Two GW Chemistry Department graduate students in white coats looking through microscopes

Research

Collaboration is critical to breakthroughs in research. In the Chemistry Department, close-knit teams of faculty members and students motivate each other toward new discoveries. From studying mutated proteins that cause birth defects to creating biodegradable and green solutions for the environment, our researchers work every day on solutions that have an immediate and lasting impact on the world.

Chemistry students often tell us how much they enjoyed their research experiences. With a large faculty who are generous with their time and projects, the department offers one-of-a-kind lab opportunities for students from undergraduate through postgraduate levels. Students on small research teams enjoy a collegial community and the opportunity to build lifelong connections in the scientific world. And our students have been published in national publications, presented at conferences and even contributed their names to patents for inventions.

 

 

 

Research Areas 

Our faculty each have distinct areas of expertise within the chemistry discipline, and lead research teams corresponding to their expertise. Undergraduate and graduate students are engaged collaborators in their work.

 

 

Faculty and Research Staff Office Hours

 

Carly Filgueira with Dr. Houston Miller

Carly Filgueira

BS ’03
2018 Seminar Speaker

"Professor Houston Miller saw my passion and commitment for research and cultivated and supported it."

Research Staff and Postdoctoral Scientists

 

Research News

Adelina Voutchkova and Paul Wahlbeck sitting in chairs on stage and talking, with the Columbian College logo behind them

Green Chemistry Forges Path Forward

Adelina Voutchkova-Kostal, an associate professor of chemistry and co-director of GW’s Environmental Green Chemistry Graduate Program, is taking the lead to address challenges in the classroom and through her National Science Foundation-funded research to devise an environmentally safe process for converting wood into chemicals.

Alexandra Evans headshot

Alumna Makes Headlines with New Research

Chemistry alumna Alex Evans, BS '20, MFS '21, alerted first responders with her research on a new synthetic opioid in the District that may be resistant to the antidote Narcan. She was featured in WTOP News, FOX 5 D.C. and published in the ScienceDirect journal.

Energy scientist Maggie Teliska, PhD ’04, (left) with her faculty mentor Professor of Chemistry David Ramaker (right).

Alumna Makes Chemistry Connections

Inspired by the faculty who mentored her at GW, Maggie Teliska, PhD ’04, forged a career in sustainable energy. Now she’s helping other chemistry students make their mark in STEM industries.
Chemistry Professor Emeritus Michael King teaching in Tompkins Hall, the former home of science and engineering.

Endowment Bequest Builds Beloved Professor Michael King’s Legacy of Impact

Testamentary gifts from the King family will fund the GW Chemistry Department’s first endowed professorship and support GW Hillel.
Assistant Professor of Chemistry Ling Hao in her SEH lab

Kitchen Chemistry: At-Home Experiments Enhance Remote Learning

When COVID limited students’ access to campus labs, chemistry professors designed a do-it-yourself solution to provide an “authentic research experience.”