Chemistry

Explore the Department of Chemistry

Welcome to the Department of Chemistry at the University of New Hampshire. We are dedicated to chemistry research and education at all levels. We have a long, proud tradition of providing a challenging and nurturing environment for our students.

LN2 Tank Removal — Removal of the old LN2 Tank

December 2024 - Research is expanding and to meet our growing needs we recently had the 1500 liter LN2 microbulk tank replaced with a 3000L unit to feed the parsons Hall House nitrogen system. Go research!!!

Parsons Hall new LN2 Tank — Parsons Hall new LN2 3000L Tank

November 2024 - The UNH Mass Spectrometry Core facility includes a newly acquired Orbitrap Ascend Tribrid (NSF-MRI-2320241) and an Orbitrap Exploris 120 (USDA-1026942) mass spectrometer.

The Ascend Tribrid Orbitrap is equipped with ESI and nanoESI ion sources, together with a FAIMS module. The Orbitrap mass analyzer has 480k resolution and high mass range up to m/z 16,0000. The Tribrid system has MSⁿ capability with CID, HCD, ETD, and UVPD fragmentation methods for in-depth structural characterization.

Congratulations to Dr. Yibo Zhang!

On Friday, 12/6/2024 Yibo Zhang successfully defended his PHD Dissertation for his doctoral degree in Chemistry, "Artificial Intelligence for Magnetic Materials Discovery: Experimental Analysis, Knowledge Extraction, and Data-Driven Modeling"!!!

It is with great pride that we now announce Dr. Yibo Zhang!! Yibo found a unique combination of Chemistry, Physics, and Computing (AI & Machine Learning) led by Prof. Jiadong Zang (of Physics) and with Prof. John Tsavalas (of Chemistry). While seeming quiet, Yibo is packed with energy and happiness and his smile and “can-do” attitude will be sorely missed.

Congratulations to Dr. Nick Mitchell!

On Friday, 11/22/2024 Nick Mitchell successfully defended his PHD Dissertation for his doctoral degree in Chemistry, "Rational Design of Polymers for Specific Interactions with Liquid and Solid State Water"!!!

It is with great pleasure and pride to introduce Dr. Nick Mitchell! Nick has been a pillar in the Tsavalas Lab and will be sorely missed, yet we are truly proud of his accomplishments and contributions to a variety of projects within and external to his thesis!

Congratulations, Professor Christopher Bauer!

We are pleased to share that Professor Bauer has received a 2025 ACS Award for Achievement in Research for the Teaching and Learning of Chemistry.

This award acknowledges substantial contributions for conducting research concerning the teaching and learning of chemistry. This is based on Professor Bauer’s record of continual publication of research in professional journals and presentation of research results at national conferences. Some work is accomplished by students earning their PhD in Chemistry Education under Professor Bauer’s mentorship. Other work involves collaborations with scientists at other universities. The work includes fundamental studies of how students visualize atoms and molecules, types of chemical bonding, and to what extent student concepts grow (or not) over time. He is also well known for research, development, and promulgation of active-learning approaches for large and small class settings, including undergraduate peer instructional leaders (Peer-Led Team Learning, PLTL), student-team learning (Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning, POGIL), and the inquiry-based demonstration course “Fire & Ice”, linked here:

Windows on the STEM Inquiry Class – A STEM Education Project, PI Prof. Chris Bauer, UNH (usnh.edu)

Information for Users | Fire and Ice | University of New Hampshire (unh.edu)

See the full article on UNH Today: https://www.unh.edu/unhtoday/2024/09/bauer-recognized-research-achievem…

