, 2022

Congratulations Honours Students

Congratulations to this year's chemistry honours students for exceptional performances on their honours defences:

Katie Baxter
Grace Flynn
Ethan Gallant
Olivia Lynch
Sarah McEwen
Laura Pickett
Emily Sabean
Lydia Zamlynny

March 11, 2022

Chemistry Teaching Award

Congratulations to Dr. Matthew Lukeman, who was selected by the chemistry students as this year's recipient of the Chemistry Teaching Award for his outstanding teaching. Dr. Lukeman taught Chemistry and Our World (CHEM 1053), Introduction to Chemistry for Physical Sciences 1 (CHEM 1113), Organic Chemistry 1 (CHEM 2513) and Structure and Dynamics in Organic Chemistry this year. Congratulations, Dr. Lukeman!

August 3, 2021

Welcome Dr. Srivastava

The Chemistry Department welcomes Dr. Smriti Srivastava, who is joining us as an organic chemistry and biochemistry instructor. Welcome Dr. Srivastava!

May 21, 2021

ChemCon 2021

Acadia was well represented at ChemCon, a regional undergraduate chemistry conference that was hosted as a virtual conference by Mount Allison University this year. Acadia students won some awards for their outstanding presentations:

Vincent Wang - CIC Second Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation in Organic Chemistry

Jenny Hogenbom – CIC Best Graduate Oral Presentation in Organic Chemistry

Great job, everyone!

May 10, 2021

Congratulations Graduates

Congratulations to our 2021 Chemistry Graduates:

Gillian Chapman, Daniel Gawalewicz, Nick Harvey, Victoria Hopper, Duncan MacLean, Dylan McCarthy, Joe Nazak, Isaac Payne, Emma Sutherland, Maria Turcios, Haozhe (Vincent) Wang, Chamodya Wijetunga, Zixuan Yuan

April 20, 2021

NSERC Discovery Grant

Dr. Nicoletta Faraone was awarded a 2021 NSERC Discovery Grant. Congratulations, Dr. Faraone!

April 8, 2021

Congratulations Honours Students

Congratulations to this year's chemistry honours students for exceptional performances on their honours defences:

Hick Harvey
Joe Nazak
Emma Sutherland
Haozhe (Vincent) Wang

April 6, 2021

Canada Graduate Scholarship - Master’s (CGS M)

Chemistry Master's Candidate Jenny Hogenbom was awarded a 2021-22 Canada Graduate Scholarship - Master's (CGS M). Congratulations, Jenny!

March 22, 2021

Chemistry Teaching Award

Congratulations to Dr. Matthew Lukeman, who was selected by the chemistry students as this year's recipient of the Chemistry Teaching Award for his outstanding teaching. Dr. Lukeman taught Chemistry and Our World (CHEM 1053), Introduction to Chemistry for Physical Sciences 2 (CHEM 1123) and Organic Chemistry 1 (CHEM 2513) this year. Congratulations, Dr. Lukeman!

May 11, 2020

Congratulations Graduates

Congratulations to our 2020 Chemistry Graduates:

Caleb Archibald, Zainab Bello, Anna Crouch, Kaela Fraser, Jenny Hogenbom, Sara Jones, Jenny Kerr, Naomi Lewis, Thitipong Luangwichianporn, Alyson MacKay, Amelia MacLean, James Mastin, Lillie Ryan, Tyler Saunders, Kameron Steeves-Vigneault, Sarah Visser, Daniel Whalen

April 24, 2020

Chemistry Teaching Award

Congratulations to Kelly Stevens, who was selected by the chemistry students as this year's recipient of the Chemistry Teaching Award for her outstanding teaching. Kelly taught the Metabolism Lab (CHEM 3720L) this year. Congratulations, Kelly!

April 2, 2020

Congratulations Honours Students

Congratulations to this year's chemistry honours students for exceptional performances on their honours defences:

Kaela Fraser
Victoria Hopper
Tyler Saunders
Kameron Steeves-Vigneault
Daniel Whalen

July 2, 2019

Welcome Dr. Faraone

The Chemistry Department welcomes our new biochemistry professor, Dr. Faraone!

May 27, 2019

ChemCon 2019

Acadia chemistry students, led by Alex Hebert, hosted ChemCon this year, a regional undergraduate chemistry conference. All the hard work paid off with the execution of an impressive conference that included a winery tour at Lightfoot & Wolfville Wines.

There were a lot of outstanding oral and poster presentations again this year from students from universities across Atlantic Canada. Acadia students won the fourth most number of awards (tied with UPEI), behind Saint Mary's (4), Dalhousie (4), and UNB (3) students:

Jun Luo - CIC Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation in Organic Chemistry

Jenna McNutt – CIC Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation in Organic Chemistry

Great job, everyone!

