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Training Tomorrow’s Scientists  Much of Professor Rebecca Hoye’s research focuses on taking compounds, structures found in nature, and trying to duplicate them in the laboratory. One of her students, senior chemistry major Erica Schultz of Owatonna, Minnesota, is in the midst of 15 months of research seeking to expand this kind of synthesis to another compound. “I am so sincerely grateful to have this research opportunity and for Professor Hoye’s lab, which I know it wouldn’t be possible without support from the school and private donors,” says Schultz. Schultz’s research has two phases: first, refining the methodology to make a new reaction possible, and second, looking at the applications of that reaction in the synthesis of compounds for pharmaceuticals, nanotechnology and materials science. “I am so sincerely grateful to have this research opportunity and for Professor Hoye’s lab, which I know it wouldn’t be possible without support from the school and private donors,” says Erica Schultz. Although the chemistry may be difficult for the non-scientist to understand, anyone can appreciate what it does for students and therefore, the future. “The scientific workforce is dwindling,” says Hoye. “To interest students in scientific careers, we have to have undergraduate research to prepare students with the aptitude to become scientific leaders at the professional level. That training of tomorrow’s scientists is probably more important than any single piece of knowledge that might be discovered.” Schultz is the first of an anticipated four recipients of the Beckman scholarships, which provide talented students with the opportunity to do in-depth research in chemistry and related sciences. One of the instruments Schultz uses in her research is a GC-MS, a gas chromatography-mass spectrometer, which identifies substances. You may have come in contact with one as part of airport security luggage checks. The purchase of Mac’s GC-MS was made possible by grant moneys and your gifts. “I don’t think a person can determine whether they want to continue a career in chemistry without having research lab experience,” says Schultz. “In my experience, the lab component of classes is nothing like research chemistry. The whole idea that there is a right answer—and if you don’t get it, you are doing something wrong—is very artificial. Put politely, my project is very exploratory, but it has been a blessing in some ways because it has given me a chance to see if I can deal with the realities of research chemistry. In interviews, whenever I bring up the fact that my project isn’t going very well, but that I still enjoy lab, it goes over very well.” Supporting research at Macalester means that tomorrow’s leading scientists come into leadership with not only the knowledge and laboratory skills to be effective, but with exposure to the history, diverse cultures, philosophy, and social sciences that enable them to use that leadership in the most ethical, desirable ways. When you support Macalester’s Annual Fund, you support important work everywhere. |
Of Interest The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation makes grants to non-profit research institutions to promote research in chemistry and the life sciences [and] to foster the invention of methods, instruments, and materials that will open up new avenues of research in science. |
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