Dr. Mary Ellen McNally

Mary Ellen is a Technical Fellow at the Stine Haskell Research Center for DuPont Crop Protection Products in Newark, DE. Her main research areas are in the field of separations, sample preparation and sensors with a focus in the environmental fate of agricultural products, ultra-trace level analysis and detection, manufacturing and process development. Dr. McNally has received the American Microchemical Society Steyermark Award, the Chromatography Forum of Delaware Valley Award, an R & D 100 Award, and the Midwest SFC and the Tri-State Analytical SF Discussion Groups Award for her contributions. Last year, McNally was named to the 2016 Power List by Analytical Scientist, as one of the top 50 most influential women in the analytical sciences. Dr. McNally is currently a member the editorial advisory board for LC-GC magazine. She received her Ph.D. from Villanova University with Bob Grob, did her postdoctoral work with L. B. (Buc) Rogers at the University of Georgia, and has held visiting scientists positions at Imperial College of London and AMBRI-CSIRO in Sydney, Australia. For the development and detection of Crop Protection Products, Mary Ellen has been the recipient of DuPont’s highest awards for Engineering Excellence, Marketing Excellence and Environmental Stewardship. Mary Ellen has taught locally as a visiting professor at the graduate and undergraduate level at Villanova, Widener and Drexel Universities. She is a lifetime member of the Chromatography Forum, has served as president twice, and is currently chair of the Dal Nogare Award Committee, chair of the election committee, and the financial audit committee. When offered, she teaches at the LC and GC short courses for the CFDV. This year McNally is president-elect of the Eastern Analytical Symposium and has served as the secretary and treasurer.

Prof. Maria D. Bohorquez

Maria D. Bohorquez is a professor and the department chair of chemistry at Drake University in Des Moines (IA). At Drake, she has served as founding director of the Drake Undergraduate Science Collaborative Institute (DUSCI), chair of the Chemistry Department, and Interim chair of the Biology Department. As founding director of DUSCI, she contributed to the transformation of the culture and reputation of the sciences at Drake and promoted interdisciplinary research endeavors. Through her leadership roles, she helped secure $1.3 million, through grant writing and fundraising, to support initiatives in the sciences, contributed to the development of a biophysics concentration and a kinesiology major, led the first-ever strategic planning of the chemistry department, and helped establish effective learning outcomes and sustainable assessment plans. Bohorquez has facilitated partnerships with local and international corporations, and alumni to support different initiatives including internships for students, undergraduate research opportunities, and state-of-the-art instrumentation.

Bohorquez’s research focuses on the photophysical behavior of molecules in organized media such as micelles and monolayers. She has conducted research with undergraduates and presented at regional, national and international conferences, including Germany, Canada, Czech Republic, and Argentina. She has been invited to teach graduate courses in Argentina which were organized and supported through a partnership established between Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.

Bohorquez received a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and Ph.D. from the Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto in Argentina, her postdoctoral research was conducted at the University of Notre Dame and University of Bowling Green.

Prof. Sarah C. Larsen

Sarah C. Larsen is the Associate Dean for Administrative and Academic Affairs in the Graduate College and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Iowa (UI). She was the Chair of the Department of Chemistry for one year before becoming the Associate Dean. She is also the director of the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute at UI and a senior editor for The Journal of Physical Chemistry. Professor Larsen has an active research program focused on porous nanoparticles designed for applications in environmental protection, catalysis, drug delivery and biomedical imaging. She developed and, for 9 years, has lead a successful NSF funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program in nanoscience and nanotechnology.

Her innovations and accomplishments in research and curriculum development have been recognized with the Iowa Women of Innovation Award for Academic Innovation & Leadership in 2011, the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) Teaching Award in 2010, the CLAS Outreach and Public Engagement Award in 2012 and the Lane Davis Award for Honors Team Teaching in 2014. In 2012, she was named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2013, she received the Regents Award for Faculty Excellence which is given by the Iowa Board of Regents for significant contributions to excellence in public education.

Professor Larsen received her PhD in Chemistry from Harvard University and her BA in Chemistry and Mathematics from Bowdoin College. She was a Department of Energy Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, before joining the faculty at the University of Iowa.

