The University of Georgia Department of Chemistry recently presented a number of awards to outstanding undergraduate students. The awards were announced as part of the department’s commencement event for Spring 2021. Among the students receiving departmental awards were:

Anna Doner, a PhD student in the Department of Chemistry, is one of 78 graduate students nationwide selected for the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program fellowship.

Dr. Gregory Robinson, UGA Foundation Professor in the Department of Chemistry, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. In making the announcement to Prof. Robinson’s colleagues in the Chemistry department, Department Head Prof. Gary Douberly said “This is an incredible career achievement that is due to the spectacular science that has consistently come from his laboratory, along with his exemplary dedication to education and service to the scientific community.”  UGA’s Provost, Dr. S.

Dr. Brandon Rotavera, an assistant professor with appointments in the College of Engineering and the Department of Chemistry, is the recipient of the 2021 Fred C. Davison Early Career Scholar Award. Established in 2015 and named in honor of the University of Georgia’s 18th President, this award recognizes outstanding accomplishment and evidence of potential future success in scholarship, creative work or research by an early career faculty member in the sciences.

Presented by the UGA Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry

Congratulations to Dr. Todd Harrop of the UGA Department of Chemistry, who has been selected to receive the 2021 UGA Graduate School Outstanding Mentoring Award in the Life and Physical Sciences. This student-driven award recognizes excellence in a variety of mentoring functions to encourage and reward innovation and effectiveness in mentoring graduate students during their educational experience.

Oxiranes are a class of cyclic ethers formed in abundance during low-temperature combustion of hydrocarbons and biofuels. While rate coefficients for the formation of 2,3-dimethyloxirane are reported extensively, subsequent reaction mechanisms of the cyclic ether are not. As a result, chemical kinetics mechanisms commonly adopt simplified chemistry to describe the consumption of 2,3-dimethyloxirane, which may introduce mechanism truncation error – uncertainty derived from missing or incomplete chemistry.