Wiki Page, CHEM 109 General Chemistry I 41650: Meet Your Instructor

Wiki Page
2020-08-11T14:28:28-07:00

Kimberly N. White, Associate Professor
Chemistry Specialties: Natural Products Chemistry, Bioorganic Chemistry, Forensic Chemistry

First off, please call me Kim. My pronouns are she/her/hers. I am super excited to be your general chemistry instructor this semester. Other classes that I have taught include organic chemisty and biochemistry and this is my fourth year as a tenure-track faculty member at HSU. Prior to my teaching at HSU I taught at Colorado Mesa University, Cabrillo College, and UC Santa Cruz.

I love the outdoors and I am an avid cyclist. I formerly raced road bikes as a crit specialist. I am married and have three children: Isaac (5), Sylvie (2) and Violet (2). A proper work/life balance is very important to me. You will hear me often stress that you too should try to achieve an appropriate balance of school with family, social, personal, and outdoor activities in your own life. If you are happy and energized you do better course work!

Link to Kim's Canvas profile

My Academic Background

Ph. D. (2006) University of California, Santa Cruz (yep, I'ma. doctor and I worked hard for that so please do not call me Mrs. White or Miss White!)

M.A. (2000) University of California, Santa Barbara

B.S. (1999) University of California, Santa Cruz

My Research

My research interests focus on the extraction of small molecules from natural sources to provide answers to key scientific questions. One project involves the isolation of bioactive natural products from terrestrial and marine Gram negative bacteria, followed by structure elucidation and biological testing. Pharmaceuticals are often derived from or inspired by naturally occurring chemical structures. Bacteria are a proven source of chemical diversity with useful biological properties.

Another of my lab projects strives to use various quantitative and unambiguous chemical techniques to establish novel means for assessing the post mortem interval of human remains. Currently very few quantitative chemical tools exist for assessing the post mortem interval, especially past 72 hours. This project uses various aspects of human lipid and protein metabolism to identify and quantify markers of decomposition and death and to correlate them to accumulated degree days (ADD) and total body desiccation score (TBDS). This project is a collaboration with the Forensic Investigative Research Site (FIRS) of Colorado Mesa University, one of only seven “body farms” in the United States.

I regularly take research students into my lab. If you're interested in working in my lab after general chemistry, please contact me!

Some of my Sample Publications. These are peer-reviewed articles published in scientific journals. That means that a group of scholars rigorously reviewed my scientific ideas, research, and results before they were approved for publication!

White, K. N.; Tenney, K.; Crews, P. The Bengamides: A Mini-Review of Natural Sources, Analogues, Biological Properties, Biosynthetic Origins, and Future Prospects. J. Nat. Prod., 2017, 80, 740–755.

Mejia, E.; Loveridge, S.; Stepan, G.; Tsai, A.; Jones, G.; Barnes, T.; White, K.; Draskovic, M.; Tenney, K.; Tsiang, M.; Geleziunas, R.; Cihlar, T.; Pagratis, N.; Tian, Y.; Yu, H.; Crews, P. A Study of Marine Natural Products Including Resorcyclic Acid Lactones from Humicola fuscoatra that Reactivate Latent HIV-1 Expression in an in vitro Model of Central Memory CD4+ T Cells. J. Nat. Prod. 2014, 77, 618-624.

Johnson, T.A.; Sohn, J.; Vaske, Y.M.;White, K. N.;Cohen, T.L.; Vervoort, H.C.; Tenney, K.; Valeriote, F.A.; Bjeldanes, L.F.; Crews, P. Myxobacteria versus sponge-derived alkaloids The bengamide family identified as potent immune-modulating agents by scrutiny of LC-MS/ELSD libraries. Bioorg. & Med. Chemistry 2012, 20, 4348-4355.

Sashidhara, K.N.; White, K. N.; Crews, P. A Selective Account of Effective Paradigms & Significant Outcomes in the Discovery of Inspirational Marine Natural Products. J. Nat. Prod. 2009, 72, 588-603.

Calcul, L.; Chow, R.; Oliver, A. G.; Tenney, K.; White, K. N.; Wood, A. W.; Fiorilla, C.; Crews, P. An NMR Strategy for Unraveling Structures of Bioactive Marine-Derived Oxy-Polyhalogenated Diphenyl Ethers. J. Nat. Prod., 2009, 72, 443-449.

White, K. N.; Amagata, T.; Oliver, A.G.; Tenney, K.; Wenzel, P. J.; Crews, P. Structure Revision of Spiroleucettadine, a Sponge Alkaloid with a Bicyclic Core Meager in H Atoms. J. Org. Chem. 2008, 73, 8719-8722.

Johnson, T.A.; Tenney, K.; Cichewicz, R.H.; Morinaka, B.I.; White, K. N.; Amagata, T.; Subramanian, B.; Media, J.; Mooberry, S.L.; Valeriote, F.A.; Crews, P. The Sponge-Derived Fijianolide Polyketide Class: Further Evaluation of Their Structural and Cytotoxicity Properties. J. Med. Chem. 2007, 50, 3795-3803.