Biology & Chemistry Department

The Biology & Chemistry department invites students to work collaboratively with faculty inside and outside the classroom. Our students do more than just learn about science — they become scientists. We integrate scientific research projects into our courses to give students the opportunity to practice real, hands-on discovery and experience adding to academic conversation in their field. Our small class sizes allow for intentional interaction between faculty and students and among student groups, helping them develop scientific thinking, communication, and research skills. Our graduates have gone on to successful careers in health care, veterinary medicine, industry, and graduate programs all over the world.

Biodiesel Fuel Project

The EPA-funded project, Biodiesel Production from Ethanol and Glycerol: a Living Laboratory for STEM Students (Grant SU840686), is a 2-year, $75k project to design and construct a biodiesel reactor system capable of processing 50 gallons of used cooking oil per month. The technology, developed at Queens, uses glycerol – a reaction byproduct – to make an anhydrous catalyst capable of bonding ethanol to triglyceride oils yielding a 100% renewable fuel. Current biodiesel production relies on methanol, a fossil fuel, for approximately 6% of its carbon.

In collaboration with the Charlotte Teachers Institute, CMS teachers are trained in biodiesel chemistry over the summer. Queens chemistry and biochemistry majors also make biodiesel as part of their senior capstone projects. The fuel is used on campus and donated to Hurricane Helene relief efforts, for use in diesel generators and off-road vehicles.

SEA-PHAGES Research Project

The biology department participates in the Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) program, a nationwide research project alliance led by Howard Hughes Medical Institute. This research project is part of two biology courses where students isolate and sequence the genomes of previously undiscovered species of viruses that infect bacteria found in soil samples. All biology and conservation biology students participate in this project, allowing students to “make significant contributions to the field of genomics as they learn how to think like scientists.” Since acceptance in 2016, Queens students have discovered forty novel species of bacteriophage, leading to publications in GenBank, and student-authored manuscripts in Microbiology Resource Announcements.

Department Chair

Department Faculty