Chemistry SEPC

Mia Kauffman

I will graduate with a double major in Spanish and chemistry, with a plan to complete a chemistry graduate program with a teaching aspect. I’m also passionate about girls’/women’s education, so I plan to work in this area with the Peace Corps prior to grad school. As a long-term professional goal, I aspire to work in higher academia in the chemistry field, where I may research and develop applications focused on environmental protection. I see this as an avenue to help others through education and a way to provide exposure to STEM subjects to women of color. I currently work as a science community leader and laboratory teaching assistant for Organic Chemistry. I am also a part of the Chemistry Student Educational Policy Committee (SEPC).

Hieu Nguyen

Hello everyone! My name is Hieu, and I’m currently in my fourth year at Grinnell. My majors are chemistry and Russian! By day, I’m your friendly neighborhood chemist, whipping up concoctions that would make Walter White blush, but by night, I’m part of a top-secret project working on converting O2 to CO2. I love cooking and biking around, and you’ll often see me on my red bike across campus.

Favorite element: Palladium (Pd)

Han Xie

Hi! My name is Han Xie (she/her) from Jiangxi, China. I am a junior majoring in chemistry and computer science with a statistics concentration. My current research interests in chemistry is theoretical and computational chemistry. I have conducted research in the solubilities of melting salts in silicon dioxide with Professor MacInnes on a directed-research project. Over the summer, I went to SURE summer program at Johns Hopkins University, working on the corona structure of ligand-coated gold anoparticles with Professor Rigoberto Hernandez. This semester, I am working on the gold cluster formation with Professor Hernandez on another directed research project. Outside of academics, I enjoy hiking and musicals. I am a vocal member of the Grinnell Collegium Musicum, and I am learning violin and harpsichord, thus I am happy to talk and learn more about the baroque music! I am excited as a Chemistry SEPC member. Please feel free to email me with any concerns in learning science, doing research on- or off-campus, or anything about life!

Eris Trout

Hello, I’m Eris Trout (they/she), and I am a fourth-year chemistry major concentrating in environmental studies. I am a trans student from Dayton, Ohio. I am interested in water resources and environmental remediation, and I plan on continuing my studies in grad school for environmental engineering. I conducted chemistry research with Professor Leggans through the MAP program on synthesizing lugdunin, an antibiotic candidate. Over the summer, I did oceanographic research through the National Science Foundation’s REU program with Dr. Gwenn Hennon at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. I would be more than happy to talk about the research I conducted. I am proud to serve the Chemistry SEPC this year!