I began teaching at Randolph College thinking that I would only be here a year. But when the opportunity arose to make the temporary position permanent, it wasn’t hard to make a decision. Randolph is a completely different world than I was accustomed to from my educational background at large state universities, and I really liked the personal feel of the college. The red brick campus began to feel like home almost immediately.

Environmental chemistry is my favorite course to teach because it brings together all of the material learned in introductory courses and places it in the context of important national and global issues. Smog, ozone depletion, greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, alternative fuels, and ground water contamination are all issues of tremendous current importance, and are also all issues that cannot be understood without understanding the chemistry of the species and processes involved. Although many of these issues represent great concerns, they also provide great opportunities for future creative chemists to make meaningful improvements to people’s lives.