Donna Nelson

Donna Nelson

Donna Jean Nelson (* 1954 in Eufaula , Oklahoma ) is an American chemist . She teaches and researches at the University of Oklahoma , where she began her studies. Her scientific focus is on reactions of alkenes and the analysis of carbon nanotubes . In addition, she deals with the sociology of science with the faculties of the United States and their composition in terms of gender and ethnicity . In this context, she published the highly acclaimed Nelson Diversity Surveys in 2007 . To date she has published over 100 articles in specialist journals and has received numerous honors and awards.

Nelson also promotes the connection between science and popular culture and worked in this context as a consultant for the television series Breaking Bad .

Career

Career

Donna Nelson grew up in Eufaula, Oklahoma, the daughter of a doctor and attended high school there . She then enrolled at the University of Oklahoma to study chemistry and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1974 . She then worked at the University of Texas under Michael Dewar and received her Ph.D. It was also Dewar who subsequently placed her as a postdoc with Herbert C. Brown , who had only been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry the year before . Nelson worked under Brown from 1980 to 1983 at Purdue University in Indiana .

In 1983 she returned to the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Oklahoma, where she is still active in research and teaching. Her work was interrupted by two visiting professorships (2003 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and 2007 at Rice University ) and a stay as Chancellor's Diversity Scholar at the University of California, San Diego (2008).

Scientific work

Nelson mainly researched alkenes , so she developed a technique that enables a more precise investigation of addition reactions of this class of substances. She later turned to nanotechnology and is currently investigating single- walled carbon nanotubes , in particular their reactions with various organic compounds. In this context, she was the first to develop a way of researching these reactions or interactions with the aid of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy .

In addition to her actual research in the field of organic chemistry, Nelson is also active in the field of meta-science , in particular the sociology of science . Since 2001, she has conducted several surveys of the most important faculties in the United States and generated a large amount of data that enabled comparisons of gender, ethnic background, and position at the respective university. Their results, published in 2007, became known as the Nelson Diversity Surveys and enjoyed widespread reception (including Nature , The New York Times , CNN , the Government Accountability Office ).

Media engagement for science

Nelson with the main cast of the series: Bryan Cranston (left) and Aaron Paul (right)

Nelson volunteered as a scientific advisor for the American television series Breaking Bad . In doing so, she paid attention to chemical correctness in dialogues and drew some structural formulas for the scene . She became aware of the series through an interview with producer Vince Gilligan , who explained in a specialist magazine how important scientific accuracy was to him.

In 2011 she also organized a Hollywood Chemistry Symposium in Anaheim to promote general scientific correctness in film and television. She also wrote the book "Hollywood Chemistry: When Science Met Entertainment" on the same subject.

Honors

Nelson at a guest lecture at the University of Bayreuth (2014)

Nelson has received a number of honors and awards, including a Guggenheim , Fulbright, and Ford Foundation fellow and has been a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 2005 . Since 2010 she has been a Fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS), from which she received the Stan Israel Award for Diversifying the Chemical Sciences and the E. Ann Nalley Volunteerism Award in 2011 . She was honored with the Oklahoma Chemist Award in 2012 and inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in 2013 . Nelson's biography has also been published by the Chemical Heritage Foundation .

She has published over 100 articles in professional journals and attended numerous scientific conferences, gave guest lectures at universities and appeared on radio and television programs.

Private

Nelson is a descendant of an indigenous people from North America and has one son. She cites Marie Curie as her role model, especially with regard to the connection between motherhood and science .

Publications (selection)

• Fluorine-Related Nanoscience With Energy Applications . Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011, ISBN 978-0-8412-2610-4 .
• Hollywood Chemistry: When Science Met Entertainment . American Chemical Society, Washington, 2014, ISBN 978-0-8412-2824-5 .

Web links

Commons : Donna Nelson  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Portrait on the pages of the University of Oklahoma (English)
• Oral History Interview, Chemical Heritage Foundation

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Nelson's profile ( Memento of the original from August 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of the American Chemical Society (ACS) (accessed August 10, 2014) 
2. ↑ acs.org: Nelson’s biography on acs.org (accessed August 6, 2014).
3. ↑ ^{a b} chemheritage.org: Nelson's biography ( memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at chemheritage.org (accessed August 6, 2014).  
4. ↑ chem.ou.edu: Overview of Nelson's research activities (English, accessed on August 7, 2014).
5. ^ "Academic diversity" in Nature , June 14, 2007, edition 447, pp. 753-743, doi : 10.1038 / 447753b .
6. ^ Sara Rimer: "For Women in Sciences, Slow Progress in Academia" ( Memento of July 8, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). In: New York Times , April 15, 2005 (accessed August 7, 2014).
7. ↑ spiegel.de: "Chemical consultant at" Breaking Bad ":" Blue meth? That doesn't work "" (accessed on August 7, 2014).
8. ↑ eurekalert.org: Chemists play important roles as advisers for science-based television shows, movies (English, March 27, 2011, accessed on August 7, 2014).
9. ↑ ohehs.org: Nelson's profile in the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame (accessed August 7, 2014).
10. ^ Nelson's profile on the University of Oklahoma website (accessed August 7, 2014).
11. ↑ bio.sacnas.org: Nelson's biography ( memento of the original from August 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at sacnas.org (English, PDF file, 107 kB, accessed February 15, 2016)