Chemistry Professor named Cottrell Scholar

Trinity University chemistry professor Rebecca Rapf, Ph.D., wants to shine a light on environmental pollutants.

Literally.

Rapf has just been named a 2024 Cottrell Scholar, receiving a national-level award of $120,000 from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA). Her proposed project for the award, which will examine how chemistry of environmentally relevant pollutants changes at air-water interfaces compared to bulk "beaker" chemistry using a special type of spectroscopy (UV Reflection Absorption), launches this summer.

"Being named a Cottrell Scholar is very meaningful, especially being at Trinity, because it is really a teacher-scholar award," Rapf says of the honor. "This award funds not only my research program but also supports my work in the classroom. One of the things I think we do well at Trinity is having a focus on being innovative in the classroom, while also conducting high-quality, nationally competitive scholarship with our students."

Rapf is one of just 19 early-career scholars to receive the 2024 Cottrell award from the RCSA, which bills itself as "America's first foundation dedicated wholly to science." Awardees are chosen from a pool that spans the U.S. and Canada. Getting this type of support in the first few years of one's career, Rapf says, is a crucial step for young professors seeking to establish themselves in their fields.

"As early-career faculty, we're figuring out how to be an independent scientist for the first time," Rapf explains. "You're working on your own projects, and you're building new collaborations. So, having a program like Cottrell that supports early career faculty and helps provide connections and community is really wonderful."

Rapf is quick to point out that she's the latest in a line of Trinity chemistry department faculty who've been supported by RCSA, including Adam Urbach, Ph.D., Laura Hunsicker-Wang, Ph.D., and department chair Corina Maeder '99, Ph.D.

Rapf's new cohort of scholars will convene later on in the year for a conference, allowing Rapf the chance to represent Trinity on a national stage.

But before that happens, Rapf will have the chance to launch her newly funded project, officially titled "Interface-Induced Changes to Electronic Structure and Reactivity of Environmentally Relevant Polycyclic Aromatic Species."

"Basically, I'm interested in looking at how chemistry at water surfaces (such as on atmospheric aerosol) is different from chemistry that occurs in a beaker of water," Rapf says. "I plan on using a technique called UV reflection-absorption spectroscopy, which bounces light off a water surface and allows you to specifically probe only the molecules present at that interface. We will use this to look at a class of molecules called 'polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,' which are important environmental pollutants that are by-products of fossil fuels and are known to have health effects."

Rapf's project ultimately aims to understand how these pollutants are processed in the natural environment, and she says she's excited to get her summer research started.

"Right now, my lab is working on building some of the equipment for the research, and this summer, two out of my seven undergraduate researchers will be working full time on this project," Rapf says.

This is a subject that's right in Rapf's wheelhouse. As a physical chemist, Rapf is interested in using fundamental laboratory studies to inform and contribute to a wide range of applied fields, spanning atmospheric chemistry, planetary science, biophysics, and astrobiology.

But Rapf's Cottrell award isn't just an indicator of her passion for research. Each Cottrell Scholar is also chosen based on the teaching component of their career, and Rapf brings just as much passion to her classrooms as she does to the lab.

Full disclosure-Rapf is on leave this Spring 2024 semester, but this upcoming year, students can expect to enjoy her back for "Physical Chemistry I" (kinetics and thermodynamics), and "Physical Chemistry II" (quantum mechanics and spectroscopy) in the spring, as well as in the general chemistry sequence.

Balancing the lab and the classroom is the exact type of challenge that brought Rapf to campus.

"What drew me to Trinity was its balance of truly student-centric teaching and commitment to research," Rapf says. "I love teaching. I knew that was something I wanted to spend a lot of time and effort on, and something that I wanted to feel like was making an impact."

And as Rapf becomes the latest in a line of Trinity's Cottrell Scholars, she says her new funding will also have a pivotal impact on the students under her wing, shining a light on their futures and potential, too.

"Trinity students are just wonderful. The interactions our faculty have with students in the classroom here are great because of the curiosity and quality of our students," Rapf says. "And then in the lab, it's so fun to see students figure out what they want to do, discover new fields, and grow from there."