May 13, 2019

Congratulations Graduates!

Congratulations to our 2019 Chemistry Graduates:

Andrew Davis, John Flewelling, Mimi Gjelaj, Alex Hebert, Kalvin Kwan, Jun Luo, Alexis Mackey, Jenna McNutt, Ryan Rhodenizer, Miranda Walsh, Zach Visser

May 6, 2019

NSERC USRA

Congratulations to Kaela Fraser and Daniel Whalen, who were awarded 2019 NSERC USRAs.

March 22, 2019

Chemistry Teaching Award

Congratulations to Dr. Bobby Ellis, who was selected by the chemistry students as this year's recipient of the Chemistry Teaching Award for his outstanding teaching. Dr. Ellis taught General Chemistry (CHEM 1013), Inorganic Chemistry (CHEM 2303), Quantum Chemistry (CHEM 3113), Transition Metal Chemistry (CHEM 3313) and Structure Determination (CHEM 3523) this year. Congratulations, Dr. Ellis!

February 28, 2019

Congratulations Honours Students

Congratulations to this year's chemistry honours students for exceptional performances on their honours defences:

Alex Hebert
Jenna McNutt
Jun Luo
Zach Visser

June 11, 2018

ChemCon 2018

Acadia was once again very well represented at ChemCon, a regional undergraduate chemistry conference that was hosted by Saint Mary's University this year. Acadia students won the fifth most number of awards, behind Saint Mary's (9), Dalhousie (8), MUN (5) and UNB (5) students:

Jun Luo - CIC Second Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation in Organic Chemistry
Jenna McNutt – CIC Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation in Organic Chemistry
Anderson Fuller – CIC Best Overall Oral Presentation in Physical, Theoretical, and Computational Chemistry
Kate Miller – CIC Best Graduate Poster Presentation in Analytical Chemistry

Great job, everyone!

May 14, 2018

Congratulations Graduates

Congratulations to our 2018 Chemistry Graduates:

Sam Freeze, Anderson Fuller, Jenny Gao-Kang, Denver Gilbert, Mimi Gjelaj, Brandon Hall, Jessica Hitchman, Christina Kelly, Breanna Laffin, Chanel Smith, Megan Stienburg, Madison Timmons

May 7, 2018

NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Awards (USRA)

Congratulations to Lauren Hemphill, Jenna McNutt, Jenny Hogenbom and Zach Visser, who were awarded 2018 NSERC USRAs.

March 29, 2018

Chemistry Teaching Award

Congratulations to Teri Gullon, who was selected by the chemistry students as this year's recipient of the Chemistry Teaching Award for her outstanding teaching. Teri taught General Chemistry (CHEM 1023), Organic Chemistry labs (CHEM 2510L & 2530L) and Biochemistry Labs (CHEM 2710L) this year. Congratulations, Teri!

March 1, 2018

Congratulations Honours Student

Congratulations to this year's chemistry honours student for exceptional performance on their honours defence:

Madison Timmons

November 7, 2017

Congratulations Zach

Congratulations to Zach Visser for being this year's recipient of the U SPORTS Student-Athlete Community Service Award. Zach was also this year's recipient of the AUS Student-Athlete Community Service Award.

Zach was Acadia’s nominee as an AUS representative for the U SPORTS Top 8 Academic All-Canadians. He is the first Acadia player to receive the men's soccer Student-Athlete Community Service Award.

https://usports.ca/en/awards/news/2017/11/781037788/msoc-awards

June 21, 2017

Agri-food and Beverages Laboratory

Dr. Tong's new agri-food and beverages laboratory on campus was recently highlighted in a CBC news article:

Acadia lab to streamline analysis for Nova Scotia wineries

May 15, 2017

Congratulations Graduates

Congratulations to our 2017 Chemistry Graduates:

Lee Brannen, Erica Caines, Harrison Cassidy, Soleil Chahine, Luke Coxhead, Brandon d'Entremont, Michelle Johnson, Rebekah Leslie, Hayley Soontiens, Joel Young

May 9, 2017

NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Awards (USRA)

Congratulations to Miranda Walsh, who was awarded a 2017 NSERC USRA.

May 8, 2017

ChemCon Coming to Acadia

The Acadia Chemistry Students were successful in bidding to host ChemCon in 2019. The conference was last hosted by Acadia in 2014. The MUN chemistry students set the bar very high after hosting a very successful conference and the Acadia chemistry students are looking forward to hosting an equally excellent conference next spring. Next year's ChemCon will be hosted by SMU.

