About Me

Background

I was born in Seattle, WA and grew up on Bainbridge Island, WA. Bainbridge Island is in the center of the Puget Sound, a 30 minute ferry ride from downtown Seattle. I have a sister who works at a Biotech company, my father is a retired architectural photographer (http://artgrice.com/), and my mother is a retired school teacher. Growing up I participated in 4-H up through high school, and enjoyed working on 4-H projects such as cooking, dogs (I raised an Australian Shepherd), leadership, and environmental stewardship. I enjoyed growing up in an environment where many opportunities were available for fun activities like hiking, camping, and exploring small towns.

Education

I obtained a BSc in Chemistry with High Distinction and Departmental Honors in Chemistry and Humanities from Harvey Mudd College in 2005. I then attended the University of Washington (UW), where I worked in the laboratory of Professor Karen I. Goldberg, studying C-H bond functionalization with platinum complexes. I obtained my PhD in 2010 from UW, and then moved to San Diego and started my postdoctoral research at the University of California at San Diego in the lab of Professor Clifford P. Kubiak, where I studied the catalytic reduction of carbon dioxide with homogeneous transition metal complexes. In 2013 I moved to Chicago as an Assistant Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at DePaul University. I was promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure in 2019.

Click here to see my academic family tree.

Interests

In addition to a deep love of chemistry, teaching, and research, I am interested in a variety of other topics. I am particularly interested in how chemistry and science have affected history, and enjoy reading books on the subject (such as "Napoleon's Buttons", see below). I enjoy cooking many types of food, including Asian, Indian, and Mediterranean cuisine. I have an active interest in complementary and alternative medicines and herbal medicine, as well as an interest in Biochemistry and particularly understanding the role of transition metals in biology.

Books I enjoyed reading

I found these books to be really interesting. They relate to how science and society affect each other:

"The Most Beautiful Molecule: The Discovery of the Buckyball" by Hugh Aldersey-Williams

"The Disappearing Spoon" by Sean Kean (he also has more recent books, all of which I highly recommend!)

"Napoleon's Buttons" by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson

"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

"Salt" by Mark Kublansky

"The Poisoner's Handbook" by Deborah Blum. This was adapted into a documentary by PBS and I recommend watching the documentary as well.

Although not related to science, the book "Devil in the White City" is a great historical book about Chicago.

This site is maintained by Dr. Grice, and any information or opinions are Dr. Grice's. Dr. Grice is not responsible for the content of external links. This is NOT a DePaul University website in any way (official or unofficial).