Stephanie Schaertel Research Interests
Current Research Projects for Stephanie Schaertel
(Chemistry Department, Fall 2023)
I am a physical chemist, so the projects described here span the disciplines of chemistry and physics.
Title: Diode-laser-based techniques for the measurement of a type of fundamental molecular constant
Description: This project involves the development of a diode-laser-based technique to be used for sensitive measurements of a type of fundamental molecular constant. The type of molecular constant that we are exploring is the pressure-broadening coefficient, which gives information about what occurs when molecules collide. Some of the topics and skills that this work involves are lasers, optics, vacuum techniques, gas handling, electronic data collection, signal-handling techniques, advanced data analysis, some programming, reading of computer programs, the theory of molecular collisions. You do not need to have previous expertise to join this project. This project is being done in collaboration with Dr. George McBane of the GVSU Chemistry Department.
Title: Thermodynamics parameters for caffeine dimerization studied by NMR
Description: This project involves an NMR-based technique that allows us to estimate the ΔH° and ΔS° for the noncovalent dimerization of caffeine, along with the effect of sugar on the dimerization process. This study has applications in food science. Our techniques are like techniques used by some scientists who study noncovalent binding of drugs to targets. Some of the topics and skills that this work involves are nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, solution preparation, curve fitting, and thermodynamics. You need to have taken organic chemistry (at least one semester) to join this project. This project is being done in collaboration with Dr. Ryan Hoekstra of the GVSU Chemistry Department.
Title: Semi-classical treatment of light absorption process
Description: Absorbance spectroscopy is well known and widely used. However, it is not well understood. This project aims to develop a semi-classical theoretical treatment of absorbance spectroscopy, based on a diagrammatic technique similar to the Feynman diagram approach. Some of the topics and skills that this work involves are use of a symbolic math program, integration of functions, quantum mechanics, wave theory. You need to have taken college-level physics and calculus to join this project. Previous experience with the symbolic math program MathematicaTM would also be helpful but is not required.
Title: Physical chemistry laboratory development projects
Description: There are several projects that consist of development of physical chemistry laboratory investigations. A set of projects has as its goal the development of low-cost and relatively safe spectrometers for use in teaching laboratories. Another project involved the fine-tuning of a lab that investigates the role of CO2 vibrational normal modes in atmospheric climate changes.
Publications:
“Internal temperature determination for laser noise cancellers,” Stephanie Schaertel; Esabella R. Powers; Theodore Schultz; George C. McBane, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer 2023, Vol. 306, 108639.
“Correction to ‘H2O(aq) Does Not Exist: Critique of a Proof of Concept Derivation,’” Thomas L. Neils; Todd P. Silverstein; Stephanie Schaertel Journal of Chemical Education 2023, Vol. 100, Issue 6, 2479.
“H2O(aq) Does Not Exist: Critique of a Proof of Concept Derivation,” Thomas L. Neils; Todd P. Silverstein; Stephanie Schaertel Journal of Chemical Education 2023, Vol. 100, Issue 4, 1676-1679.
New Visions for Teaching Chemistry Laboratory Editorial “A Community’s Vision of Instruction in the Chemistry Laboratory," Alexander Grushow; Sally S. Hunnicutt; Mark N. Muniz; Barbara A. Reisner; Stephanie Schaertel; Rob Whitnell Journal of Chemical Education 2022, Vol. 99, Issue 12, 2022, 3811-3813
“Modern Applications of Laser Spectroscopy,”
https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry_Textbook_Maps/Physical_Chemistry_(LibreTexts)/15%3A_Lasers_Laser_Spectroscopy_and_Photochemistry/15.07%3A_High-Resolution_Laser_Spectroscopy Stephanie Schaertel, LibreTexts, made available online September 14, 2022.
“Journal of Chemical Education Call for Papers: Special Issue on New Visions for Teaching Chemistry Laboratory,” Alexander Grushow; Sally Hunnicutt; Mark Muniz; Barbara A. Reisner; Stephanie Schaertel; Rob Whitnell Journal of Chemical Education 2021, Vol. 98, Issue 11, 3409-3411.
“A Low-Cost Time-Resolved Spectrometer for the Study of Ruby Emission,” George C. McBane; Christian Cannella; Stephanie Schaertel Journal of Chemical Education 2018, Vol. 95, Issue 1, 173-177.
“X-ray crystallographic, luminescence and NMR studies of phenacyldiphenylphosphine oxide with the Ln(III) ions Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb and Dy,” Erin G. Leach; Justin R. Shady; Adam C. Boyden; Anne-lise Emig; Alyssa T. Henry; Emily K. Connor; Richard J. Staples; Stephanie Schaertel; Eric J. Werner; Shannon M. Biros Dalton Trans. 2017, Vol.46, Issue 44, 15458-15469.