May 8, 2017

ChemCon 2017

Acadia was once again very well represented at ChemCon, a regional undergraduate chemistry conference that was hosted by Memorial University (MUN) this year. Acadia students tied (with CBU) for the third most number of awards, behind Saint Mary's and Memorial students:

Melissa O'Brien – Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation in Organic Chemistry
Anderson Fuller – 2nd Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation in Physical, Theoretical or Computational Chemistry

Kelly, Dr. Murimboh and Dr. Ellis won the scavenger hunt competition (although it probably didn't hurt that they were the only ones who participated!).

Great job, everyone!

March 31, 2017

Chemistry Teaching Award

Congratulations to Dr. Anthony Tong, who was selected by the chemistry students as this year's recipient of the Chemistry Teaching Award for his outstanding teaching. Dr. Tong taught General Chemistry (CHEM 1013), Introductory Chemistry for Physical Sciences 2 (CHEM 1123) and Physical Chemistry 2: Chemical Kinetics (CHEM 3103) this year. Congratulations, Dr. Tong!

March 9, 2017

Congratulations Honours Students

Congratulations to this year's chemistry honours students for exceptional performances on their honours defences:

Luke Coxhead
Lee Brannen
Michelle Johnson
Soleil Chahine

June 6, 2016

ChemCon 2016

Acadia was once again very well represented at ChemCon, a regional undergraduate chemistry conference that was hosted by Mount Saint Vincent University this year. Acadia students won the second most number of awards, behind Saint Mary's students:

Ryan Greenham – Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation in Analytical Chemistry
Julia McCain – Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation in Biological or Medicinal Chemistry
Rachel Weagle – Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation in Organic Chemistry
Mitch Pinto – Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation in Physical, Theoretical or Computational Chemistry

Great job, everyone!

May 16, 2016

Congratulations Graduates

Congratulations to our 2016 Chemistry Graduates:

Gabby Andrews, Kayla Barry, Leah Bennett, Shanae Butler, Evan Carr Kinnear, Ryan Densmore, Qingyuan Ding, Ryan Greenham, Adam Hamilton, Megan Hersey, Eli Hunt, Jack Jarvis, Kristen MacPherson, Jenna Mayhew, Kate Miller, Julia McCain, Mitch Pinto, Michelle Pryde

May 2, 2016

NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Awards (USRA)

Congratulations to Soleil Chahine, Luke Coxhead and Amelia MacLean, who were awarded 2016 NSERC USRAs.

April 1, 2016

Acadia TA of the Year

Congratulations to Ryan Densmore, who was selected as this year's Acadia TA of the year by the ASU. Ryan has been a teaching assistant for first year chemistry this year. Congratulations, Ryan!

April 1, 2016

Chemistry Teaching Award

Congratulations to Kelly Stevens, who was selected by the chemistry students as this year's recipient of the Chemistry Teaching Award for her outstanding teaching. Kelly taught the Metabolism lab (CHEM 3720L) this year. It was her first time teaching and the students thought she did an exceptional job. Congratulations, Kelly!

October 7, 2015

Congratulations, Dr. Zamlynny!

Dr. Zamlynny, an expert in electrochemistry, will be working with Zinc Sacrificial Anode Inc. (“ZincInc”), a Digby-based company that was awarded an Innovacorp Voucher. Their focus is the prevention of corrosion on the hulls of ships.

Click here for more information.

June 6, 2015

Congratulations, Dr. McFarland!

Dr. McFarland's research was recently highlighted in a CBC article:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/acadia-chemist-wins-grant-to-study-cancer-drugs-at-cellular-level-1.3123589

May 25, 2015

ChemCon 2015

Acadia was once again very well represented at ChemCon, a regional undergraduate chemistry conference that was hosted by UNB this year. We had the third most presenting delegates attending the conference. Our students tied for the second most number of awards, behind SMU:

Julia McCain - Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation in Biological/Medicinal Chemistry
Leah Bennett - Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation in Inorganic Chemistry
Mitch Pinto - Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation in Physical, Theoretical or Computational Chemistry

Great job, everyone!

May 11, 2015

Congratulations Graduates

Congratulations to our 2015 Chemistry Graduates:

Alyssa Caissie, Don Corkum, Pelham Flowerdew, Jamie Gillis, Rick Lin, Nick McDonald, Kira McLean, Michelle Sawler, Hannah Sinclair and Alex Veinot

May 4, 2015

NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Awards (USRA)

Congratulations to Luke Coxhead, Soleil Chahine, Mitch Pinto and Julia McCain, who were awarded 2015 NSERC USRAs.

