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Graduate Programs

Recent years have seen profound advances in the fundamental knowledge of chemical areas having special significance for both forestry and the environment. The following research areas are among those pursued by our faculty and their graduate students in the programs: polymer chemistry and physics; wood chemistry; environmental chemistry; biochemistry; chemistry of natural products, including ecological chemistry; and materials sciences.

Requirements for a Master of Science degree in chemistry include a research thesis along with the completion of 18 or more credit hours of graduate level coursework in chemistry or related areas.

Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in chemistry include a research thesis and completion of at least 30 credits hours in appropriate graduate level courses. Courses may be taken at the College or at Syracuse University.

If you want more information, please follow this link to a brief form
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For Descriptions of Chemistry Graduate Courses at SUNY-ESF

Current research projects encompass polymer chemistry, membrane science, and wood chemistry; biochemistry and microbiology; organic chemistry of natural products and chemical ecology; environmental chemistry of the air, water, and solids.

Graduate Research

Biochemistry

Graduate studies in biochemistry reflect the College's interests in microbial, insect, and plant biochemistry. After completing a one-year sequence in general biochemistry, students select advanced courses from a range of offerings in chemistry, organismal biology and molecular biology. Advanced courses in biochemistry are available both at ESF and Syracuse University.

A wide variety of research topics are available ranging from plant physiology to biotechnology. Selective research topics include: Heavy metal cycling in natural systems (Boyer); microbial and algal production of biologically active natural products and their importance in cell biology (Boyer, LaLonde); chemical communication between organisms (Webster); marine algal toxins (Boyer); lipid metabolism of algae, zooplankton and zebra mussels (Teece, Boyer); epicuticular wax production in plants (Teece); and trace metal/nitrogen physiology of plants and algae (Boyer). Also, the use of microorganisms for the production of speciality chemicals including polysaccharide interconversions, and the application of bacterial and fungal enzymes in the bioremediation of environmental problems.

Environmental Chemistry

Thesis research for graduate students in environmental chemistry is central to their program of studies and includes both experimental and theoretical considerations. Frequently, the problems to be addressed are transdisciplinary in nature. Thus, course work is carefully selected from areas of chemistry, biology, geology, engineering, mathematics and computer science in order to support the student's particular research needs in conjunction with fieldwork and laboratory experiments. Special topics in analytical-environmental chemistry or in methods development are often arranged.

The environmental chemistry faculty currently have active research interests in both aquatic and atmospheric systems. These include: the thermodynamics and kinetics of binding hydrophobic organic compounds by dissolved humic substances in water, the development of gas-partitioning techniques for measuring the extent to this binding in both laboratory and field environments, and the characterization of poorly understood humic substances by techniques such as NMR (Hassett); the study of chlorinated hydrocarbons in the Niagara River-Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River system, and their interaction with sediments, dissolved substances and organisms (Hassett); the exchange of chlorinated hydrocarbons and other trace organics between aqueous and atmospheric phases in the environment (Hassett, Kieber); understanding the role of organic matter in a variety of atmospheric, aquatic and sedimentary processes (Kieber, Hassett, Johnson); the development of probe systems to study free radical processes and photochemical transformations of dissolved organic matter in natural waters (Kieber); understanding the dynamics of the oceanic carbon cycle and the importance of sunlight-driven photochemical transformations of organic matter in sea water (Kieber); the application of computer assisted SEM/EDXA to individual particle analysis in atmospheres, aquatic and suspended sediment samples (Johnson); the dynamics of calcium carbonate precipitation in hard water lakes (Johnson, Hassett); the biomethylation of As, Sn, and Hg in soil/plant systems (Johnson); stable isotope biogeochemistry of lakes and rivers (Teece); food web interactions in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems (Teece); quantifying ecological responses to climate change (Teece).

Atmospheric chemistry, particularly degradation pathways of organic compounds in the polluted atmosphere and factors involved in the formation of ozone and other toxics in the atmosphere are studied in Dr. Dibble's laboratory.

For additional information on the Graduate Program in Environmental Chemistry click here.

