Wissinger Research Group
Welcome!
Research in the Wissinger group focuses on the development of chemistry laboratory experiments and curriculum materials for the college and high school levels that exemplify modern green chemistry methodologies, advances in sustainable polymers, and guided-inquiry pedagogy. Our mission is to share how chemists are responsibly addressing issues of sustainability and bring these exciting new technologies to the classroom to inspire and educate future scientists and students of all disciplines.
Contact Information
Professor Jane Wissinger
jwiss@umn.edu
(612) 625-9586
Kolthoff Hall Room 468A
Safety
Our group is committed to protecting the safety of all researchers and support maintaining a culture that advocates guidelines promoted by the Chemistry and CEMS Joint Safety Team. In addition, we advocate for the application of green chemistry as a mechanism to enhance safety to both researchers and the environment through the reduction of risk through elimination or minimization of hazards when considering a synthetic process or chemical product produced.
Recent News
Summer 2023
Professor Wissinger receives an ACS Fellow award.
Dr. Jeffrey Buenaflor completes postdoctoral position in the group and submits hydrogel publication.
Professor Jane Wissinger retires from her Lab Director position.
December 2022
Congratulations to Alara for completing her undergrad studies. We wish you the best of luck on your future endeavors with your internship and law school!
We wish Professor Alayende the best of luck after completing his time here with the Wissinger Group
August 21 - 25, 2022 - American Chemical Society National Conference
ACS Fall 2022 was a blast!
Jane Wissinger co-chaired the MPPG (Multidisciplinary Program Planning Group) with Professor Edward Brush (Bridgewater State University) and Jiliian Goldfarb (Cornell University) for the National ACS Meeting in Chicago, August 21-25. Over 11,000 chemists attended this conference with the theme, "Sustainability for a Changing World". To learn more of their programming accomplishments visit this C&E News article.
Besides, organizing the conference keynote sessions, they co-organized a symposium titled, Environmental Justice: Global Equity through Green and Sustainable Chemistry and Jane organized a session on Sustainable Polymeric Materials: Strategies in Education and Outreach. Additionally, Jane, Cassie, and Jeffrey presented their work in this session.
August 11, 2022 - End of Summer Programs
Great representation of the Wissinger Research group in the Summer Programs Poster Symposium. So proud of the work completed by our summer researchers: Dina Orozco and Olivia DeSutter.
June 2022
Welcome to all our visiting scholars! We look forward to having a great time conducting research this summer!
We were excited to see the in-person return of the Green & Sustainable Chemistry Workshop for high school teacher, hosted by Jane Wissinger, Cassie Lydon, and Cassie Javner! The workshop was highlighted by the chemistry department. View here for more information
March 2022
Jane and Jeffrey had a blast presenting at ACS Spring 2022, held in San Diego, CA. Look forward to ACS Fall 2022 with the awesome theme: Sustainability in a Changing World
February 2022
Jane's collaborative Chem Review on CSP Research and Jeffrey's CTI article on modifying calcium alginate bead shape using pH and natural organic acids in fruit beverages have been published has been published! View ACS Chem Review and CTI for details.
Undergraduate Alara Kucukseyhan joins the Wissinger Group in Spring Semester 2021.
December 2021
Emma's work on alginate teaching experiments for middle and high school classrooms has been published! Congratulations! View here for details.
Congratulations to Jarod on completing his undergrad studies. We wish you the best of luck on your future endeavors!
October 2021
Congratulations to Jane for winning the 2021 Brasted Award for Excellence in College Teaching! We look forward to celebrating with you on October 27
For more information on Jane's achievement, click here.
August 2021
Jeffrey's collaboration with Mark Hillmyer and others on reporting a square table discussion on sustainable materials and manufacturing has been published online!
Awesome work job by our summer researchers Cassie, Olivia, Ethan and Jarod as they presented their work at the Summer Programs Poster Symposium
June 2021
The Wissinger Group welcomes Ethan Poppen, an undergraduate student from Augsburg University, and Olivia DeSutter for the summer! We also welcome back long time collaborator Cassie Knutson who will be working with Olivia.
Jeffrey's brief on equity in chemistry has been published online and highlighted in the News section for the CSP! View this link to see Jeffrey's brief as well as the work of other collaborators on this project.
May 2021
We said our goodbye to group member Anna Mikkelsen, who will be moving onto graduate school in the fall. We are excited for to see you start your PhD journey, but also sad to see you go as we will really miss having you here in the lab.
We also want to congratulate Aaron Zimmerman on graduating from UMN with a BS in chemistry. We wish you well in your endeavors to become a teacher.
February 2021
The Wissinger Group welcomes undergraduates Adam Cahn and Jarod Tang into the lab for Spring Semester 2021!
January 2021
Jane's contribution to this month's Journal of Chemical Education's special issue has been published online and highlighted by the chemistry department's weekly news!
December 2020
Jane's newest teaching experiment involving organogels has been published online! For more information please head to CSP News and J. Chem. Educ.
September 2020
Undergraduate Aaron Zimmerman joins the Wissinger Group for Fall Semester 2020.
June 2020
The Wissinger Group welcomes Dr. Jeffrey Paz Buenaflor from the University of Washington into the lab as a postdoctoral researcher!