March 25, 2015

Chemistry Teaching Award

Congratulations to Dr. Bobby Ellis, who was selected by the chemistry students as this year's recipient of the Chemistry Teaching Award for his outstanding teaching. Dr. Ellis taught Inorganic Chemistry 1 (CHEM 2303), Inorganic Chemistry 2 (CHEM 3313), Structure Determination (CHEM 3523), Quantum Chemistry (CHEM 3113) and Biochemistry for Life Sciences (CHEM 2773) this year.

March 12, 2015

Congratulations Honours Students!

Congratulations to this year's chemistry honours students for exceptional performances on their honours defences:

Jamie Gillis
Alyssa Caissie
Nick McDonald
Alex Veinot
Kira McLean

December 11, 2014

M.Sc. Defence

Congratulations to Ashraf Abdelkhalik (BPharm, Cairo, Egypt) on the successful defence of his MSc thesis "Domino Approach to Complex Heterocycles".

September 4, 2014

Welcome Back BBQ!

Welcome to all new and returning students. The Chemistry Club will be hosting a FREE Welcome Back BBQ on Friday, September 5 behind Elliott Hall at 12:30 pm. Chemistry Students, Faculty and Staff are all welcome to attend.

August 15, 2014

Welcome Cathy Murimboh

The Chemistry Department welcomes Cathy Murimboh. Ms. Murimboh will be teaching Fundamental Chemistry 1 (CHEM 1013) and Fundamental Chemistry 2 (CHEM 1023). We all wish Ms. Murimboh a successful term at Acadia!

August 11, 2014

Welcome Kelly Stevens

The Chemistry Department welcomes Kelly Stevens. Kelly is the new technician for upper year inorganic and biochemistry labs. We all wish Kelly a successful time at Acadia!

May 26, 2014

ChemCon 2014

Acadia was once again very well represented at ChemCon, a regional undergraduate chemistry conference that was hosted by Acadia this year. The Organising Committee did a fantastic job delivering an excellent conference. Acadia students won the second most number of awards, behind Saint Mary's students:

Marc Hetu – Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation in Biological or Medicinal Chemistry
Charlotte Fuller – Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation in Biological or Medicinal Chemistry
Alex Veinot – Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation in Inorganic Chemistry
Mitch Pinto – Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation in Physical, Theoretical or Computational Chemistry
Jordan Gibson – Best Overall Presentation by an Undergraduate Student

Great job, everyone!

May 12, 2014

Congratulations Graduates!

Congratulations to our 2014 Chemistry Graduates:
Kelsea Black, Amber Davison, Shannon Fox, Jordan Gibson, Ashley Lohnes, Jakob Nickerson, Mat Stephenson, Lynsay Thurber and Stephen Wolfe

May 5, 2014

NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Awards (USRA)

Congratulations to Kira McLean, Mitch Pinto and Alex Veinot, who were awarded 2014 NSERC USRAs.

March 27, 2014

Chemistry Teaching Award

Congratulations to Dr. Vlad Zamlynny, who was selected by the chemistry students as this year's recipient of the Chemistry Teaching Award for his outstanding teaching. Dr. Zamlynny taught Physical Chemistry 1 (CHEM 2103), Analytical Chemistry 1 (CHEM 2813), Analytical Chemistry 2 (CHEM 3823) and the Enviromental Analytical Chemistry (CHEM 2853) labs this year.

January 9, 2014

Chemistry Research Showcase

Please join us for the Chemistry Department's annual Research Showcase on Thursday, January 9th at 4:30 pm. Faculty members will each be giving a short presentation about their research area and opportunities for summer research assistantships will be discussed. Students interested in pursuing Honours/Research (including summer research) in chemistry are encouraged to attend.

August 26, 2013

Welcome Jason McDonald

The Chemistry Department welcomes Jason McDonald. Jason is the new technician for upper year organic, inorganic and biochemistry labs. We all wish Jason a successful time at Acadia!

August 15, 2013

Welcome Dr. Gillis

The Chemistry Department welcomes Dr. Elizabeth Gillis. Dr. Gillis will be teaching Fundamental Chemistry (CHEM 1013), Physical Chemistry 2: Chemical Kinetics and lab (CHEM 3103 and 3100L) and the Metabolism lab (CHEM 3720L) during the fall semester. We all wish Dr. Gillis a successful term at Acadia!

May 24, 2013

Next Year's ChemCon

The Acadia Chemistry Students were successful in bidding to host next year's ChemCon. The conference was last hosted by Acadia in 2007. The MUN chemistry students set the bar very high after hosting a very successful conference and the Acadia chemistry students are looking forward to hosting an equally excellent conference next spring.

