Biographical Information

Assistant Professor California State University (7/98- Current) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Optical Spectroscopy of Zeolite Materials and Geologically Important Systems. Studies are focused on competitive sorption / desorption of organic halogenated species from aqueous solution and metal ion migration in zeolite materials. Additional studies are focused on the evaluation of dissolved organic carbon present in San Joaquin Delta water and its role in trihalomethane formation in California drinking water.

Postdoctoral Research. Dr. William Earl. Los Alamos National Laboratory (3/97-7/98). Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Studies of Catalytic and Environmentally Important Materials. Studies focused upon the synthesis, analytical analysis, design, implementation, and interpretation of experiments for examination of structural elucidation, heterogeneous interactions, and dynamic phenomenon in zeolites and other important materials using a variety of novel solid state NMR techniques.

Postdoctoral Research. Professor W. H. Casey and Dr. Brian Phillips. University of California, Davis (6/95-3/97) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Studies of Reactions at Mineral Surfaces. Studies focused upon examination of absorbed ligand influence upon kinetic processes at mineral surfaces. An important correlation linking complex-H₂¹⁷O exchange in solution phase and surface dissolution processes was established through these studies.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Kinetic Studies of Conformational Processes. Professor N.S. True.Work included a variety of gas phase and solution phase multinuclear NMR experiments with the goal of developing a better understanding of the thermodynamics, kinetics, and phase dependence associated with conformational processes. Calculations using ab initio methods were performed for comparison with experimental results. Studies focused upon simple model systems of biological significance and upon the development of methods to investigate gas phase conformational processes over extended pressure ranges (0.1 to 150 atm) for comparison with predictions given by RRKM / transition state theory.

Ph.D., Physical Chemistry, University of California, Davis, June 1995. Professor D.S. Tinti. Optical and Magnetic Resonance Studies of Triplet Excited States at Zero, Low and High External Magnetic Field Strengths. Experimental work included optical spectroscopy and optically detected magnetic resonance(ODMR) studies of glasses and oriented single crystal guest/host systems at cryogenic temperatures (1.2K and 4.2K). Dynamic experiments of synthesized isotopically labeled systems. Analysis of solid state host effects, optically detected ESR hyperfine structure, lifetimes, isotope effects, zero field transitions, optical Zeeman spectra, and optical phosphorescence emission spectra of excited states.

Visiting Research. Dow Chemical Company Walnut Creek, California. 6/89-9/89. Development of an in situ fiber-optic fluorescence probing technique applied to elucidation of the curing mechanism in epoxy resins.

Masters Research. Professor J.P. DeLuca. Illinois State University, 8/87-6/89. Solvent Effect Studies on the Photochemical Reactions of Singlet Methylene. Studies involved development of photochemical methods, synthesis, and statistical analysis of reaction products with extensive use of gas chromatography, mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Bachelor of Science, Chemistry, Illinois State University, June 1987.