Theodore D.

I received my Bachelor's degree in chemistry from Carleton College, a small liberal arts school in Northfield, Minnesota. During my time at Carleton, I was an active educator in the chemistry department. I twice worked as a TA for Organic Chemistry II using the Klein textbook, which helped me develop my explanations for a variety of organic chemistry concepts and start understanding common misconceptions and stumbling blocks. In addition, I was a tutor for general chemistry and organic chemistry classes for almost my entire degree. I spent tons of time with students in all classes, both in groups and individually, helping them develop more efficient chemistry problem-solving skills. I found that I loved passing on my fascination with chemistry to other students. I wanted everyone to see how cool (and relevant) chemistry is, even if you choose not to study the subject!
After I graduated from Carleton, I attended the California Institute of Technology, graduating with my Master's degree in 2019. At Caltech, I worked in Prof. Jonas Peters' lab, studying an photoredox organometallic reaction mechanism. In addition to all of the time I spent in the lab, I was also the TA for four Caltech classes, where I ran recitation sessions for students to get spun up on general chemistry and designed active learning worksheets for undergraduate and graduate students studying Organometallic chemistry. I had a wonderful time and with my degree, I want to pass on some of my chemistry experience to you!