May 24, 2013

ChemCon 2013

Acadia was once again very well represented at ChemCon, a regional undergraduate chemistry conference that was hosted by MUN this year. We had the second most presenting delegates and we had the second largest number of students attending the conference. Our students won the second most number of awards, slightly behind MUN:

Julia Wright - Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation in Biological/Medicinal Chemistry
Eric Sampson - Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation in Organic Chemistry
Amber Davison - Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation in Analytical Chemistry
Emily Fraser - Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation in Inorganic Chemistry
Kimberly Hyson - Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation in Inorganic Chemistry
Julie Colpitts - Science Atlantic Communication Award (Oral)
Lynsay Thurber - Science Atlantic Communication Award (Poster)
Robie Hennigar - Science Atlantic Undergraduate Research Award
Crystal Sweeny - Best Graduate Oral Presentation

Great job, everyone!

May 13, 2013

Congratulations Graduates!

Congratulations to our 2013 Chemistry Graduates:
Alex Chase, Keegan Ezekiel, Emily Fraser, Kim Hyson, Will Koncovy, Brianna Vaughan, Hillary Wheeler and Jennifer Zwicker

May 6, 2013

NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Awards (USRA)

Congratulations to Jordan Gibson, Jamie Gillis, Jakob Nickerson, Eric Sampson, Mat Stephenson, Lynsay Thurber and Alex Veinot, who were awarded 2013 NSERC USRAs.

April 22, 2013

Banks Group Publication

Scanning tunneling microscopy tip-assisted modification of Ti(IV) dithiothreitol self-assembled monolayers on Au(111): restructuring of the gold surface

M.L. Cappello, K.A. Hardy, A.R. MacDairmid, Mark C. Gallagher and Jeffrey T. Banks

Canadian Journal of Chemistry, 2013, 91, 364 (read paper)

Abstract:
Au(111) surfaces modified by exposure to a dilute solution of a Ti(IV)/dithiothreitol ligand to metal charge transfer complex (Ti(DTT)₂) show a remarkable response to continuous scanning by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Vacancy islands on the gold surface, which are formed during the self-assembly of the molecular overlayer, coarsen and even merge during STM scanning at negative sample bias. In certain instances, the vacancy islands even line up to form parallel nanostructures. We believe the effect is due to mechanical interactions between tip and sample, which is enhanced by electrostatic effects. The Ti(DTT)₂ complex is anchored to the gold surface via Au−S bonds, but due to the fact that there are multiple thiol groups, there may be “uncoordinated” thiols left “dangling”. The tip-induced modification involves the interaction of the tip with these “dangling” sulfurs, which in turn causes movement of single complex molecules with the attached sulfur-bonded gold. Under negative sample bias, the electric field weakens the binding between the sulfur-bonded gold atoms and the surrounding gold atoms in the surface allowing for the observed tip-induced dynamics. In contrast with the Ti(DTT)₂ complex, a similar Ti(IV)/3-mercapto-1,2-propanediol complex (Ti(MPD)₂) does not exhibit any tip-induced effects. In this case, there are no dangling sulfurs to interact with the STM tip. In addition, similarly prepared dithiothreitol, dithiothreitol titanium isopropoxide, and 3-mercapto-1,2-propanediol self-assembled monolayers (without dangling sulfurs) do not exhibit the tip-induced effect.

March 26, 2013

Chemistry Teaching Award

Congratulations to Dr. Bobby Ellis, who was selected by the chemistry students as this year's recipient of the Chemistry Teaching Award for his outstanding teaching. Dr. Ellis taught Inorganic Chemistry 1 (CHEM 2303), Inorganic Chemistry 2 (CHEM 3313), Inorganic Chemistry 3 (CHEM 4323) and Structure Determination (CHEM 3523) this year.

March 7, 2013

Chemistry Students Accepted to Dalhousie Medical School

Congratulaitons to our chemistry students who have been accepted into the medical program at Dalhousie University:

Emily Fraser and Alex Chase

February 8, 2013

Congratulations to One of Our Fourth Year Chemistry Students

Emily Fraser, who will be graduating with a BScH in Chemistry, will be this year's Valedictorian for the graduating class of 2013.

Congratulations, Emily!!!

September 5, 2012

Welcome Back BBQ!

Welcome to all new and returning students. The Chemistry Club will be hosting a FREE Welcome Back BBQ tomorrow (Thursday, September 6) behind Elliott Hall at 4:30 pm.  Chemistry Students, Faculty and Staff are all welcome to attend.

September 5, 2012

New Department Members

Dr. Parker Rogerson is joining us this year to teach Biochemistry and First Year Chemistry courses, and Jim Frazee is returning to the department as a laboratory technician.