Prof. Emily Smith

Emily Smith received a Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and graduate degrees in chemistry from Pennsylvania State University (M.S.) and University of Wisconsin-Madison (Ph.D.). Her postdoctoral appointment was at University of Delaware and she was a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Arizona. She is currently an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Iowa State University and a Faculty Scientist at U.S. Department of Energy, The Ames Laboratory. She has taught Instrumental Analysis lecture and laboratory, Quantitative and Environmental Analysis lecture and laboratory and Analytical Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy. Her research interests are instrument development for analysis of nanomaterials, plant and animal tissue; and understanding the molecular events that lead to organization of the cell membrane.

Prof. Theresa L. Windus

Theresa L. Windus is a Professor of Chemistry at Iowa State University and an Associate with Ames Laboratory. She received her B.A. degrees in chemistry, mathematics and computer science from Minot State University. She then completed her Ph.D. in physical chemistry at Iowa State University with Prof. Mark Gordon where she focused on hypervalent silicon and phosphorus compound reactions as well as developing high performance algorithms that were implemented in GAMESS. Theresa examined relativistic effects and developed novel tensor methods in her postdoctoral years with Profs. John Pople and Mark Ratner at Northwestern University. Theresa then held several positions at government labs including the Director of Computational Chemistry/Training at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base Major Shared Resource Center and the Technical Lead for the Molecular Science Software Group and the Visualization and User Services group in the Molecular Science Computing Facility in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory where she led the development of NWChem. Theresa develops new methods and algorithms for high performance computational chemistry as well as applying those techniques to both basic and applied research. Her current application interests are rare earth and heavy element chemistry, catalysis, aerosol formation, cellulose degradation, and photochemistry. She has served on several national editorial and advisory boards, and has received multiple awards related to her research, teaching and outreach in activities related to the advancement of women in science careers.

Theresa is married with four children and 5 grandchildren. Her hobbies (when there is time!) include gardening, singing, and reading.

Dr. Mary Caruso Dailey

From cellphones to vehicles, the science of Dr. Mary Caruso Dailey can be experienced, although you may not be able to see it. As a Product Development Specialist for the Industrial Adhesives and Tapes Division at 3M Company, Dr. Caruso Dailey is currently developing adhesives for new electronics applications. Previously, she developed the film material called Crystal Silk, a durable film composite embedded with tiny glass beads that create a smooth tactile experience and easy-cleaning surface for a variety of touchpad-powered products. Before that, she worked in the Industrial Business Group on epoxy-based structural adhesives that have been brought to life in automotive, aerospace and industrial applications.

Mary has a passion for positively influencing our next generation of scientists. She is actively involved in a number of leadership and mentoring opportunities, such as the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge as a Mentor for 3 years, 3M’s student Science Training Encouragement Program (STEP) and 3M’s Teachers Working in Science and Technology (TWIST) program. Mary has also served as a science fair judge at both the state and regional levels, volunteered at the Regional Science Bowls, and inspired high-school students through speaking engagements as part of the 3M’s Technical Teams Encouraging Career Horizons (TECH) program.

Mary earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2010 where she worked on self-healing polymers with Professors Jeff Moore and Scott White, and her B.S. in Chemistry from Elon University in 2006 in Elon, NC, where she synthesized and characterized a novel palladium complex for catalysis in carbon dioxide using electrochemical techniques. She has authored 16 peer-review journal publications, 5 patents from the University of Illinois work, 15 pending patents from 3M, and 30 internal invention submissions. She is married to another chemist, Ian, who work in the Materials Resource Division of 3M Company, which is our own 'internal chemical division' and a mother to Owen, who was born last October. In her free time, she enjoys running, playing softball, acting and singing, and is very active in Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated by serving on the local, state, and regional executive boards.