Organic Chemistry of Natural Products

Graduate students in organic chemistry of natural products take a one-year course sequence in mechanistic organic chemistry and another in synthetic organic chemistry. Additionally, one-semester courses are required in advanced physical chemistry and the organic chemistry of natural products. Courses in biochemistry, inorganic chemistry, statistics and specialized courses in chemistry or biology may be arranged and selected by the student in consultation with faculty.

Research in the field of organic chemistry of natural products takes three paths. These paths are: the isolation and characterization of new natural substances; the development of new or improved syntheses of better known natural substances; and the study of the relation of molecular structure to biological response. Chemical research in each of these areas is coupled to biological testing. Research involving isolation and synthetic chemistry requires the student to develop expertise in separation techniques, such as the several methods of chromatography, and spectrometric identification of molecules. Successful investigation in structure/activity relationships requires the student to become familiar with statistical methods of analysis. Current topics of interest to the natural products faculty are the following: structure and function of natural metal chelators (Boyer); marine and freshwater algal toxins (Boyer); biosynthesis and biomimetic synthesis of natural products including an antiviral compound and a natural insecticide (Giner); synthesis and structure/activity relationships of nonvolatile, aquatic genotoxins (LaLonde); synthesis of natural products employing sulfur chemistry (Webster); and synthesis of new natural products (semiochemicals) with particular emphasis on stereochemistry (Webster).

Polymer Chemistry

Graduate students in polymer chemistry select their courses from a range of offerings in chemistry, chemical engineering, mathematics, physics, and other appropriate areas. These courses will include either the one-year sequence in physical or organic chemistry of polymers and such additional courses as the student and advisor consider necessary. Special topics in a spectrum of polymer fields are offered or can be arranged in consultation with the faculty.

Research is an essential component of any graduate degree program in polymer chemistry. Current areas of polymer research include the following:

Achieving ultimate properties in polymer materials (Smith)
Biomass conversion to industrial polysaccharides (Stipanovic, Winter)
Catalysis and mechanisms of polymerization, chemistry of free radicals, radical ions and charge transfer processes (Smid)
Dendrimers and hyperbranched molecules (Gitsov)
Diffraction methods, NMR, and dynamic molecular modeling approaches to polymer structure determination and prediction (Sarko, Winter)
Inorganic polymers (Smid, Cabasso)
Ion-binding, polyelectrolytes, conductivity, properties of ionic solutions in non-aqueous media (Smid)
Novel methods of cellulose and cellulosic modification (Caluwe, Stipanovic, Winter)
Percolation methods in theoretical polymer chemistry (Chatterjee )
Polymer based nanocomposites ( Stipanovic, Winter)
Preparation, modification, and technology of polymeric membranes (Cabasso)
Preparation and characterization of functional polymers (Gitsov)
Preparation, properties, and applications of radiopaque polymers (Cabasso, Smid)
Stimuli responsive materials (Stipanovic, Winter)
Thermodynamics and statistical mechanics of polymer systems (Chatterjee,Smith)

Research Laboratories

Graduate research laboratories moved in 1998 to the Edwin C. Jahn Laboratory adjacent to our old home, the Hugh P. Baker Laboratory. The latter houses the College's Academic Computing Center, Analytical & Technical Services, and Center for Ultrastructural Studies. The department is well-equipped for state-of-the-art polymer, chemical, and biochemical research. See our facilities list for detailed information. Spectroscopic facilities include ICP, IR, FTIR, GC/MS, UV/VIS, fluorimetric, energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence, liquid and solid-state multinuclear NMR, and ORD/CD spectrometers. Ultrastructure study facilities include X-ray diffraction equipment and several scanning and transmission electron microscopes. Chromatographic equipment includes instrumentation for analytical and preparative liquid and gas chromatography. Baker Laboratory is fully equipped for the use of radioisotopes in research with its own separate radioisotopes lab. Scintillation counters, a multichannel analyzer, and a cobalt-60 irradiation source are available. Other facilities include DSC, TGA, DMA, torsion pendulum, membrane and vapor phase osmometry, solution and solid-state light-scattering photometers, Nd: YAG laser with third harmonic generator, and excimer pumped dye laser. The computational environment includes Pentium P5/233 MHz and MAC PCs, SGI-O2 5000 and 10000 work stations with an Origin 2000 server and fiber optic ethernet access to mainframe computing on SPARC 4/490 platforms.