Research in my group primarily focuses on the use of analytical chemistry tools to quantify natural antioxidants and to study environmental problems. Selected current and former projects include: Effects of nitrogen application on the antioxidant properties of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.). Our work was presented by Fern Nguyen (AGFD poster 69) at the American Chemical Society National Meeting in Chicago, IL. This research was recently submitted for publication and is also the subject of a Southwestern University Brown Working Paper (Volume 8, 2008). Analysis of common black tea theaflavins. This project was initiated by Jessica Freeman and her results were presented at the American Chemical Society National Meeting in Chicago, IL (CHED poster 266). Jessica's research on catechins in tea was the basis of a recent article published in the Journal of Chemical Education (Jessica D. Freeman and Emily D. Niemeyer “Quantification of Tea Flavonoids by High Performance Liquid Chromatography” J. Chem. Ed. 2008, 85, 951-953). Isomeric differentiation of common tea catechins using gas-phase hydrogen/deuterium exchange reactions. This collaborative work with Professor Jennifer S. Brodbelt at the University of Texas at Austin was published in the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (Emily D. Niemeyer and Jennifer S. Brodbelt “Isomeric Differentiation of Green Tea Catechins using Gas-Phase Hydrogen/Deuterium Exchange Reactions” J. Amer. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 2007, 18, 1749-1759). Determination of industrial contamination in a colonia located in Matamoros, Mexico. For further information, see: Janel E. Owens and Emily D. Niemeyer, "Analysis of chemical contamination within a canal in a Mexican border colonia" Environmental Pollution, 2006, 140, 506-515 and Melissa A. Johnson and Emily D. Niemeyer “Ambivalent Landscapes: Environmental Justice in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands” Human Ecology 2008, 36, 371-382. Quantification of phthalate esters in poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) bottled water as a function of ultraviolet light exposure. This project was most recently presented by Blithe Casterline (ANYL poster 41) and Sarah Sher (ANYL poster 252) at the American Chemical Society National Meeting in San Diego, CA and the 2005 Council on Undergraduate Research Posters on the Hill in Washington, DC). Spectrophotometric determinations of acid-base equilibria in microheterogeneous media. For a recent pedagogical article based on this work, see: Krystyn P. Alter, John L. Molloy, and Emily D. Niemeyer "Spectrophotometric determination of the dissociation constant of an acid-base indicator using a mathematical deconvolution program" Journal of Chemical Education, 2005, 82, 1682-1685. For information on past projects and former research students, click here!