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Chem, biochem department host high school teachers
4:22 p.m., Oct. 20, 2006--In a darkened room, on a screen before a group of Delaware high school chemistry teachers, something that looked like a string with protrusions appeared. The string writhed and bent and whipped portions of itself back and forth until it began to grow. Tom Beebe, professor of chemistry, told the teachers they were looking at a video of a living neuron taken from a baby rat. It was photographed over a three-hour period, but here it was speeded up. He told them the technique is called video microscopy, and that scientists now have dozens of new methods to observe chemical phenomenon on a molecular and even atomic level that could one day lead to the regeneration of a damaged central nervous system. Oct. 13 was a statewide professional service day for Delaware teachers, and 20 chemistry teachers visited UD's chemistry and biochemistry department to learn more about the latest research. Seven professors with specialties in a wide variety of disciplines provided the teachers with an overview of the work they are doing in chemistry at the surface and molecular levels. Kate Scantlebury, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry and secondary science education coordinator, organized the day's events which included morning and afternoon presentations, lunch at the Blue & Gold Club and a tour of UD's science laboratories. Gwyneth Sharp, a chemistry teacher with the Delaware Department of Education's Science Coalition, said the UD program is essential for chemistry teachers. “It's extremely important for high school science teachers to recognize where [in science] their students will be going,” she said. The teachers' day began in Brown Lab with a series of lectures and demonstrations giving them an overview of research and new research techniques. Later, the teachers took a tour of the facility and were able to see firsthand the instruments and devices described in each professor's presentation. John Burmeister, Alumni Distinguished Professor and associate chairperson of the department, welcomed the teachers with a “then-and-now” picture of the department. He said when he first arrived at UD 43 years ago, there was just a department of chemistry in one science building, Brown Lab, that chemistry shared with chemical engineering and just a few graduate students. Now the department inhabits Brown, Drake and Lammot du Pont labs and has 150 graduate students. “Our program is gigantic. Out of 634 American Chemical Society-certified undergraduate programs in the country, UD graduated the 10th largest number of bachelor's degree students in 2005,” he said. “We really believe in undergraduate research,” Burmeister said. “Eighty-five percent of the undergraduates in this department do research. Please encourage your students to come to UD.” John Koh, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, who specializes in structure-based design and synthesis of molecules at the interface of chemistry and biology, told teachers that they are applying chemistry in new areas. “We are the first generation to be able to see biology at the chemical level,” he said, and because of that, scientists can now create molecules. Koh's lab has been working with the molecular structure of hormones, especially hormone receptors that “go bad” creating mutations at the genetic level that can cause diseases such as breast and prostate cancer and rickets. “On the computer, we can zoom in to look at the genes that have malformed, then use computer models to try and figure out how to bond the malformed genes in the rickets hormone,” he said. Beebe, director of UD's surface-analysis facility, described some of the instruments the facility has made available to the scientific community for “building biomaterial bridges” to the molecular and atomic structure of chemical surfaces. After his presentation, he urged teachers to let their students know that there are research opportunities for them at UD. “I'd like to put in a plug for you to tell your students about the availability of clinical research at UD,” Beebe said. When the morning session ended, teachers went to the Blue & Gold Club for a luncheon hosted by Tom Apple, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. After lunch, Douglas Doren, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, described his work in computational chemistry; Caroline Nam Laufer, a postdoctoral researcher in chemical engineering, gave an overview of her research into shear-thickening fluid composites for body armor applications; and Murray V. Johnston III, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, explained his research into the chemical analysis of particles in the air we breathe. Charlene Kemmerle, a teacher at Dover High School and a UD graduate, said she was impressed with all that she heard. “Maybe we can get a course, at the high school level, to teach biochemistry,” she said. Article by Barbara Garrison The |
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