Chemistry students at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point are conducting ambitious organic chemistry research with the help of their professor and a competitive grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Last year, Chemistry Professor Nate Bowling secured nearly $380,000 in funding from the NSF, keeping ongoing research possible and helping his students get experience with different techniques, trial and error problem solving and sharing ideas. This is the fourth time that Bowling, as the principal investigator, has secured a competitive grant from the NSF.
Nate Bowling, with Chancellor Tom Gibson, won a University Scholar Award at the 2023 University Awards.
The students are using various techniques to study electron transfer, synthesizing and studying properties of molecules that never existed before. Since 2013, more than 80 students have been involved in the research. Dozens of research articles co-authored by Bowling and his students have been published in high-level academic journals.
“You don’t need to go a big university for amazing opportunities,” said one student researcher, junior chemistry major Mya Beyerl. “All you need is one professor who is genuinely there for the students to achieve the same opportunities. It’s really a privilege to do it.”
The grant provides ongoing student stipends, funds lab materials and allows the researchers to attend national chemistry conferences where students often connect with international researchers.
“My personal goal is to keep collaborating with people around the world and help take us to the next level,” said Bowling. He said he is focused on sustaining the current level of year-round research the lab now provides and to keep publishing their findings.
Bowling was honored with the 2023 UWSP University Scholar Award for his impressive record of research and national recognition. He was also one of eight chemistry faculty members nationwide recognized as a Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, and one of only five within the Universities of Wisconsin in 30 years.
Professor Bowling accompanied his research students to the National Organic Chemistry Symposium in South Bend, Ind. Here, Mya Beyerl and JT Sjoquist met 2022 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, Stanford chemist Carolyn Bertozzi.
Beyerl reached out to Bowling about getting involved in his research study and purified her first product in the lab last summer. At the time, Beyerl was conducting research on five separate projects. The consistency of working in a synthetic chemistry research lab hands-on has helped her hone her laboratory skills and has pointed her in the direction of pursuing graduate school studies.
“You learn in research work to think for yourself, to multi-task, and to be able to call your own shots,” said Beyerl.
When she isn’t working as a research assistant in the lab, Beyerl participates in the Chemistry Club, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and even gets a chance to help with farm chores from time to time near her hometown of Loyal, Wis. She presented her research with Bowling, Intramolecular Charge Transfer using Functionalized Pyridines, at the first Fall Symposium for the School of Biology, Chemistry, and Biochemistry last November.
Senior chemistry major Hailey McCanna remembers the date – July 28 – when she made her final product in the lab. She is eager for her research on that spectrum to be published.
A first-generation student from Auburndale, McCanna came into college already knowing she was strong in math and sciences. It took just one class at UWSP, with Associate Professor Laura Cole, chemistry, to clarify her fascination with chemistry. With graduation on the horizon this spring, McCanna has the advantage of being familiar with the lab instrumentation she might someday use in her chosen field of forensic science.
“In research it’s ok to fail,” said McCanna, current president of the Chemistry Club.
JT Sjoquist, a biochemistry and pre-chiropractic major from Eden Prairie, Minn., joined Bowling’s team so he could learn something completely different. He enjoys the camaraderie between the research team members. The lab setting has allowed him to be innovative in his research – working to force a charge transfer between benzene rings.
Surprisingly, just 10 percent of the students Bowling has invited to assist in his lab were declared chemistry majors. It’s open to any student who succeeds in their organic chemistry coursework.
“If you like learning and challenging yourself every day, you can thrive,” Sjoquist said. “You run into obstacles and have to solve issues. It’s quite an adventure.”