ACS Award for Research at an Undergraduate Institution: Maria R. Hepel

Sponsor: Research Corporation for Science Advancement

Citation: For fostering and mentoring innovative undergraduate research in diverse fields of public concern related to human health, environmental monitoring and remediation, energy conversion, and nanotechnology.

Current position: Distinguished SUNY Professor of Chemistry, SUNY Potsdam

Education: M.S., chemistry, Jagiellonian University; Ph.D., chemistry, Jagiellonian University

Hepel on her biggest research challenge: “To combine experiences of different fields, such as chemistry, physics, molecular biology, medicine, and materials science, in a single interdisciplinary research project. It takes great efforts to undertake such projects and expand your knowledge and skills to the bordering areas of diverse fields, but it is highly rewarding and enables advancing science to new levels of understanding.”

What her former students say: “She truly cares about student progress and is very concerned with her students’ professional development and future careers. She spends many hours in lab supervising students’ research projects, with an average of five to seven research students per semester. In addition, she has also introduced research projects into her analytical courses, exposing larger numbers of students to research.”—Matthew Fayette, former student