Annemarie D. Ross - Featured Faculty 2013

Along with collaborators, the research team focuses on the study of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC), a "natural" pollutant formed from the degradation of biological matter. DOC makes its way through the local watershed, and due largely to its phenolic content, it can produce potentially carcinogenic disinfection byproducts resulting from treatment for drinking water. The multidimensional fluorescence spectra of the DOC, along with the use of advanced chemometrics, allows the team to monitor the local watershed for DOC and phenol content and should lead to future projects; including the development of biogeochemical profiles, monitoring the impact of Climate Change on DOC/phenol quantity and the production of in-situ instrumentation to test the phenolic content in water. This work has led to a recent publication in the Royal Chemical Society's Journal of Environmental Monitoring. Professor Ross always includes Deaf and hard-of-hearing undergraduate students on the research team (including a large group of students at the Associate's degree level).

In addition to the Environmental Chemistry research, Professor Ross also studies the effect of curriculum modifications/innovations on Deaf and hard-of-hearing students in the science classroom. The curricular modifications span from the use of the American Chemical Society's Climate Change Tool Kit to "Writing in the Sciences and the Sciences in the Writing" (writing across the curriculum- a project that she works on with departmental colleagues). These studies have led to publication in the national and local proceedings of the American Chemical Society conferences, as well as in the Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities. Along with co-members of the American Chemical Society's Committee on Chemists with Disabilities, she has also worked to disseminate 'best practices' for teaching chemistry to students with disabilities (K-postsecondary). A general article on issues of Deaf and hard-of-hearing education in the STEM fields has also been submitted for publication.