Empowering Women in Science

Kathryn Kloepper - June 2008

Kathryn Kloepper, a fifth year graduate student in the Department of Chemistry in the Rienstra group, recently graduated with her Ph.D. in chemistry (specialization in Analytical Chemistry). After graduation, she will be moving to Canton, NY for a 2008-2009 appointment at St. Lawrence University as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Physical Chemistry. Kathy's research focused on the protein alpha-synuclein. She used solid-state NMR techniques to obtain structural information on these amyloid-type fibrils, which have been implicated in such neurodegenerative diseases as Parkinson's disease. During her time at Illinois, Kathy was active in a number of departmental activities, such as the WCC (a founding member) and the analytical student- selected speaker committee. She also was involved in several outreach programs. This past year she developed an afternoon forensics program for high schoolers and assisted the undergraduate ACS student affiliates in implementing it at a local high school, Urbana High. Kathy is from Auburn, AL. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Dallas (Irving, TX) in 2003. After her appointment at St. Lawrence, she looks forward to continuing a career in undergraduate teaching and research.

Stefanie Bumpus - May 2008

Stefanie Bumpus, a fourth year graduate student in the Department of Chemistry in the Kelleher Group, is the recipient of the 2008 Grafton Chase Award from the Clinical Ligand Assay Society. Stefanie will present an award lecture on her graduate research at the Societys 2008 International Meeting in June.

Stefanie's thesis research focuses on the development of new proteomics methods to study the biosynthesis of natural products, specifically non-ribosomal peptides and polyketides, as well as the in vitro characterization of these biosynthetic systems using Fourier-transform mass spectrometry. She is active in a variety of departmental and campus activities, including the Graduate College Career Advisory Committee and the Institute for Genomic Biology Student Events Committee, and is on the planning committees for two lecture series.

Stefanie is from Henderson, KY. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Louisville (Louisville, KY) in 2005. Upon graduation, she will pursue a career in industry.

Amy Nicely - December 2007

Amy Nicely, a fourth year chemistry student (Physical) in the Lisy group, will be the chair of our WCC chapter for 2008. She is excited about the many activities already being planned for the year, including the 3rd annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, the 2nd annual Retreat for Graduate Women and a new day camp for middle school girls. Amy’s main goal for this year is to expand the focus of the WCC beyond the UIUC Department of Chemistry through outreach and networking opportunities that will involve the entire membership of the East Central Illinois ACS chapter.

Amy’s thesis research focuses on the competition between noncovalent interactions using tandem mass spectrometry and infrared vibrational spectroscopy. She is currently studying the stepwise hydration of cluster ions containing potassium and tryptamine.

Amy is from Wexford, Pennsylvania. She received her B.S. in chemistry from North Carolina State University in 2005. In addition to her work with the WCC, Amy has also been involved with the UIUC Graduate College and currently serves on the Graduate College Student Advisory Committee (GCSAC).

Jamie Iannacone - October 2007

Jamie Iannacone, who recently received her PhD in chemistry (Analytical), was in the Sweedler group and was the recipient of a 2008 Colgate-Palmolive Graduate Fellowship Award.  This award is granted to students interested in the consumer products industry.
 
Jamie’s thesis research focuses on the development of hybrid micro/nanofluidic analytical tools to simplify sample preparation schemes and facilitate more direct chemical analyses.  She is also active in the WCC, serving as the WCC chair for 2006-2007.
 
Jamie is from Watervliet, NY.  She received her B.S. in chemistry from Union College (Schenectady, NY) in 2003.  Following her defense, Jamie will be returning to upstate New York where she has accepted a job as an Analytical Scientist at Momentive Performance Materials.

Heather Frericks-Schmidt - September 2007

Heather Frericks-Schmidt, a fifth year chemistry student (Physical) in the Rienstra group, is the recipient of the 2007-2008 Merck Graduate Fellowship in Analytical/Physical Chemistry.  As part of the award, Heather will travel to Merck to participate in a research symposium.
 
Heather’s thesis research focuses on the elucidation of the mechanism of E. coli cytochrome bo3 oxidase using high-field solid-state NMR techniques.  She has also worked on several other large membrane proteins.

Heather recently defended, earning her Ph.D. She will now be moving to Groton, CT to begin a position at Pfizer Global Research and Development. As a Senior Scientist in Pfizer's Material Science department, she will be characterizing solid pharmaceuticals by solid-state NMR spectroscopy.
 

Lindsay Sperling - August 2007

Lindsay Sperling, a third year chemistry student (Physical) in the Rienstra group, was featured this past semester in  Chemical Engineering News, both in print and online in C&EN Latest News. The article highlighted the work presented in Wylie, B. J.; Sperling, L. J.; Frericks, H. L.; Shah, G. J.; Franks, W. T.; Rienstra, C. M., J. Am. Chem. Soc. (Communication) 2007, 129, 5318-5319.  

The paper examined the anisotropic chemical shifts in the protein GB1 using solid-state NMR.  This was accomplished through analysis of solid-state NMR spectra acquired using slow magic-angle spinning techniques along with fractional labeling schemes.

Lindsay is from Churchville, NY, and graduated from the State University of New York at Geneseo in 2006 with her B.S. in chemistry with a minor in physics.  When not teaching or in the lab, Lindsay enjoys biking, reading, and swimming.  
 

Mary Caruso - June 2007 

Mary Caruso, a third year chemistry student (Organic) in the Moore group, recently received the prestigious National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship. This three year award will support Mary’s thesis work, which is addressing the development of more practical, compartmentalized self-healing polymer materials.  Some of her work was presented by Neil Reimer at the 2007 Undergraduate Symposium.  

Mary is from Tampa, FL, and she received her B.S. in Chemistry (minor in Spanish) from Elon University in North Carolina.

When she is not in the lab, Mary can often be found outdoors running or playing sports such as basketball, softball, and football.  Mary is also an active member of Zeta Phi Beta, an African-American sorority that is committed to uplifting the community through service and Finer Womanhood.  After obtaining her Ph.D. in chemistry, Mary would like to research for NASA or another governmental research laboratory.