Dr. Mary Ellen McNally

Mary Ellen is a Technical Fellow at the Stine Haskell Research Center for DuPont Crop Protection Products in Newark, DE. Her main research areas are in the field of separations, sample preparation and sensors with a focus in the environmental fate of agricultural products, ultra-trace level analysis and detection, manufacturing and process development. Dr. McNally has received the American Microchemical Society Steyermark Award, the Chromatography Forum of Delaware Valley Award, an R & D 100 Award, and the Midwest SFC and the Tri-State Analytical SF Discussion Groups Award for her contributions. Last year, McNally was named to the 2016 Power List by Analytical Scientist, as one of the top 50 most influential women in the analytical sciences. Dr. McNally is currently a member the editorial advisory board for LC-GC magazine. She received her Ph.D. from Villanova University with Bob Grob, did her postdoctoral work with L. B. (Buc) Rogers at the University of Georgia, and has held visiting scientists positions at Imperial College of London and AMBRI-CSIRO in Sydney, Australia. For the development and detection of Crop Protection Products, Mary Ellen has been the recipient of DuPont’s highest awards for Engineering Excellence, Marketing Excellence and Environmental Stewardship. Mary Ellen has taught locally as a visiting professor at the graduate and undergraduate level at Villanova, Widener and Drexel Universities. She is a lifetime member of the Chromatography Forum, has served as president twice, and is currently chair of the Dal Nogare Award Committee, chair of the election committee, and the financial audit committee. When offered, she teaches at the LC and GC short courses for the CFDV. This year McNally is president-elect of the Eastern Analytical Symposium and has served as the secretary and treasurer.

Dr. Greta Wegner

Greta Wegner leads the assay business unit at R&D Systems, a Bio-Techne company, in Minneapolis, MN. She received a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Concordia College and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Greta began her career developing blood glucose test strips and then transitioned to producing membrane based array products for the research market. She currently directs the product management and development teams working on array, ELISA, and Luminex products as well as the custom assay development and testing services teams.

Dr. Shuting Wei

Dr. Shuting Wei is a corporate engineering manager at Kemin Industries in Des Moines, IA. She received a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Nanjing University and a Ph.D. in Bioanalytical chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She started her career developing and validating analytical methods including spectroscopy and chromatography for the analysis of plants and plant extracts. Furthermore, she has worked in cross-functional and cross cultural teams for new product developments to meet the needs within planned budgets and timelines. Currently, she is developing new manufacturing processes such as scaling up new processes from R&D to pilot, switching processes from batch to continuous, utilizing process analytical tools to redesign the process with minimum capital investment. Moreover, she has identified the right equipment for specific applications and conducted pilot scale experiments.

Dr. Sara Scott

Sara Scott recently retired from a 24 year career at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and is now a private consultant working with the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and national laboratories. She received her PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from Iowa State and was a National Science Foundation-NATO Postdoctoral Fellow at the Max-Plank-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany where she focused on developing new routes to intermetallic hydrogen storage materials. During Scott’s tenure at LANL she contributed to the areas of low-dimensional material synthesis and characterization as well as analytical chemistry of nuclear/nonnuclear materials. She was also actively engaged with nuclear national security initiatives and has been involved in numerous counterterrorism, homeland security and nonproliferation efforts including safeguarding nuclear material, countering nuclear smuggling, developing new technologies for nuclear threat reduction, and identifying unconventional nuclear threats.

Examples of contributions include, in the area of nuclear nonproliferation, leading a DOE multi-laboratory team at the Mining and Chemical Combine (a weapons-grade plutonium production facility housed deep in a granite mountain in Siberia) as part of a program to strengthen the protection, control, and accounting of nuclear materials at Russian sites following the breakup of the Soviet Union. As the leader of the Trace Inorganic Analysis Team at LANL she contributed to characterization of 238PuO2 materials used in radioisotope thermoelectric generators for the NASA Cassini space mission. As the Program Director for Civilian Nuclear Energy, she supported identification and funding of new technologies and approaches for nuclear energy in the context of a complex and dynamic global energy environment and establishment of the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation, Infrastructure Development Working Group (a Department of State led engagement with 35+ countries and international organizations). As a consultant for DOE, she is currently supporting the U.S. – Japan Civil Nuclear Energy Research and Development Working Group and the U.S. National Laboratory Fukushima Support Network; as a part of these efforts she recently visited the nuclear reactor complex at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Dr. Bo Xie

Bridge the Gap between Academia and Industry

Bo Xie received her Ph.D in Chemistry from Boston University, Center for Biomedical Mass Spectrometry with Prof. Catherine E. Costello, where she worked on glycan and glycoprotein characterization by using mass spectrometry. Afterwards, she worked for industries at California, Indian, as well as at academia, and latest as an Associate Scientist at Ames National Lab.