Welcome to the Department!

July 19, 2012

Congratulations to One of Our Recent Graduates

Congratulations to Paul Gray (Acadia Graduate '12) who has recevied an Outstanding Graduate Student Entrance Award ($30,000) from the University of Victoria. Good luck in Gradauate School!

May 18, 2012

ChemCon 2012

Acadia was once again very well represented at ChemCon. We had the second most presenting delegates and we had the second largest number of students attending the conference. Our students tied for the most awards with the host university CBU:

Julie Colpitts – Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation in Biological/Medicinal
Robie Hennigar – Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation in Inorganic Chemistry
Jim Ghoshdastidar – Best Graduate Oral Presentation
Tariq Sainuddin – Best Graduate Poster Presentation
Crystal Sweeney – E. Gordon Young Award for Best Pedagogical Graduate Oral Presentation

May 17, 2012

Nova Scotia Energy Research and Development Forum

Jim Ghoshdastidar was awarded Best Poster Presentation in the Alternative Energy and Sustainability category at the Nova Scotia Energy Research and Development Forum.This is the second award Jim has won at the conference; he previously won Best Poster Presentation in the Environment Category at the 2010 NS Energy Research and Development Forum.

The conference, a mix of academia, industry and government, is held every two years by the Offshore Energy Environmental Reseearch (OEER) and Offshore Energy Technical Research (OETR) Associations.

Congratulations, Jim!

May 14, 2012

Congratulations Graduates

Congratulations to our 2012 Chemistry Graduates:

Tara Connors, Paul Gray, Richard Lincoln, Melanie McKinnon, Lia McCarthy, Hannah Nickerson and Jim Ghoshdastidar

May 7, 2012

NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Awards (USRA)

Congratulations to Emily Fraser, Lynsay Thurber and Alex Chase, who were awarded 2012 NSERC USRAs.

April 19, 2012

Masters Defence

Congratulations to Jim Avik Ghoshdastidar on the sucessful completion of his Masters defence. Jim worked under the supervision of Dr. Tong. His thesis was entitled "Treatment of Organophosphorus Insecticides and Phenoxyacetic Acid Herbicides using Membrane Bioreactor Technology."

Great job, Jim!

April 4, 2012

Chemistry Teaching Award

Congratulations to Dr. Sherri McFarland, who was selected by the chemistry students as this year's recipient of the Chemistry Teaching Award for her outstanding teaching. Dr. McFarland taught Biochemistry 1 (CHEM 2713) and Topics in Biochemistry (CHEM 4723) this year.

April 3, 2012

NSERC Graduate Scholarship

Congratulations to Richard Lincoln who was awarded a 2012 NSERC Graduate Scholarship!

April 2, 2012

Chemistry Curling

Congratulations to our Chemistry Curlers! Team MBR (Jim Ghoshdastidar, Martin Sichinga and Corbin Russell) won the Acadia Curling Funspiel on Friday, March 30, 2012!

March 12, 2012

Science Atlantic Environment Conference 2012

Acadia was well-represented at this year's Science Atlantic Environment Conference. Jim Ghoshdastidar was awarded First Place (Graduate) for his oral presentation on Membrane Bioreactor Treatment of Organophosphate and Phenoxyacetic Acid Pesticides in Wastewater.

Congratulations, Jim!

November 9, 2011

Chemistry Distillates

The latest issue of Chemistry Distillates is now available. Current and previous issues of Chemistry Distillates can be found under the Seminars and News section of the Chemistry Department's website.

Volume 15, No. 1 - November 2011

September 1, 2011

New Department Members

Ashley Parsons is returning this fall as our First Year Laboratory Instructor, Teri Gullon is joining us as the Second Year Organic & Biochemistry Instructor and Aimée Adams is our new Biochemistry & Upper Year laboratory technician.

Welcome to the Department!

July 4, 2011

Opportunistic use of tetrachloroaurate photolysis in the generation ofreductive species for the production of gold nanostructures

Katherine L. McGilvray, Jenna Granger, Maria Correia, Jeffrey T. Banks and J. C. Scaiano

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics,2011,13, 11914 (read paper)

Abstract:

The photolysis of gold salts is rarely viewed as the initiation for gold nanoparticle (AuNP) formation. Yet, photolysis of AuCl₄⁻ generates chlorine atoms whose rich hydrogen transfer chemistry can readily generate strongly reducing radicals. Interesting precursors include hydrogen peroxide, 2-propanol, 1,4-cyclohexadiene and tetrahydrofuran; all of them yield strongly reducing radicals. Further, this group of substrates has been selected because of the innocuous and volatile nature of reagents and products, thus allowing a remarkably clean synthesis of gold nanostructures. In the case of H₂O₂the by-products are water and oxygen. The methodology reported here opens the door to particles that can be modified in situ or post-synthesis with custom surface covering without concern for chemical debris from the nanostructure synthesis.

