Chris Reisch has come full circle. Five years ago, as an undergraduate and then a graduate student, he was part of a UGA research group that identified the first step in the pathway by which bacterioplankton control how much sulfur is released into the ocean's food web. Science published that study in 2006.

As a teenager, Gary Douberly had a knack for taking mechanical things apart and putting them together again. He applied this talent while earning a Ph.D. in chemistry, designing and building instruments to carry out original experiments in laser spectroscopy. Now, under a $618,505 CAREER Award provided by the National Science Foundation, this University of Georgia assistant professor of chemistry will map the structures of biomolecules using an instrument he developed from two technologies.

Like a blood-borne army, immunoglobulin G belongs to a class of antibodies that binds to viruses, fungi, bacteria and other foreign particles to initiate their destruction. It does this by attaching to unique features on the invader's cell surface and signaling its presence to defensive cells. Precisely how this latter step happens is not entirely clear to scientists. However, finding how this happens could lead to the development of ways to boost weakened immune systems and treat such diseases as rheumatoid arthritis.

Jon Amster, Professor and Head of Chemistry, is among six UGA faculty members who have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an honor bestowed upon them by their peers for "scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications." Amster was recognized for distinguished contributions to the fields of analytical chemistry and mass spectrometry, and as head of the department of chemistry.

Michael Duncan, Franklin and Regents’ Professor of Chemistry at the University of Georgia, has been named winner of a top national honor in physical chemistry.

Duncan, who has been on the faculty at UGA since 1983, is winner of the 2011 Award in Experimental Physical Chemistry, given by the American Chemical Society’s Physical Chemistry Division. Duncan is first winner of the newly established award.

The University of Georgia will share in a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Centers for Chemical Innovation for research that focuses on the question of how to use molecules to replace bulk materials as components in integrated circuits.

Gregory H. Robinson, Franklin Professor of Chemistry, won this year's Lamar Dodd Creative Research Award for distinguished achievements in any area of the sciences.  The award was presented at this year's 31st Annual University of Georgia Research Foundation Awards Banquet, which was held at the Athens Country Club on Thursday March 18. A movie featuring Greg and his research program was shown as one of the highlights of the evening.

Two of our assistant professors, Todd Harrop and Jason Locklin, have each won the prestigious "Career" Award from the National Science Foundation this year. This Award is given to promising young assistant professors at the beginning of their careers, based on their potential to start innovative new research programs.