Join us at our seminar series

For the current term, seminars are held each Friday afternoon and start at 3:30 PM in the Vernier Science Center, Room VSC 105, 1025 SW Mill St, Portland, OR 97201. Chemistry seminars are in person unless noted otherwise; seminars are free and open to the public. Light refreshments provided.

The Department of Chemistry hosts eminent scholars from throughout the field of chemistry at our weekly seminar series.

We have an exciting lineup of scientists who will be joining us. If you would like to be added to our seminar mailing list, please send an email to chemistry@pdx.edu and let us know!  

Professional photo of Theresa McCormick, a white woman with midlength brown hair and glasses.

January 9th, 2026

Dr. Theresa McCormick

Associate Professor of Chemistry

Theresa McCormick received her Ph.D. from Queen's University in Kingston Ontario. She then studied water splitting with Prof. Richard Eisenberg at the University of Rochester, followed by a second postdoc studying the reactivity of tellurophenes with Prof. Dwight Seferos at the University of Toronto. She started at Portland State University in September 2013. When she isn't in the lab you can likely find her at the curling club.

Presentation Title: AI use: a curious approach

Close up of student hands doing chemistry experiment in lab

February 6th, 2026

Dr. Oana Luca

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of Colorado Boulder


Presentation Title: TBD

Stock image of an orangey-yellow sparkly solution in a clear glass flask, top of flask is cut off from photo.

February 13th, 2026

Dr.  Jonathan Gross

Researcher at Google Quantum


Presentation Title: TBD

X-ray image

February 27th, 2026

Dr. Michael Cohen

OHSU


Presentation Title: TBD

Professional head shot of Marilyne Stains, a white woman with short blonde hair and glasses.

March 6th, 2026

Dr. Marilyne Stains

Professor, PhD, University of Virginia


Stains received her B.S. in Chemistry from the Université des Sciences de Luminy, France; her M.S. in Chemistry from the Université Paul Sabatier, France; and her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Arizona. She conducted her postdoctoral studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She started her academic career at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2011 and was promoted to Associate professor with tenure in 2016. Stains joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Virginia in August 2019 and was promoted to full professor in 2022. 

Stains’ research is focused on characterizing the extent, nature, and factors involved in the gap between instructional practices in science college classrooms and education research. Stains is specifically interested in exploring how instructors think about their teaching, as well as identifying individual, departmental, and institutional factors that influence instructors' teaching decisions.

Stains’ work has been published in Science, PNAS, CBE- Life Sciences Education, and the Journal of Chemical Education. She has received funding from the National Science Foundation, including a CAREER award (2016). In 2019, she was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) and the American Chemical Society Women Chemists Committee Rising Star Award. 
 

Presentation Title: TBD

MRI

March 13th, 2026

Dr. Lyniesha Ward

Indiana U.


Presentation Title: TBD