June 24, 2011

McLeod Pre-Med Scholarship

Hannah Nickerson, Emily Fraser, Alex Chase, Jordan Gibson and Mathew Stephenson have been selected as recipents of Clarke K. McLeod Pre-Medical Scholarships. These prestigious scholarships are awarded annually to superior students who have completed at least one year of study at Acadia and are registered in a Bachelor's degree program following the pre-medical program prescribed by McGill University. In addition, the recipient must register for a full course load of 30 hours and maintain at least an 80 percent average with no grade less than 70 percent.

Congratulations Hannah, Emily, Alex, Jordan and Mat!

June 23, 2011

New Adjunt Professor

Dr. David Magri, who was previously an Instructor in the Chemistry Department, has been appointed as our newest Adjunct Professor. Dr. Magri is currently a member of the Chemistry Department at the University of Malta.

May 24, 2011

ChemCon 2011

Acadia was very well represented at ChemCon 2011. We tied for the most presenting delegates and we had the largest number of students attending the conference. Our students won more awards than any other university this year, including the top awards for undergraduate and graduate student presentations:

Christie Hollingdale – Sepracor Award for Best Undergraduate Presentation
Richard Lincoln – APICS Undergraduate Science Communication Award
Kayleigh Brown – Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation (Physical, Theoretical or Computational Chemistry)
Jim Ghoshdastidar – Best Graduate Oral Presentation
Colin Spencer – E. Gordon Young Award for Best Pedagogical Graduate Oral Presentation

May 2, 2011

NSERC Undergraduate Research Awards (USRA)

Congratulations to Paul Gray, Richard Lincoln, Hannah Nickerson and Alex Chase, who were awarded 2011 NSERC USRAs.

December 3, 2010

Breast Cancer Research Funding

Acadia Chemistry professor Dr. Amitabh Jha was recently awarded $15,000 from Springboard Atlantic Inc. for his continued work around the development of a novel Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulator (SERM) compound.  SERM compounds, such as Tamoxifen,  are used to fight breast cancer and osteoporosis, and Dr. Jha’s compound shows significant promise.  Dr. Jha has also recently received funding from the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

November 12, 2010

Tong Group Highlihghted on Global TV

Research in the Chemistry Department at Acadia University is underway to examine how bioreactors can be used to clean up waster water, and was highlighted on the Global TV "Smart Shift" program.

Watch the news story at:

http://www.financialpost.com/executive/smart-shift/video/index.html?category=Sponsor/Smart+Shift&video=rShWrDYoRxJML3xl2jrMOP9pBj4qW4nd

August 3, 2010

New Member of the Department

We welcome the newest member of our department, Ashley Parsons, who is joining us as the First Year Lab Instructor.

July 16, 2010

Environmental Research Funding

Dr. Anthony Tong has received $11,000 to support an intern for six months on the project, Investigation of Pharmaceuticals in Water in Nova Scotia. Pharmaceuticals are continuously released into surface and ground waters.  In this project, 20 commonly used pharmaceutical drugs will be identified and quantified from samples of both urban and rural waters in Nova Scotia.  Dr. Tong’s state-of-the-art analytical equipment provides the required sensitivity for monitoring pharmaceuticals in water.  The intern will work on analytical method development, field sampling, sample analysis, and data interpretation.

July 7, 2010

Breast Cancer Research Funding

Dr. Amitabh Jha has been awarded $118,680 over the next two years from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF) - Atlantic Region.  In association with his co-applicant, Dr. Catherine Too from Dalhousie University, and collaborator, Dr. Christopher Barden with the Cheminformatics and Drug Discovery Laboratory, IWK Health Centre, Amitabh will lead the project, “Fine Tuning of Novel Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulations”. This funding will support efforts to further develop effective and safe anti-breast cancer agents.  Amitabh’s research team will be specifically synthesizing, characterizing and bio-evaluating a number of novel selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) which could block the effects of the female sex hormone, estrogen, in breast tissue, and control breast cancer growth.  The total value of funds awarded by the CBCF - Atlantic Region for research this year was $856,759.

