The chemistry department is pleased to have Dr. Steve Theberge joining us for a one year, NSF AIRE Fellow. Steve will have a mix of teaching, research, and curriculum development responsibilities. He will be directly supervised by Associate Professor Whitney King.
Teaching: Steve will be teaching two of our Advanced General Chemistry labs, a nonmajors lab, and Environmental Chemistry. His teaching load is designed to give him experience in both laboratory and classroom teaching to a diverse audience of Colby students.
Research: Steve will work with Prof. Kingšs research group investigating the rates and mechanisms of metal redox cycling in natural waters. This work will involve optimization of ultra-sensitive analytical tools for the analysis of H2O2, Fe(II), O2-, Cr(III), Mn(III), and Co(II). These systems will be used to investigate photochemically driven redox cycling of metals and reactive oxygen species in well defined laboratory systems as models for seawater and lake water chemistry.
Curriculum Development: Steve will work with Prof. King to develop a number of new chemistry labs based around the theme of environmental or forensic chemistry. These labs will use available analytical equipment (ICP, GC-MS, FTIR, UV-Vis) and will be developed for three levels of students; the nonmajor, the general science major, and the junior chemistry major.