Barbara A. Balko

Assistant Professor, Physical Chemistry

department: Chemistry
office: 217 Olin Center
phone: 503-768-7534
e-mail: balko@lclark.edu
Web: http://www.lclark. edu/~balko/

Degree: Ph.D. 1991 University of California at Berkeley
At Lewis and Clark College since 1993

I have always been interested in understanding the world around me and I saw chemistry as the key to doing this. For example, my study of chemistry has helped me to understand why the sky is blue, why it’s colder on top of a mountain, and why plants are green.

My area of specialty is physical chemistry. In graduate school, I studied the energetic and geometric requirements for simple reactions. As a postdoctoral research associate, my work focused on the interaction between light and semiconductors. At Lewis & Clark College, my research interests have shifted towards the environment. Lewis & Clark students and I are studying the reactivity of various minerals. This work can ultimately be used to help environmental engineers design better systems for degrading groundwater contaminants. More information on these projects is available on my website.