Biography

Research Interests

I have recently become involved in a collaboration with a research group at St. Mary's College in Indiana developing paper analytical devices (PADs) for the detection of counterfeit pharmaceuticals and the quantification of other commercial molecules. During the 2011-2012 academic year, I supervised students working with the anti-tuberculosis medicine isoniazid (Kayla Lewis) and the anti-bacterial ciprofloxacin (Marissa Mikkelson). In the summer of 2012, Tom Finn and I explored ways to detect and quantify the insecticides permethrin and deltamethrin with a PAD.

Another project I am interested in is the synthesis of inorganic liquid crystal compounds. Several Aquinas students, including Molly Soper and Lauren Cichon, have worked on this with me.

In past years, I have been involved in several projects with environmental applications. During the summer of 2005, Aquinas students Meghann Broderick and Melissa Conklin worked with me to characterize the water of Brewster Lake, in Barry County, Michigan. The following summer, Rob Sturm and Lianne Griffiths completed a project comparing the concentrations of lead, copper, and zinc in soils near roads and soils far away from roads. Both of these projects were funded through URGE grants by Pierce Cedar Creek Institute. For the summer of 2007, Shannon Henderson and I quantified the lead concentrations of the soils of Grand Rapids area apple orchards. Molly Soper was my research assistant during the summer of 2008 when we synthesized a series of transition metal compounds with liquid crystal properties. Both the 2007 and 2008 summer research projects were funded by the Mohler Scholarship program at Aquinas.

I also worked with Sarah Pennington (2004-2005) on her senior research project, "Moe's Mall: A Visual Aid for Teaching Stoichiometry."

Professional Memberships

American Chemical Society

Division of Chemical Education 

Division of Inorganic Chemistry

Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society

Council on Undergraduate Research

Iota Sigma Pi, National Honor Society of Women in Chemistry

Publications and Presentations

Saladin M, Jensen E. “Determination of physical property trends of alkylammonium metal bromide liquid crystals.” Journal of Undergraduate Chemistry Research 2014, 13, 26-28.

Jensen EA. "Undergraduate Research in Chemistry At A Small Liberal Arts College." In Chapp TW, Benvenuto MA, Eds.; Developing and Maintaining a Successful Undergraduate Research Program (ACS Symposium Series 1156); American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2014; 187-196.

Finn T, Jensen EA. "A Colorimetric, Paper-Based Test for Deltamethrin and Permethrin." Poster presented at the Central Regional ACS meeting, May 2013, Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

Cichon L, Jensen EA. "Thermal Behavior of Ionic Liquid Crystal Compounds of Transition Metals with Dimethyldihexadecylammonium and Hexadecylamine Ligands." Poster presented at the Central Regional ACS meeting, June 2011, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Soper M, Jensen EA. "Synthesis and Thermal Properties of Bis(dimethyldioctadecyl)ammonium Metal Halide Compounds" Poster presented at the Central Regional ACS meeting, May 2009, Cleveland, Ohio.

Jensen EA. "Learning with POGIL in General Chemistry." Presentation at the 20th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, July 2008, Bloomington, Indiana.

Henderson S, Jensen EA. "An Analytical Study of Lead Concentrations in Soils at Fruit Orchards in the Grand Rapids Area." Poster presented at the Central Regional ACS meeting, June 2008, Columbus, Ohio.

Griffiths L, Sturm R, Jensen EA. "The Relationship of Vehicle Traffic to Metal Ion (Pb, Cu, Zn) Concentrations in Roadside Soils of Southwestern Michigan." Poster presented at the Central Regional ACS meeting, May 2007, Covington, Kentucky.

Broderick M, Conklin M, Jensen EA. "Analysis of Water Quality in Brewster Lake, Pierce Cedar Creek Institute." Poster presented at the Central Regional ACS meeting, May 2006, Frankenmuth, Mich.

Pennington S, Jensen EA. "Moe's Mall: A Visual Aid for Teaching Stoichiometry at the Secondary Level." Student poster presented at the Western Michigan ACS Education Night, March 2005, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Jensen EA, Corbett JD. "LiLa 6 I 12 Os, a Substitutional Derivative of Rhombohedral La(La 6 I 12 Os)." J. Solid State Chem. submitted.

Zerfas D, Jensen EA. "Encapsulation of Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans in an Ormosil Sol-gel." Student poster presented at the Western Michigan ACS Education Night, February 2004, Grand Rapids. Mich.

Waldron JP, Jensen EA. "Bioencapsulation by Ceramic Materials for Pollution Remediation." Student poster presented at the Western Michigan ACS Education Night, February 2004, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Jensen EA, Corbett JD. "Alteration of Rare-Earth-Metal Cluster Iodides R(R 6 I 12 Z) Through Cation Substitution." J. Solid State Chem. 2003; 172: 132-137.

Jensen EA, Corbett JD. "Cation Substitutional Chemistry in the R 7 X 12 Z-Type Structure for Four Lanthanum Iodide Examples." Inorg. Chem. 2002; 41: 6199-6205.

Jensen EA, Corbett JD. "Cation Substitution Chemistry in the Rhombohedral R 7 X 12 Z Structure." Poster presented at the Midwest High Temperature & Solid State Chemistry Conference, June 2001, Fort Collins, Colo.

Luther College Chemistry Department Invited Seminar. "Solid State Chemistry: More Than Just Pretty Pictures." November 8, 1999.

Jensen EA, Corbett JD. "A New Layered Lanthanum Bromide Phosphide: La 3 Br 2 P 2." Poster presented at the Midwest High Temperature & Solid State Chemistry Conference, June 1999, Ames, Iowa.

Jensen EA, Hoistad LM, Corbett JD. "Lanthanum and Praseodymium Bromide Pnictides. A Convergence of Interstitial Chemistry in Cluster Halides and Intermetallic Pnictides." J. Solid State Chem. 1999; 144: 175-180.

Education

• Ph.D., Iowa State University
• B.A., Luther College