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Kimberly Alley may have jumped at the chance to conduct lab research with Stanton Ching, but the heights she has already reached have exceeded her expectations.
“One of my goals for Kimberly and for all the students in my lab is that they don’t just do an experiment, then ask ‘What do I do next?’” said Ching, the Margaret W. Kelly Professor of Chemistry. “I want them to come to me and say, ‘I did this experiment. This is what I think happened. And this is what I think we should do next.’”
And that is exactly what Alley did.
Wanting to build on Ching’s research, which involves developing new synthetic routes that have practical applications for everything from remediating toxic waste to rechargeable battery technology, Alley learned that all these applications require solid surfaces to come in contact with another substance. Their effectiveness, however, is increased substantially by making smaller particles, which in turn deliver higher surface area and thus more contact area. As such, discovering the best material or compound is essential to success.
Previous students have helped develop interesting materials with hollow sphere shapes that have a uniform size of less than 1/1000th of a millimeter and very high surface area. (For comparison, a human hair is about 1/10th of a millimeter.)
Alley, in partnership with fellow researcher Stephanie Jackvony ’18 and Ching, decided to examine the possibility of modifying the properties further.
“I worked on turning various transition metals into hollow nanospheres,” she explained. “I then analyzed their properties and tested their catalytic activity."
At each step in the process, Alley found herself reflecting on the opportunity.
“It’s very exciting to think about what I’ve been able to do at Conn after being here one year,” she said, noting that without Ching’s support, she might not have been able to dip her toe into lab research as early as she did.
“Having this type of experience has been a major factor in my decision to major in chemistry because I know that I have the opportunity to get my hands on some real-life applications of concepts learned in the classroom,” she said.
And she isn’t stopping there. Interested in medicinal chemistry and eager to learn about drug development, she shadowed a few students in Timo Ovaska’s organic chemistry laboratory. Ovaska is the Hans and Ella McCollum ’21 Vahlteich Professor of Chemistry.
“The students in Professor Ovaska’s lab are working on various syntheses of ringed structures, which have been known to exhibit a range of important medicinal properties. Once I have learned the ropes, I may also do an independent study for credit in his lab.”
She may even try to study and conduct research abroad. Either way, her time at Conn is proving to be exactly what she wanted.
“Working in both Professor Ching’s inorganic lab over the summer and Professor Ovaska’s organic lab in the fall has given me insight into some of the options for further chemistry research,” she said. “While it’s still early, I am already looking ahead to graduate school and to attaining my doctorate. I am also hopeful that someday I will be able to help future students just like me experience the hands-on learning that defines Conn.”