Research Opportunities in Chemistry

Please note that these are subject to change

Ryan Coppage

Focus: Ceramics and Nanomaterials - glazes and color mechanism
Current openings in your research lab: Yes
Opening available for summer research: TBD
Length of summer research: 6-8 weeks (minimum of 4 consecutive semesters of research (students are still able to study abroad)
Required student skills: Work ethic, organization, commitment to a substantial research experience

Focus: Putative Protein Identification and characterization; Antibiotic Discovery from Environmental Microbes
Current openings in your research lab: No
Opening available for summer research 2026: No
Length of summer research: 6-10 weeks
Required student skills: work ethic; persistent positive attitude.

Focus: Theoretical Chemistry; Computational Chemistry. We solve problems anywhere in Chemistry (understanding reactions and bonding) using computer modeling.
Current openings in your research lab: Yes
Opening available for summer 2026 research: Yes
Length of summer research: 8-10 weeks; 10 weeks preferred.
Required student skills: Intellectual curiosity, joy in problem solving, hard working, CHEM 141.

Focus: New Synthetic Methods with impact on pharmaceutical research
Current openings in your research lab: No
Opening available for summer 2026 research: Yes
Length of summer research: 10 weeks required
Required student skills: Chem 205 preferred, willingness to commit to multiple years of research. Third-level spells (e.g. fireball, fly, remove curse, speak with dead) and ability to speak ogre, orc, and/or bugbear are a plus.

Michelle Hamm

Focus: DNA damage, repair, and mutagenesis. Specifically, the bioactivity of 8-oxo-2’-deoxyguanosine, one of the most common types of damage in mammalian cells. I use both biochemical and organic synthesis techniques in my lab.
Current openings in your research lab: Yes
Opening available for summer research 2026: Yes
Length of summer research: 6 to 10 weeks
Required student skills: Work ethic, organization, interest in science. No previous research experience required.

Focus: Organometallic Chemistry and Catalysis
Current openings in your research lab: Yes for Spring 2026); 1st and 2nd year students
Opening available for summer 2026 research: Yes
Length of summer research: 9 to 10 weeks
Required student skills: Work ethic, interest in science, excitement for discovering new things, commitment to safety and ethical conduct, appreciate bad puns

Focus: Bioanalytical and Nanomaterials - Sensor Design (Forensic, Industrial, and Biomedical applications)
Current openings in your research lab: No
Opening available for summer research: Assesed in spring of 2026
Length of summer research: 6-10 weeks (need 8 weeks to meet research requirement for the major); At least one summer expected/required and/or minimum of 4 consecutive semesters of research (students are still able to study abroad)
Required student skills: Work ethic, organization, commitment to having meaningful research experience and getting something accomplished. Students must have an interest in and/or career trajectory that involves some form of research.

Focus: Using data analytics tools to determine trends in the biosynthesis of natural products with medicinal properties
Current openings in your research lab: Yes
Opening available for summer 2026 research: Yes
Length of summer research: 6-10 weeks
Required student skills: Desire to learn and ask questions, organized, committed to engage in meaningful research experience.

Focus: Catalyst synthesis and design, CO2 reduction, alternative energy, collaboration - killing cancer
Current openings in your research lab: No
Opening available for summer 2026 research: No
Length of summer research: 8-10 weeks
Required student skills: None required, but willingness to fail (multiple times) preferred.

Will O'Neal

Focus: Organic synthesis primarily of small heterocycles and method development for teaching tools
Current openings in your research lab: Yes
Opening available for summer research: Yes
Length of summer research: 6-10 weeks
Required student skills: No previous research experience. Preferred completion of CHEM 205L. Intellectual curiosity; organization; positive attitude; excitement for problem-solving.

Focus: Computational Chemistry; projects are available using quantum mechanics to better understand how potential anti-cancer drugs function. There may also be projects available using molecular dynamics to design drugs for treating various diseases.
Current openings in your research lab: possibly, for students who have taken or are currently enrolled in physical chemistry
Opening available for summer 2026 research: possibly but must join lab in Spring 2026 for training
Length of summer research: 10 weeks
Required student skills: Organization skills, willing to work hard. no previous research experience is required.

Focus: Chemical Biology of diseases such as cancer, inflammation, and antibiotic resistance; students will develop different technical skills in protein biochemistry, and mammalian cell culture depending on their interests.
Current openings in your research lab: Yes
Opening available for summer research 2026: Yes
Length of summer research: 8-10 weeks
Required student skills: Commitment to and enthusiasm for having meaningful research experience, organization. No previous research experience is required.

Focus: Organic synthesis and peptide science.
Current openings in your research lab: Yes, for current first-years and sophomores.
Opening available for summer research: Yes
Length of summer research: 10 weeks
Required student skills: Chem 205 preferred, excited about scientific discovery, hard working.

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