TAMUCC Department of Chemistry

Research

The Chemistry Faculty believes that undergraduate research is very important in the development of our graduates. Our research activities peak during the summer months.

Welch Fellowships The Welch Fellowship supports.....

SURF - Summer Undergraduate Research Focus

Chemistry Faculty Research Interests

Tim Causgrove - Dr. Causgrove's research is aimed toward understanding the role of charged amino acid side chains in helix formation and aggregation. The goal is to characterize the underlying parameters that influence folding or aggregation and the physical basis of those parameters. His approach uses both equilibrium experiments and molecular modeling. The underlying parameters currently under study are the thermodynamics of interactions between oppositely-charged side chains, both intra-helix and inter-helix, and the effect on folding and aggregation of short peptides. His current research is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Dr. Causgrove is also an affiliate of Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he has worked with summer undergraduate and graduate students.
Eugene Billiot Feri Billiot -Drs. Eugene and Fereshteh Billiot are husband and wife and work as a team. They have three main areas of ongoing research. The primary focus of their research is investigating and elucidating factors responsible for chiral recognition with media specifically designed for use as chiral pseudostationary phases in capillary electrophoresis (Eugene was recently awarded an NSF CAREER grant to conduct this research). Another area of research focuses on an examination of the distribution, fate, and effect of endocrine disruptors in the environment and the development of bioassays to screen for endocrine disruption activity. The third area of research is a collaborative project with Dr. Suzzette Chopin, which focuses on identification of active components in herbal remedies (for more details, see the research description of Dr. Chopin below). In the last five years, the Billiots have mentored the research of six graduate students and 38 undergraduates. Their students have matriculated at Rice, Cornell, Emory, UCLA, and MIT. Dr. Eugene Billiot’s commitment to mentoring is highlighted by his selection (one of eight faculty members so chosen) for the University Academic Center for Enrichment, which mentors at-risk undergraduate students. Additional pages for the Billiots' grants: Surfactant Research
Patrick Larkin - Dr. Larkin's research focuses on how plants and marine organisms respond to environmental change at the molecular level. Our laboratory is interested in both specific events, such as the effect of temperature on the expression of different allelic variants of a single gene (Waxy - granule bound starch synthase), and broader events, such as the genetic relationship between populations and their specific microenvironments. Some of our model plant species have been rice (Oryza sativa L.) and the native plant species: Halodule beaudettei (Cymodoceaceae), Thalassia testudinum (Hydrocharitaceae) and Desmanthus bicornutus (Fabaceae). While rice is a cultivated starch crop, Halodule and Thalassia are seagrasses (submerged, marine angiosperms) and Desmanthus is a terrestrial legume. Seagrasses are of interest because of the significant ecological role they play in coastal and estuarine ecosystems. Desmanthus is valuable as a forage species for both livestock and wildlife, and for its ability to return nitrogen to the soil. Little is known about the molecular genetics of most native plant species, though they often provide a significant number of benefits to wildlife, livestock and human populations. Our research involves characterization of genomic, mitochondrial, ribosomal and chloroplast DNA variation through DNA sequencing and the development of DNA fingerprinting techniques such as Amplified restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP), Randomly Amplified DNA Polymorphism (RAPD) and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP). Molecular genetic, habitat and environmental data are analyzed statistically to examine the importance of genetic heterogeneity, gene flow, habitat fragmentation and associated environmental variables on the establishment, growth and dispersion of native plant populations. We believe these approaches can contribute significantly to the creation of sound natural resource management practices, as well as contribute to the basic understanding of how plants interact with their environment.
James Silliman -

		Chemistry


Home Degrees People Faculty Staff Assistants WorkStudies Researchers Events Courses Laboratories Instrumentation NMR Equipment Safety Research Welch SSC Workshop Chemistry Database MSDS Links Chemistry Club ACS South Texas Section Physical & Environmental Sciences TAMUCC	Research The Chemistry Faculty believes that undergraduate research is very important in the development of our graduates. Our research activities peak during the summer months. Welch Fellowships The Welch Fellowship supports..... SURF - Summer Undergraduate Research Focus Chemistry Faculty Research Interests Tim Causgrove - Dr. Causgrove's research is aimed toward understanding the role of charged amino acid side chains in helix formation and aggregation. The goal is to characterize the underlying parameters that influence folding or aggregation and the physical basis of those parameters. His approach uses both equilibrium experiments and molecular modeling. The underlying parameters currently under study are the thermodynamics of interactions between oppositely-charged side chains, both intra-helix and inter-helix, and the effect on folding and aggregation of short peptides. His current research is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Dr. Causgrove is also an affiliate of Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he has worked with summer undergraduate and graduate students. Eugene Billiot Feri Billiot -Drs. Eugene and Fereshteh Billiot are husband and wife and work as a team. They have three main areas of ongoing research. The primary focus of their research is investigating and elucidating factors responsible for chiral recognition with media specifically designed for use as chiral pseudostationary phases in capillary electrophoresis (Eugene was recently awarded an NSF CAREER grant to conduct this research). Another area of research focuses on an examination of the distribution, fate, and effect of endocrine disruptors in the environment and the development of bioassays to screen for endocrine disruption activity. The third area of research is a collaborative project with Dr. Suzzette Chopin, which focuses on identification of active components in herbal remedies (for more details, see the research description of Dr. Chopin below). In the last five years, the Billiots have mentored the research of six graduate students and 38 undergraduates. Their students have matriculated at Rice, Cornell, Emory, UCLA, and MIT. Dr. Eugene Billiot’s commitment to mentoring is highlighted by his selection (one of eight faculty members so chosen) for the University Academic Center for Enrichment, which mentors at-risk undergraduate students. Additional pages for the Billiots' grants: Surfactant Research Patrick Larkin - Dr. Larkin's research focuses on how plants and marine organisms respond to environmental change at the molecular level. Our laboratory is interested in both specific events, such as the effect of temperature on the expression of different allelic variants of a single gene (Waxy - granule bound starch synthase), and broader events, such as the genetic relationship between populations and their specific microenvironments. Some of our model plant species have been rice (Oryza sativa L.) and the native plant species: Halodule beaudettei (Cymodoceaceae), Thalassia testudinum (Hydrocharitaceae) and Desmanthus bicornutus (Fabaceae). While rice is a cultivated starch crop, Halodule and Thalassia are seagrasses (submerged, marine angiosperms) and Desmanthus is a terrestrial legume. Seagrasses are of interest because of the significant ecological role they play in coastal and estuarine ecosystems. Desmanthus is valuable as a forage species for both livestock and wildlife, and for its ability to return nitrogen to the soil. Little is known about the molecular genetics of most native plant species, though they often provide a significant number of benefits to wildlife, livestock and human populations. Our research involves characterization of genomic, mitochondrial, ribosomal and chloroplast DNA variation through DNA sequencing and the development of DNA fingerprinting techniques such as Amplified restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP), Randomly Amplified DNA Polymorphism (RAPD) and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP). Molecular genetic, habitat and environmental data are analyzed statistically to examine the importance of genetic heterogeneity, gene flow, habitat fragmentation and associated environmental variables on the establishment, growth and dispersion of native plant populations. We believe these approaches can contribute significantly to the creation of sound natural resource management practices, as well as contribute to the basic understanding of how plants interact with their environment. James Silliman -