Professor of Chemistry Tim Elgren presented a lecture titled "Harnessing the Power of an Enzyme: Catalytically Active Biomaterials" on April 27 as part of the University of Rhode Island Chemistry Department's seminar series. 

Elgren presented the work of several of his Hamilton undergraduate collaborators, including Trevor Pedrick '10, Sydney Fasulo '09, Christina Clark '10, Nick Berry '09, and Senior Fellow Amy Barrows '08, who have contributed to their ongoing efforts to trap enzymes in functional materials. 

These functions include converting known toxic molecules into less toxic forms (oxidative dehalogenations), selective sensing of biogenic amines, and hydrogen production. This work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society, and Research Corporation.