Chemistry Faculty Member Attends IUPAC

Assistant Professor of Chemistry Raychelle Burks was invited to attend the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) 2017 49th General Assembly in Sao Paolo, Brazil 9 – 14 July 2017 as one of the Young Observers selected by the U.S. National Committee of the National Academy of Science for IUPAC.  Dr. Burks was one of only 8 young scientists selected as part of a national competition.

Dr. Burks also secured travel funding to support her attendance from the Central Texas Chapter of the American Chemical Society and from the ACS International Activities office.

Congratulations to Dr. Burks.  We look forward to hearing about your travels and what you learned at the conference!

Chemistry Professor Featured in Discover Magazine

First-year Assistant Professor of Chemistry Raychelle Burks was recently identified in a Discover Magazine story entitled, “The Heroes of Science” as one of the “Science Stars of the next generation.”  The list of “Heroes” includes Jane Goodall, Stephen Hawking, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Carl Sagan — pretty good company, indeed!  Congrats to Dr. Burks!

Newest Chemistry Faculty Member Invited to Stanford Conference

First-year Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Dr. Raychelle Burks, has received an invitation to attend the Women of Color in the Academy conference at Stanford University, 9 – 11 March 2017.  Dr. Burks was one of 50 applicants selected from over 1000 who applied!  Her award includes airfare and accommodations.  Congratulations to Dr. Burks for her selection. We look forward to a future post on NSCI News to tell us about her experience at the conference.

Welcome Our New NSCI Full-Time Faculty Members

I’m excited to welcome our new, full-time colleagues to NSCI:

  • Kaitlyn Phillipson, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
  • Raychelle Burks, Assistant Professor of Chemistry
  • Thomas Moe, Visiting Assistant Professor of Computer Science
  • Mitch Phillipson, Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics
  • Erika Schwarz, Visiting Assistnat Professor of Biological Sciences
  • Casey Parish-Fisher, Assistant Professor of Forensic Science

Be sure to say, “Hello!” and offer your welcome and greetings to our new, full-time colleagues this year.

Kaitlyn comes to us from Texas A&M, where she just earned her Ph.D. this past Spring.  Her husband Mitch got his Ph.D. from A&M in May 2015 and spent the last year teaching at SUNY Oswego.  They both join our Dept. of Mathematics.

Raychelle (a.k.a., Dr. Rubidium or @DrRubidium on Twitter) joins our Dept. of Chemistry from Doane College, where she taught the last 3 years after two years of teaching at Seattle University and a summer semester at Seattle Central Community College.  Her Ph.D. is from U. Nebraska, Lincoln.

Thomas just retired after 23 years working with the Texas Legislature, most recently as a manger of infrastructure and operations in I.T.  His MS degree is from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. He’s joining our Dept. of Computer Sciences.

Erika arrives at St. Ed’s after adjuncting for 3 years at ACC (where she taught) Biotechnology and Biology) while she was completing her Ph.D. at the University of Texas, earning her degree this past May. She will be on the faculty in the Dept. of Biological Sciences this academic year.

Finally, we’re happy to formally welcome Casie Parish-Fisher as a member of the NSCI faculty!  Casie has led the Forensic Science program at St. Edward’s in the School of Behavioral and Social Sciences since 2008.  She had her Ph.D. conferred this past year from the University of Central Lancashire and moved her program to NSCI (under the Dept. of Chemistry) this past summer.

Welcome to all!