DENISE NAPOLITANO ’08
THE CHEMIST
“I’m in the lab and surrounded by women doing chemistry. That’s what I see…”
Napolitano '08, right, with fellow student scientists, Tamara Vital ’08 and Maika Takita '08
There’s a chemist behind practically everything that we come into contact with in our daily lives, says Denise Napolitano ’08. Foods, soaps, detergents, cosmetics, plastics—chemistry in all. Napolitano, a native of Queens, New York, sees opportunity and potential when she considers a future as a chemist. But her interest, she says, stems more from the joy and pleasure she has experienced simply in practicing science.
Chemistry was my fun class in high school. I took it for two years. The teacher had a great sense of humor and class was always enjoyable. If I had to write a paper for an English or a history course, it was tedious for me to plough through it. But when I sat down to do chemistry problems— especially in advanced placement chemistry—I felt happy when I solved them. It’s a great feeling when you work hard on a problem for half an hour and then the answer comes to you. Mathematics and science feel more active to me. You sit down, you write out problems, you think hard. If you solve a problem and it’s right, it’s right. It’s much more objective than the arts.
Barnard interested me not specifically because of science, but because of the liberal arts education offered here. I wasn’t completely set on being a chemistry major when I started. I thought I would have so many fields to consider, and I was thinking about going into medicine. In my first year, I took general chemistry—I felt I had the strongest background in this subject. The class was taught by Linda Doerrer, who’s now at Boston University, and it was great. She was friendly and very open to questions in class, and her lectures were so detailed. It was more intense than what I learned in high school. We had covered a lot of the material when I took AP chemistry, but this was so much more in depth.
The lab that went with the lecture was amazing. We worked with Olympia Jebejian, the lab director. There was great camaraderie among the students, with everyone supporting each other. This made it a very laid back and relaxed environment.
I have noticed that there have been many more students taking introductory lecture and laboratory courses in chemistry. This has caused issues with the amount of lab space available; for example, it was necessary last spring to offer an extra section of the “Introductory Organic Chemistry” lab. Even though space in these courses is tight, I think it is wonderful that so many students are interested in chemistry.
On average, I spend about eight to 10 hours a week in the lab during the semester working on my research project. Right now, I’m trying to verify the mechanisms of carbene addition reactions by product analysis. What I’m doing is preparing the prospective products via different synthetic routes. It takes a lot of work and a lot of thinking to find ways around these reactions. With my own project and research, time in the lab is a little more solitary than it would be in a lab course. However, I can still discuss lab dilemmas with other students, and my advisor, Professor Dina Merrer, is always available. I also meet with my research group once a week, and that’s when we address all of our research problems. There are four of us in the group, and our meetings give us a chance to receive feedback and advice.
The opportunities in chemistry excite me. A chemistry PhD can work at a pharmaceutical or chemical company, in cosmetics and food companies. I’m very interested in the chemistry in food. The Barnard Chemical Society organized a career panel last spring, and Jack Cordova from PepsiCo spoke to us. He told us about his first job working at Campbell’s and how the experience inspired him to work in the food industry. He now works on developing new flavors of carbonated beverages.
I am planning on applying to graduate school, but I would first like to take some time off to work. I would like to be sure of my focus before I apply to a graduate studies program, and to make sure that I enjoy and fully appreciate the field of chemistry I study. My parents are pushing for the PhD, and I want it as well. I know there will be so many opportunities open to me after that.
It’s a little hard for me to see what it’s like for women in science outside of my lab. I went to an all-girl’s high school. Now I’m at a women’s college. I’m in the lab and surrounded by women doing chemistry. That’s what I see, women doing chemistry. I don’t know if I’m just going to be hit over the head with gender issues in the workplace after graduation. I know that the number of women obtaining higher degrees in the sciences is much smaller than the number of men receiving degrees. I hope that in this new age women will achieve a greater presence in science and mathematics.