2024 Chemistry Poster Session and Awards Ceremony

Anthony Milani presenting research at the 2024 poster session.
Andrew Jenkins and Prof. Chris Bauer at the 2024 poster session.
Nick Mixon and Anthony Milani at the 2024 poster session.
Meaghan Penrice and Prof. Ian Konen at the 2024 poster session.
Prof. Erik Berda at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Richard Johnson presenting the Bailey Prize to Tom DiPhilippo at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Christine Caputo presenting the Mr. and Mrs. S. Morris Locke Award to Matt Huebner at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Brittany White-Mathieu presenting the Lucinda P. & Melvin Smith Scholarship to Kylie Armor at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Stacey Hughes presenting The Herman Fogg Fellowship to Tim Murphy at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Aylin Aykanat presenting the Certificate of Undergraduate Excellence Award to Anthony Traficante at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Roy Planalp presenting the Helmut M. Haendler Award to Tyler Brock at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Stacey Hughes presenting the Raymond B. Seymour Award to Meaghan Penrice at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Brittany White-Mathieu presenting the Robert T. Hart Scholarship to Elisabeth Gotschlich, Nick Mixon and Connor Foley at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Roy Planalp presents the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry Award to Tyler Brock at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Christopher Bauer presents the ACS Hach Award to Phoebe Nitchals at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Anyin Li presenting the CRC Press Chemistry Achievement Award to Ian Veer at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Erik Berda presenting The Kenneth K. Andersen Award to Muriel Lubelczyk at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Chuck Zercher presenting the Pratt-Diniak Fellowship to Matt Currier, Pat Strobel and Shaina Hughes at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Roy Planalp presenting the Alvin R. Ingram Graduate Fellowship to Emily Andrews at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Christine Caputo presenting The Rudi Seitz Award to CJ Wilson at the Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Kathy Winans presenting The Sterling Tomellini Award to Henry Roell at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Glen Miller presenting the Craig A. West Memorial Award to Qian Liu at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Gonghu Li presenting The Clarence L. and Helen M. Garland Grant Fellowship to Mahalakshmi Thiyagarajan at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Nate Oldenhuis presenting the LaMattina Family Graduate Organic Chemistry Research Fellowship to Matt Currier at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Glen Miller presenting The Gail Lambert-Edwards PhD Memorial Chemistry Fellowship to Nayanthara Krishnan at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Christine Caputo presenting The George E. and Jeanette L. Lambert Chemistry Fellowship to Nathan Bartlett at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Glen Miller presenting The Herbert A. Scruton Scholarship to Qian Liu, Fran Gomez, Zahraa Albeshir, Sarah Bramlitt Harris, Yingling Lai and Patrick Strobel at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Nate Oldenhuis presenting The Dennis Chasteen Graduate Summer Fellowship to Shaina Hughes at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Nate Oldenhuis and Anyin Li presenting The David A. Walsh Graduate Chemistry Award to Wynter Paiva and Ian Ferraro at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Nate Oldenhuis presenting The Vaughan Excellence in Chemistry Award to Lola Fadairo, Tran Truong Katie Facteau & Son Nguyen at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Gonghu Li presenting The Ed '83 & Karri '84 Olefirowicz Award to Emily Andrews and Allison St. John at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Anyin Li presenting The David W. & Marion S. Ellis Fellowship to Nathan Bartlett at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.
Prof. Christine Caputo presenting The Peter G. Markos Chemistry Endowment Award to Yibo Zhang at the 2024 Chemistry Awards Ceremony.

Current UNH Chemistry students talk about their experiences:

Tim Murphy speaks about his favorite parts of being a chemistry student at UNH!

CJ Wilson is a Ph.D. student studying here in the Chemistry Department. His research includes combating climate change with hybrid photocatalytic systems and electrocatalytic systems that turn elements such as sunlight or CO2 into clean fuel.

Tweets by chemistry_unh

Congratulations, Prof. Nathan Oldenhuis!

We are pleased to share that Assistant Professor Nate Oldenhuis has received the National Institutes of Health R35 Maximizing Investigators' Research Award! His project is entitled: Using DNA hydrogels to mimic, exploit, and fundamentally investigate extracellular matrices. His research program aims to demonstrate the broad utility of DNA-based hydrogels as ECM…
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Congratulations, Prof. Aylin Aykanat!

Dr. Aylin Aykanat has been working in the Chemistry Department for the past few years as a Postdoctoral Diversity and Innovation Scholar. We are so happy to announce that she has now been hired on as our newest Assistant Professor! Prof. Aykanat studies…
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Prof. Nate Oldenhuis Wins NSF CAREER Award

Congratulations to UNH Assistant Professor of Chemistry Nate Oldenhuis on his National Science Foundation CAREER Award! His research project is entitled "Sustainable DNA Hydrogel Production via Bioreactor-Derived Plasmid DNA". Read on for a description of the project. Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, exhibits unique properties extending beyond its central role as…
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Collaboration with Lonza Biologics

Chemistry graduate student Ian Ferraro (Anyin Li Group) working with collaborators Nancy Fernandes and Roger Connolly from Lonza Biologics on the analysis of therapeutic proteins using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.
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Congratulations, Prof. Chris Bauer!

Chemistry Professor Chris Bauer is the recipient of the 2023 Distinguished Professor Award! His dedication to serving chemistry and education extends well beyond UNH, and has been especially impactful here in New Hampshire. After more than four decades of service at the University of New Hampshire, Chris remains among the most effective, energetic and productive Chemistry…
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