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Seminar Series
QChem Chronicles
Bookmark this page to keep up with the latest news, events, and developments taking place at the Department of Chemistry.
Our Seminar Series hosts guest speakers who present on a variety of topics, thanks to the support of Friends of Chemistry and GreenCentre Canada.
You can also catch up with everything that's happened over the past year (or more!) through our QChem Chronicles.
Date Published: Jul 02, 2025
Dr. Bongers and PhD student, Madeleine Dempster, team up to write an essay for the Conversation
Date Published: Dec 06, 2024
Prof. Graeme Howe Spotlighted on Introducing Profile Following Debut Article as Submitting Corresponding Author in Angewandte Chemie
Date Published: Dec 05, 2024
Congratulations to Our Recipients of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Undergraduate Excellence Award!
Sep 2024 | Oct 2024 | Nov 2024 | Dec 2024 | Jan 2025 | Feb 2025
Mar 2025 | Apr 2025 | May 2025 | Jun 2025 | Jul 2025 | Aug 2025
September 2024
September 6th
Grad Orientation
Speaker:
Title: Grad Orientation Day
Host: Department of Chemistry
September 13th
PhD Departmental Seminar
Speaker: Alexander Conway - PhD Student
Title: Towards the Total Synthesis of Lancifodilactone G
Host: P. Evans
September 20th
Speaker: Ben W. H. Turnbull - Merck Process
Title: Diverse Catalytic Reactions in the Development of Commercial Manufacturing Routes for Nemtabrutinib and MK-7845
Host: A. Evans
September 27th
Speaker: Robert Godin - The University of British Columbia
Title: Deciphering Charge Carrier Dynamics in Carbon Nitride Photocatalysts for Improved Energy, Environmental, and Synthetic Applications
Host: K. Stamplecoskie
October 2024
October 4th
Speaker: James L. Gleason - McGill University
Title: Hydrazide Organocatalysis: From Cope Rearrangements to Novel Cyclopropane Expansions
Host: A. Evans
October 9th
Virtual Seminar
Speaker: Jean-Marie Lehn - University of Strasbourg
Title: From Cryptates to Supramolecular Chemistry and From Iron and Oxygen to the Clinic
Host: A. Petitjean
October 11th
PhD Departmental Seminar
Speaker: Viveka Kulkarni - PhD Student
Title: Prolate-Shaped NHC-Protected Gold Nanoclusters and their Applications
Host: C. Crudden
October 18th
Virtual Seminar
Speaker: Kelly Chibale - University of Cape Town
Title: Fostering drug discovery in Africa
Host: C2MCI
October 23rd at 11:30 a.m. in CHE202
QGCS Symposium
Speaker: Tricia Carmichael - University of Windsor
Title: What Does EDI Mean to You?
Hosts: QGCS & C2MCI
October 24th at 11:30 a.m. in CHE202
QGCS Symposium
Speaker: Jakob Magolan - McMaster University
Title: Synthesis of Rare Prenylated Phenolic Natural Products
Hosts: QGCS & C2MCI
October 25th
Jones Lecture
Speaker: Livia Eberlin - Baylor College of Medicine
Title: Guiding Clinical Decisions with Molecular Information provided by Direct Mass Spectrometry Technologies
Host: R. Oleschuk
November 2024
November 1st
Speaker: Angela Lyon, MSc (Queen’s Chem), Patent Agent in Canada and US - Partnerships and Innovation, Queen's University
Title: Trivia Questions About Patenting Your Chemical Invention
Host: A. Bongers
November 8th
Speaker: Lindsay Grandy - Royal Military College of Canada
Title: Predicting Localized Corrosion in the Presence of Ionizing Radiation
Host: Z. She
November 15th
Speaker: Zachary Myers - Defence Research and Development Canada
Title: Working at the Interface of Science, Technology, and National Defence.