June 7, 2010

Breast Cancer Research Funding

Dr. Amitabh Jha, Department of Chemistry, and Dr. Catherine Too, Dalhousie University, have received a Breast Cancer Society of Canada/QEII Foundation Award for Breast Cancer Research. Administered jointly by the QEII Foundation and the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute in Halifax, the funding is in support of the project, “Development of Novel Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators”.  The award is for $50,757 over two years.  The total funding available for this competition was $150,000.

This project will build on Amitabh’s ongoing research to design and synthesize new drugs for the treatment of breast cancer – the most common form of cancer in women.  The long term objective of the research is to develop effective and safe anti-breast cancer agents, to improve the survival and quality of life for patients suffering from breast cancer.

May 17, 2010

ChemCon 2010

Congratulations to the Acadia students for their excellent presentations at this year's ChemCon, including the award-winning presentations by Suzie Blatt and Emma Hebb.

May 3, 2010

NSERC Undergraduate Research Awards (USRA)

Congratulations to Ryan DeCoste, Paul Gray, Richard Lincoln and Hannah Nickerson who were awarded 2010 NSERC USRAs.

May 3, 2010

NSHRF Award

Chemistry Master's Candidate Jim Ghoshdastidar was awarded a 2010-11 Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation (NSHRF) Student Research Award. Congratulations Jim!

February 22, 2010

Diverse DNA-Cleaving Capacities of the Jadomycins through Precursor-Directed Biosynthesis

Krista M. Cottreau, Colin Spencer, Jason R. Wentzell, Cathy L. Graham, Charles N. Borissow, David L. Jakeman and Sherri A. McFarland

Organic Letters, 2010, 12(6), 1172 (read paper)

Abstract:

Gel mobility assays were used to establish that some members of the jadomycin family of natural products act as DNA cleaving agents. Moreover, it was found that subtle structural changes generated through the use of precursor-directed biosynthesis lead to marked effects on the DNA-damaging properties of these glycosylated polyketide-derived natural products.

February 10, 2010

Photobiological Activity of Ru(II) Dyads Based on (Pyren-1-yl)ethynyl Derivatives of 1,10-Phenanthroline

Susan Monro, John Scott, Abdellatif Chouai, Richard Lincoln, Ruifa Zong, Randolph P. Thummel and Sherri A. McFarland

Inorganic Chemistry, 2010, 49(6), 2889 (read paper)

Abstract:

Several mononuclear Ru(II) dyads possessing 1,10-phenanthroline-appended pyrenylethynylene ligands were synthesized, characterized, and evaluated for their potential in photobiological applications such as photodynamic therapy (PDT). These complexes interact with DNA via intercalation and photocleave DNA in vitro at submicromolar concentrations when irradiated with visible light (λ_irr ≥ 400 nm). Such properties are remarkably sensitive to the position of the ethynylpyrenyl substituent on the 1,10-phenanthroline ring, with 3-substitution showing the strongest binding under all conditions and causing the most deleterious DNA damage. Both dyads photocleave DNA under hypoxic conditions, and this photoactivity translates well to cytotoxicity and photocytotoxicity models using human leukemia cells, where the 5- and 3-substituted dyads show photocytotoxicity at 5−10 μM and 10−20 μM, respectively, with minimal, or essentially no, dark toxicity at these concentrations. This lack of dark cytotoxicity at concentrations where significant photoactivity is observed emphasizes that agents with strong intercalating units, previously thought to be too toxic for phototherapeutic applications, should not be excluded from the arsenal of potential photochemotherapeutic agents under investigation.

January 12, 2010

From PASS 1 to YES to AND logic: building parallel processing into molecular logic gates by sequential addition of receptors

David C. Magri and A. Prasanna de Silva

New Journal of Chemistry, 2010, 34, 476-481 (read paper)

Abstract:

The synthesis and photophysical characterization of a novel molecular logic gate 4, operating in water, is demonstrated based on the competition between fluorescence and photoinduced electron transfer (PET). It is constructed according to a ‘fluorophore–spacer–receptor1–spacer–receptor2’ format where anthracene is the fluorophore, receptor1 is a tertiary amine and receptor2 is a phenyliminodiacetate ligand. Using only protons and zinc cations as the chemical inputs and fluorescence as the output, 4 is demonstrated to be both a two-input AND and INH logic gate. When 4 is examined in context to the YES logic gates 1 and 2, and the two-input AND logic gate 3 and three-input AND logic gate 5, each with one or more of the following receptors including a tertiary amine, phenyliminodiacetate or benzo-15-crown-5 ether, logic gate 4 is the missing link in the homologous series. Collectively, the molecular logic gates 1–5 corroborate the PET ‘fluorophore–spacer–receptor’ model using chemical inputs and a light-signal output and provide insight into controlling the fluorescence quantum yield of future PET-based molecular logic gates.