Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, Dr. James O’Brien, has written the book, The Scientific Sherlock Holmes: Cracking the Case with Science and Forensics, which was recently published by Oxford University Press.  The book examines the science and forensics used by Holmes to solve the cases.  Read more about the book in Dr. O’Brien’s blog he wrote for the Huffington Post.

The College of Natural and Applied Sciencs and the Department of Chemistry will host a book signing and reception on Tuesday, February 12, 2013, in the Plaster Student Union, room 308 from 3:00 – 4:00 pm.

A group of Missouri State students accompanied Dr. Janice Greene of the Biology Department and Dr. Diann Thomas of the Chemistry Department to Quito, Ecuador for a one-week intersession course—“Making the Connections” on August 6, 2012.  The course was designed to increase awareness of global connections, specifically between North and South America.  The students were exposed to different cultures and discovered threads of commonality, from food to resource consumption.  While the main focus of the course was the environmental connection, students also experienced the customs and beliefs of the Ecuadorian society, in particular those of the Quichua tribe.  Chemistry Students making the trip were Kari Lea Burgess, Jason Davis, Brett Huntley, Samantha Marshall, Michael Nothnagel, Alyxandria Shibley, and Eric Tague.

Dr. Bryan Breyfogle, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry, and Dr. Georgianna Saunders, Associate Professor in the Department of Biology, received a two-year grant from the National Science Foundation in the amount of $289,688, for the project entitled, “Science Experts Teaching Students.”