Host: Z. She
November 22nd
Harrison-MacRae Lecture
Speaker: Ilsa Cooke - University of British Columbia
Title: Unraveling the journey of interstellar carbon – from molecular clouds to solar systems
Host: A. Bongers
November 29th
PhD Departmental Seminar
Speaker: Alireza Tehrani - PhD Student
Title: Development of property-dependent alignment-free spectral fingerprint for predicting molecular properties
Host: F. Heidar-Zadeh - Supervisor
Title: Quantum Chemical Modeling of the Oxygen Evolution Reaction on Se-Doped TiO2 (101)
Host: N. Mosey - Supervisor
December 2024
December 6th (Commemoration Day – No Seminar)
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December 13th
PhD Departmental Seminar
Speaker: Katie Moghadam - PhD Student
Title: “Developing techniques for the forensic profiling of improvised explosive devices and 3D-printed firearms”
Host: D. Beauchemin
Speaker: Monica Ayachit - PhD Student
Title: "Light sensitive polymer nanoparticles for Remote-drug-delivery applications"
Host: JM Nunzi
December 27th (University Closed – No Seminar)
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January 2025
January 3rd
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January 10th
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January 17th
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January 24th
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February 2025
February 7th
Speaker: Peter Grutter - McGill University
Title: May the force be with you: using Atomic Force Microscopy to gain insights in chemistry
Host: G. Jerkiewicz
February 21st
PhD Departmental Seminar
Speaker: Yu Zhu - PhD Student
Title: Stereoselective Intramolecular Rhodium-Catalyzed [(3+2+2)] Carbocyclization Reactions of Alkylidenecyclopropanes (ACPs) for the Concise Synthesis of Bridged Tricyclic Products
Host: A. Evans - Supervisor
February 28th
PhD Departmental Seminar
Speaker: Leila Pujal Gómez - PhD Student
Title: Development and Application of Constrained Hirshfeld-based Atoms in Molecules Partitioning Schemes
Host: F. Heidar-Zadeh - Supervisor
March 2025
March 7th
Dr. Michael Baird Lecture
Speaker: Mark MacLachlan - University of British Columbia
Title: Supramolecular Adventures with Platinum
Host: A. Petitjean
March 14th
Green Chemistry Lecture
Speaker: Alessandra Quadrelli - CNRS Lyon
Title: Situated Green Chemistries
Host: P. Jessop
March 21st Virtual via Zoom
Kenneth Russell Lecture
Speaker: Jeffrey Moore - University of Illinois
Title: Space Manufacturing: Materials Chemistry for Fabrication of High-Performance Composites
Host: A. Evans
March 28th
Speaker: Louis Barriault - University of Ottawa
Title: New Forays in Total Synthesis of Polyoxygenated Diterpenes and Photoredox Chemistry
Host: A. Evans
April 2025
April 4th
Dr. Walter A. Szarek Lecture
Speaker: David Vocadlo - Simon Fraser University
Title: Chemical biology tools for probing and perturbing carbohydrate processing enzymes in mammalian systems.
Host: G. Howe
April 11th
PhD Departmental Seminar
Speaker: Samantha Hollands - PhD Student
Title: Exploring uncharted territory in RiPP biosynthesis; the biosynthesis of curacozole by Streptomyces curacoi
Host: D. Zechel - Supervisor
April 18th (No Seminar – University Closed)
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April 23rd at 2:00 p.m. in CHE117
Speaker: Gwilherm Evano - Université libre de Bruxelles
Title: The many faces of copper: catalysis of cross-coupling and radical processes
Host: A. Evans
April 25th
PhD Departmental Seminar
Speaker: Neil Grenade - PhD Student
Title: Natural Chemical Selection – The evolution of bioactive molecules
Host: A. Ross - Supervisor
Speaker: Jennifer Kolwich - PhD Student
Title: Platforms for natural product discovery: Monitoring spatiotemporal dynamics of metabolites from microbe co-culture using ambient mass spectrometry.
