The Department of Chemistry is excited to announce four new concentrations for Fall 2022. The curriculum committee has been working diligently to get four new concentrations approved,and the final approval was just announced early May 2022. The new ACS certified concentrations are forensic chemistry, health sciences, environmental chemistry and sustainable chemistry.
Forensic chemistry is the application of chemical analysis principles to criminal investigation. Students interested in pursuing a career in the laboratory analysis of forensic evidence, criminal investigation, attend law school, or study forensic science in graduate school are recommended to choose this concentration.
The health science concentration compliments students’ chemistry knowledge with content from biology, anatomy, physiology and microbiology. This concentration is recommended for students who wish to pursue a career in the medical, veterinary, pharmacy, dentistry and allied fields. The additional course work is designed tohelp students fulfill the prerequisite requirements for health sciences professional programs.
Environmental chemistry is the application of chemical principles to the study of the natural environment, including air, water, land and the biosphere. This concentration is recommended for students who wish to pursue a career in environmental management, or in the fundamental study of environmental systems. This concentration is also suitable for students planning to attend law or professional school or pursue graduate study in environmental chemistry.
Sustainable chemistry is a concentration recommended for students who wish to pursue a career in the interdisciplinary field of sustainably including renewable energy, green materials, pollution and waste remediation. Because sustainability requires that chemists be well rounded, students will take courses that develop an understanding of the social, economic and environmental pillars of sustainability as well as the pillars’ intrinsic interconnectedness.
New concentrations allow students to focus on the type of chemistry they wish to pursue
“The new concentrations provide a pathway for undergraduate chemistry majors to pursue in-depth study of aspects of chemistry that they find personally interesting or inspiring,” said Christopher Ackerson, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and a member of the curriculum committee.
The chemistry department is happy to introduce these new concentrations to our students and hope the interdisciplinary opportunities help students find careers theyare passionate about.
New classes for these new concentrations will be in the Fall 2022 course catalog and include:
- Chem 333, Forensic Chemistry: In this class students will learn basic knowledge related to the application of chemical principles in forensic sciences. Techniques discussed are hair, soil, dye, glass, ammunition, drugs, and biological materials analysis. These techniques are used to support evidence on and off the crime scene.
- Chem 338, Environmental Chemistry: Students will learn processes that control the fate of chemicals in the environment. They will focus on the chemistry of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and soils, especially as it pertains to pollution of these environmental compartments. Topics covered in the course may include smog and air pollution, ocean acidification, acid mine drainage, pesticide chemistry, and heavy metal contamination.
- Chem 448, Medicinal Chemistry: Students will gain a foundational understanding of how drugs function and affect biological systems, overview of the pharmaceutical industry, synthetic chemistry relevant to therapeutic compounds, introduction to process (scale up) chemistry, and will do case studies of drug development.
- Chem 465, Chemistry of Sustainable E-Waste Management: A chemistry complement to a trans-disciplinary overview of the electronics industry. Students will focus on the chemistry of the extraction, use, and toxicity of electronics materials.
For a full list of new classes and to explore our new concentrations go to the Colorado State University Course Catalog.
