Emily Edwards

Dr. Kara Bren, Department of Chemistry

Forensic Soil Analysis by Spectroscopy – Mansfield University, Dr. Scott Davis Project focused around developing a simple method for soil identification, improving on qualitative techniques with more quantitative FTIR and UV/Vis methods
Optimizing Method for Arsenic Detection – Mansfield University, Dr. Shaker Ramasamy Optimization of Teledyne ICP Emission Spectrometer methods for arsenic testing was performed to enhance sensitivity for detection
Marcellus Shale Water Testing Research – Mansfield University, Dr. Shaker Ramasamy and Dr. Michele Conrad Third phase of research conducted on well water quality across Tioga County with both on-site sampling and lab analysis: testing with pH and conductivity probe on-site; ICP, IC, GC/MS, and alkalinity titrations in lab

Photochemical Hydrogen Production – Bren Lab, University of Rochester My current research focuses on using a simple biomolecule, cobalt microperoxidase-11, in systems for light-driven hydrogen production. Cobalt-MP11 is a water-soluble cobalt porphyrin-peptide derived from the heme peptide of horse cytochrome c. I am currently working to characterize an aqueous system using Co-MP11 as a catalyst, [Ru(bpy)₃]²⁺ as a charge transfer chromophore, and ascorbic acid as a sacrificial electron donor. The need to drastically reduce carbon emissions and move to clean renewable energy sources is urgent – climate change has been dubbed one of the biggest global health threats of the 21st century. It is imperative that there is a good understanding of how to build clean solar harvesting systems that maximize their potential. Consequently, an ongoing goal of my research is to optimize the system and develop a more detailed understanding of the mechanisms at work.