“What is the pKa of water?” http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Organic_Chemistry/Fundamentals/What_is_the_pKa_of_water%3F Thomas Neils; Stephanie Schaertel UC Davis Chem Wiki, made available online summer/fall 2015; site is currently known as LibreTexts.
“A Modular Raman Spectrometer for Solids,” Debra Johnson; Peter Larsen; Jerry Fluellen; Douglas Furton; Stephanie A. Schaertel The Chemical Educator 2008, Vol. 13, Issue 2, 82-86.
“Integrating Computational Chemistry into the Physical Chemistry Laboratory Curriculum: A Wet Lab/Dry Lab Approach,” Mary E. Karpen; Julie Henderleiter; Stephanie A. Schaertel Journal of Chemical Education 2004, Vol. 81, Issue 4, 475-477.
“An Inexpensive Laser Raman Spectrometer Based on CCD Detection,” Benjamin A. DeGraff; Mandy Hennip; Julie M. Jones; Carl Salter; Stephanie A. Schaertel The Chemical Educator 2002, Vol. 7, 15-18.
“Computational Chemistry in the Physical Chemistry Laboratory: A ‘Wet’ Lab/‘Dry’ Lab Experience,” M. E. Karpen; J. Henderleiter; S. A. Schaertel American Chemical Society: Chemical Education Division Newsletter 1999, Abstract No. 299, Division of Chemical Education, American Chemical Society.
“Pyridinyl and ketyl radicals of pyridoxal-5’-phosphate on micellar and liposomal surfaces,” John W. Ledbetter; Stephanie Schaertel Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology. B: Biology 1998, Vol. 47, Issue 1, 12-21.
“Infrared Laser-based Method for Measuring Isotope Ratios,” Jerry Fluellen; Stephanie Schaertel GVSU McNair Scholars Journal 2005, Vol. 9, 53-61.
“Photophysical Study of a New Rhodium-Aminopyrene Complex as a Model for a Long- Lifetime Fluorescent DNA Probe,” Lisa C. Franklin; Stephanie A. Schaertel GVSU McNair Scholars Journal 1997-1998, Vol. 2, 23-29.
“Metal-Ligand Complexes as Models for Long-Lifetime Fluorescent DNA Probes,” Lisa Franklin; Stephanie Schaertel GVSU McNair Scholars Journal 1997, Vol. 1, 17-22
"Study of Polarization CRS and Polarization ICRS with Application to Benzene," S.A. Schaertel; Duckhwan Lee; A.C. Albrecht Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 1995, Vol. 26, 889-899
"Ultrasharp Spectra and Ultrafast Timing from Noisy Coherence in Four-Wave Mixing," A.C. Albrecht; S.P. Smith; D. Tan; S.A. Schaertel; D. Demott Laser Physics 1995, Vol. 5, 667-675.
"Interferometric coherent Raman spectroscopy with incoherent light: Some applications," S.A. Schaertel; A.C. Albrecht; A. Lau; A. Kummrow Applied Physics. B Lasers and Optics 1994, Vol. 59, 377-387.
"Interferometric Coherent Raman Spectroscopy: Resonant and Nonresonant Contributions," S.A. Schaertel; A.C. Albrecht Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 1994, Vol. 25, 545-555.
"Dynamics and Spectroscopies in Four-Wave Mixing with Coherent and Incoherent Light," S. Schaertel; S. Smith; A.C. Albrecht in Time-Resolved Vibrational Spectroscopy VI, Springer Proceedings in Physics, Vol. 74, Editors, A. Lau, F. Siebert, W. Wernke, Springer Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 1994, 8-13.
“The Importance of Feminist Critique for Contemporary Cell Biology,” Athena Beldecos; Sarah Bailey; Scott Gilbert; Karen Hicks; Lori Kenschaft; Nancy Niemcyk; Rebecca Rosenberg; Stephanie Schaertel; Andrew Wedel, Hypatia 1988, Vol. 3, Issue 1, 61-76.
"Low-Signal-Level Raman Spectroscopy with an Intensified Optical Multichannel Array Detector," N.E. Schlotter; S.A. Schaertel; S.P. Kelty; R. Howard Applied Spectroscopy 1988, Vol. 42, 1988, 746-753.
"Influence of DNA on the rate of porphyrin metallation," Robert F. Pasternack; Esther J. Gibbs; Roberto Santucci; Stephanie Schaertel; Panayiotis Ellinas; Stanley C. Mah Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications 1987, Issue 23, 1771-1774.