Chemistry at Queen's University

05/13/2025

Queen's Department of Chemistry had a celebration of our signing of the Green Chemistry Commitment. A big thank you to the Q-ACS, who organized the event, and to our visitors Juliana Vidal (Beyond Benign) and John Warner (CEO, Technology Greenhouse). John, a pioneer and cofounder of the Green Chemistry discipline, also gave an inspiring seminar. With this commitment, the department promises to increase the green chemistry content in our undergraduate programs.

11/01/2023

Dr. Cathleen Crudden has been awarded the 2023 John C. Polanyi Award in recognition of her breakthrough discovery in organic-on-metal coatings. This award (valued up to $250,000) is given to an individual or team whose research has led to a recent outstanding advance in any NSERC-supported field of the natural sciences or engineering. Dr. Crudden’s trailblazing research innovation demonstrated that an extremely thin carbon layer, applied to metal surfaces, can protect them from oxidation and extend their lifespan. The discovery has applications spanning fields from infrastructure, clean energy, electronics manufacturing to cancer diagnostics and treatment. To read more about Dr. Crudden's achievements, please visit the Queen’s Gazette: https://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/recognizing-outstanding-research

11/17/2022

Free public lecture happening tonight at 7:00 p.m. in Chernoff Auditorium

The Department of Chemistry is delighted to host Scott Cairns, an officer with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). His work with the OPCW to dismantle stockpiles of chemical weapons in Syria led to the organization receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013.

This lecture will detail Dr. Cairns' experiences as a Canadian WMD expert, his investigations into the use of chemical weapons and his efforts to destroy them. Using his direct experience working in an international setting and applying fact/science-based inspection & investigation practices, this lecture will detail the real-world challenges and heart-breaking examples of how science plays a role in uncovering and documenting the use of chemical weapons on the modern battlefield with a focus on the Syrian war.

Check out more information on this public lecture: https://www.queensu.ca/eventscalendar/calendar/events/road-damascus-notes-chemical-weapons-inspector-dr-scott-cairns

11/14/2022

Dr. Philip Jessop will be speaking at the Museum of Lennox & Addington tomorrow, November 15th at 7:00 p.m. about "Which is Greener? Green Decision-Making for Consumers"

Join us for an informative night as Dr. Jessop will get to the truth of the matter in living a greener life. How can we, as consumers, know what options are really the best for the environment?

11/14/2022

Join us for our virtual webinar to learn about our graduate programs, applying for graduate school, scholarships, and life as a graduate student. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_TCOa_HOrQY-RhBCJ4-yudQ

11/04/2022

The Department of Chemistry is delighted to host Scott Cairns, an officer with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). His work with the OPCW to dismantle stockpiles of chemical weapons in Syria led to the organization receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013.

This lecture will detail Dr. Cairns' experiences as a Canadian WMD expert, his investigations into the use of chemical weapons and his efforts to destroy them. Using his direct experience working in an international setting and applying fact/science-based inspection & investigation practices, this lecture will detail the real-world challenges and heart-breaking examples of how science plays a role in uncovering and documenting the use of chemical weapons on the modern battlefield with a focus on the Syrian war.

Check out more information on this public lecture: https://www.queensu.ca/eventscalendar/calendar/events/road-damascus-notes-chemical-weapons-inspector-dr-scott-cairns

06/23/2022

Congratulations to Chantelle Capicciotti for winning the 2022 Prize for Excellence in Research! Dr. Capicciotti is one of three recipients of this prize which is the highest internal research award at Queen’s University. The Prizes for Excellence in Research will be presented during convocation. To read more about recognizing research excellence, please see the Queen's Gazette: https://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/queen-s-prizes-excellence-research-announced

05/24/2022

We’re hiring! We’re looking for an Instrumentation Technologist. Learn more about the job posting ➡️ https://t.co/fN9ozSlKN4

05/09/2022

Congratulations to Dr. Avena Ross who received the Early Researcher Award! This award provides early-career scholars across the province with funding to build research teams. Dr. Ross received $100,00 to support her program investigating the therapeutic potential of molecules produced by marine bacteria. This exciting achievement was featured in the Queen’s Gazette: https://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/provincial-funding-supports-early-career-researchers

05/06/2022

For the second time in a year, graduate student Igor Cunha (Jessop group) has had one of his papers declared a Hot Paper by the Royal Society of Chemistry! His latest paper (Green Chemistry, https://doi.org/10.1039/D2GC00127F) describes fatty acids and their sodium salts as nonvolatile organic solvents that can be used, removed, and recycled without causing smog, inhalation risks, or flammability, and without any need for distillation. Undergrad students Meghan McKeeman, Kayleigh Hayashi-Mehedy and Alana Lloyd-Smith and PDF Maedeh Ramezani contributed to this major paper.

04/29/2022

New book deal! Harvard University Press will publish the book "Which is Greener?" by Prof. Philip Jessop. Have you ever stood in a store, looking at two competing products, wondering which one is better for the environment? This book will show you the greenest choice for each purchasing decision you have to make.