Through the diverse working experience from industry and academia, She enjoyed her research by using mass spectrometry to decipher the analytical science and technology discovery at molecular level. For example, how use antibiotics to treat human infections, and how plants use and convert solar energy. Moreover, Bo is interested in how to facilitate novel science and technology roles in today’s business and economy. She joined the MBA program at Iowa State University, to expand her knowledge on business management of innovation and the commercialization of new science and technologies. Currently Bo is working on Technology Marketing at Office of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer at Iowa State University Research Foundation.

Besides her career, Bo is married to Yue, who is a professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering at ISU. She is a mom of two children, who are fascinated by mom’s mass spectrometry machines. She serves as Committee of the Board of Director Ames Chinese Language Academy, and Director for Chinese Story Time at Ames Public Library to promote Chinese culture, communication and contribution to Ames community.

Dr. Lisa M. Balbes

Workshop Title: "Essential Career Skills for Chemists”

Dr. Lisa M. Balbes earned her Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her undergraduate degrees in chemistry and psychology from Washington University in St Louis. She spent several years as a computational chemist at Research Triangle Institute, conducting protein and small molecule modeling experiments in support of drug discovery. For over 25 years, she has provided technical writing and editor services as Balbes Consultants, LLC, with clients including Washington University Medical School, Bausch and Lomb Surgical, SigmaAldrich, Stereotaxis, Pine Instrumentation, and the US FDA.

She has been an American Chemical Society volunteer career consultant since 1993, providing career management advice and information to literally thousands of scientists. She is the author of “Nontraditional Careers for Chemists: New Formulas in Chemistry”, published by Oxford University Press, an ACS certified master workshop facilitator, and an internationally invited speaker on various career topics.

Dr. Balbes has served her local ACS section as chair (2002, Outstanding Local Section), career resource coordinator, scout clinic coordinator and councilor (2007-present). Nationally, she chaired the Committee on Economic and Professional affairs, and is currently serving as secretary for the Committee on Nominations and Elections. In 2012, she received the E. Ann Nalley Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service for the Midwest Region, and in 2015 she received the Howard and Sally Peters Award from the ACS Division of Chemistry and the Law for significant contributions to alternative careers in chemistry. In 2016 she was named the Volunteer of the Year by the St Louis section of the ACS. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and of the American Chemical Society.

Lisa and her husband, Mark, have 2 sons, both Eagle Scouts. Jack is a software engineer and programming instructor at Oasis Digital Solutions. Alex recently graduated from Case Western Reserve University, and will attend Washington University School of Law this fall. Lisa is active with the Boy Scouts of America as an Assistant Scoutmaster for Troop 352, and as chair of the New Horizons District Advancement Committee and the Greater St Louis Area Council Boy Scout STEM Committee. She is on the national BSA STEM Committee, and is the staff advisor for a annual week-long STEM @ the Summit Trek for Venturers at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia. She staffed Wood Badge and has taught at the the Philmont Training Center, and in 2014 received the prestigious Silver Beaver award for her service to youth. In 2017, she was the Director of STEM Quest at the National Scout Jamboree, sharing STEM activities with over 23,000 youth for 10 days on top of a mountain in West Virginia.

She shares her office with two house rabbits, and has volunteered weekly at the local house rabbit shelter for the past 12 years.

Lisa has also won state and national awards for her needlework (including tatting, needlepoint and petit point).

Dr. Amber Manning-Ouellette

Workshop Title: “Finding and Sustaining your Voice”

Dr. Amber Manning-Ouellette joined the Iowa State University leadership studies faculty in Fall 2015. She teaches several courses in the leadership studies department including civic engagement, diverse leadership perspectives, and capstone research course. She also directs the Global Leadership Program in Stockholm, Sweden.

Her research interests include women’s leadership, study abroad and self-efficacy, and first-year student transition and retention assessment. Dr. Manning-Ouellette has presented her research at international and national conferences such as the International Leadership Association, NASPA, and the Association for the Study of Higher Education. Most recently, she authored an article examining the differences in student learning in an online and traditional course format published in the Journal of Leadership Education. She is the recipient of the 2016 ACPA and FYE grant for her research on women in STEM and service-learning. In 2017, she received the Gender and Sexuality Equity Research Award and the Wilbur L. Layton Faculty Recognition Award at Iowa State University.

Previously, Dr. Manning-Ouellette worked in student affairs administration for 6 years while completing her graduate work. She holds a Bachelor’s in psychology, a master’s in counselor education, and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Educational Administration and Higher Education, all from SIU Carbondale.