I have long had an interest in the intersection of Science and Ethics, but that has been amplified by the teaching of scientific ethics as part of a graduate chemistry course. In that course, the focus was on the ethics and misconduct of how science is practiced. In the engagement course I will teach, I will strive to explore ethical issues and reasoning that arises from Science, and how responsibilities for the consequences of Scientific research should be apportioned between different levels of the hierarchy that goes from the individual scientist, through scientific institutions, and ultimately to society at large.
My research has been at the interface of Physics and Chemistry, a field known as Chemical Physics. In particular, I use spectroscopic and quantum mechanical theoretic methods to explore the properties of molecules, the strength of their interactions and how energy exchanges between forms, both in a single molecule and in collisions with other molecules. Lasers are my preferred tools of the trade. I am a Fellow of both the American Physical Society and the Optical Society of America.