Host: A. Ross - Supervisor
May 2025
May 2nd
PhD Departmental Seminar
Speaker: Amir Bunyat-zada - PhD Student
Title: Investigation and characterization of Thermostable Baeyer Villiger Monooxygenase Variant
Host: G. Howe - Supervisor
Speaker: Jose Giovanni Leite de Brito - PhD Student
Title: Elimination of organic contaminants from water using low chemical-intensive CO2–triggered systems
Host: P. Jessop - Supervisor
May 9th
Speaker: Zuzana Gajdosechova - National Research Council Canada
Title: Know what you vape: metal analysis of cannabis vape liquids
Host: D. Beauchemin
May 16th
Speaker: Boon Siang (Jason) Yeo - National University of Singapore
Title: Electrochemical Production of Long Chain Hydrocarbons and Oxygenates
Host: G. Jerkiewicz
May 23rd at 11:30 a.m. in CHE AUD
C2MCI EDII Seminar
Speaker: Maydianne Andrade - University of Toronto Scarborough
Title: Unconscious Bias, Fair Assessment, and Inclusive Research Cultures
Host: C2MCI
May 26th at 11:30 a.m. in CHE117
Speaker: Yuichi Negishi -Tohoku University
Title: Structure Control of Metal Clusters and Their Application in Energy and Environmental Catalysts
Host: Crudden
May 30th
Speaker: Kevin De France - Chemical Engineering, Queen's University
Title: From biomass to bioproducts: Designing sustainable materials with cellulose & protein
Host: A. Bongers
June 2025
June 20th
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June 24 at 11:30 a.m. in CHE117
Speaker: Hajime Ito - Hokkaido University
Title: Mechanochemical Organic Synthesis: Recent Developments from Our Group
Host: C. Crudden
June 27th
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July 2025
July 11th
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July 15th at 10:30 a.m. in CHE117
Speaker: Elizabeth Parkinson - Purdue University
Title: UTILIZING BIOCATALYSIS AND SYNTHETIC CHEMISTRY TO ACCESS NEW NATURAL PRODUCTS
Hosts: G. Howe & A. Ross
July 18th
Dr. Kenneth Russell Lecture
Speaker: Sohini Kar-Narayan - University of Cambridge
Title: Functional polymers for energy, sensing and biomedical applications
Host: Z. She
July 25th
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August 2025
August 1st
PhD Departmental Seminar
Speaker: Emily Steele - PhD Student
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Host: K. Stamplecoskie
August 8th
Speaker: Hisato Yasumatsu - Advanced Research and Innovation Center, Research & Development Center, DENSO Corporation
Title: From ideal to real handling of clusters to acquire practical functionality
Host: C. Crudden
August 15th
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August 22nd
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August 29th
PhD Departmental Seminar
Speaker: Adekunle Omoboye - PhD Student
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Host: Z. She - Supervisor
Sep 2025 | Oct 2025 | Nov 2025 | Dec 2025 | Jan 2026 | Feb 2026
Mar 2026 | Apr 2026 | May 2026 | Jun 2026 | Jul 2026 | Aug 2026
September 2025
September 5th
Grad Orientation
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Host: Department of Chemistry
September 12th
Speaker: Santosh Gharpure - IIT Bombay
Title:
Host: A. Evans
September 19th
Dr. Stan Brown Lecture
Speaker: Kendall Houk - UCLA
Title:
Hosts: G. Howe & A. Evans
September 26th
Speaker: Bruce Arndtsen - McGill University
Title:
Host: A. Evans
October 2025
October 3rd
Speaker: Dr. Xi
Title:
Host: A. Evans
October 10th
PhD Departmental Seminar
Speaker: Venika Ekanayake - PhD Student
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Host: P. Wang - Supervisor
October 17th
Speaker: Homecoming
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October 24th
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October 31st
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November 2025
November 7th
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November 14th
Frost Lecture
Speaker: Erin R. Johnson - Dalhousie University
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Host: F. Heidar-Zadeh
November 21st
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November 28th
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December 2025
December 5th
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December 12th
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December 19th
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December 26th (University Closed – No Seminar)
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January 2026
January 2nd (University Closed – No Seminar)
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February 2026
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April 2026
April 3rd (University Closed – No Seminar)
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April 10th Virtual
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May 2026
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June 2026
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