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Lawrence's personal homepage
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Barbara A.
Lawrence, Ph.D.
Professor - Physical Chemistry
B.S.,
University of California, Irvine, 1983
M.S., University of California, Irvine, 1985
Ph.D., University of California, Irvine,
1990
EIU, 1997
Courses taught
CHM 1310,
1410, 1510 - General Chemistry I, II
CHM 1315, 1415, 1515 - General Chemistry
Laboratory I, II
CHM 3910 - Chemical Thermodynamcis & Kinetics
CHM 3915 - Physical Chemistry Laboratory
CHM 3920 - Quantum Chemistry
CHM 4770 - Molecular Spectroscopy
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Research
Interests
Our research is focused on the use of NMR spectroscopy
to study biological systems.
We are working, at present, on two separate projects.
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The first is an ongoing project to study the molecular structure of the
proteins that make up spider silk using NMR and other biochemical
techniques. Spider silk can exhibit a combination of potentially
useful as well as fascinating properties: strength, elasticity, and the
ability to shrink when wet. Each species of spider produces up to
eight different silks. We are comparing silks within and among
species. Most of our work to date has involved Black Widow and
tarantula spiders and have determined that different silks can have
very different molecular structures and material properties. We
collaborate with two biologists in Northern California and travel there
each summer (myself and two Eastern Students) in order to collect
spiders and perform research.
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Our second project involves the study of the ability of certain
vertebrate species to tolerate cold. We are using C-13, H-1, and
P-31 NMR spectroscopy to determine the concentrations of potential
osmolytes and other compounds that enable animal species to avoid or
tolerate freezing. We have studied Antarctic fish and North
American tree frogs in collaboration with Dr. Marina Marjanovich from
the Department of Biological Sciences.
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Representative
Publications (undergraduate
co-authors denoted by asterisks)
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