05/11/2022
Introduction:
Even before I became a McNair Scholar, I was very enthusiastic about research and part of what stimulated me the most to get involved in research was a conversation with my will-be mentor at the time. We had a lengthy discussion about some qualitative chemical methods she talked about in class. Lest I forget to mention, she was the first chemistry professor I had coming to the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire. The conversation, although was initially centered on the possible use of High Performance Liquid Chromatography to perform Ion-Exchange Chromatography on some specific proteins, ended up around what one of her research groups was working on which also involved the proteins we were discussing. This conversation stimulated my curiosity into the subject topic leading to my expression of interest in her research.
She is Dr. Krysti Knoche-Gupta, an assistant professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry. She grew up in Colorado Springs, CO where she completed high school.
Educational Endeavors:
After Completing high school with stellar performance, she was graced with acceptances into various great schools to continue her education. She ended up opting to attend the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma where she obtained a bachelor of science degree in biochemistry with intentions to go to medical school post-graduation. After getting her BS in biochemistry, she worked as a quality control technician in the radiochemistry division of ALS Environmental before applying to graduate and medical school. She made a great medical school and PhD applicant and subsequently got accepted into both. However, she felt like medicine was not really for her and decided to join the University of Iowa in Iowa city under the advisory of Johna Leddy where she pursued her PhD in Analytical Chemistry (Electrochemistry). During this time, she studied magnetoelectrocatalysis and diffusion across polymer film modified electrodes. She officially became Dr. Krysti Knoche Gupta in 2015 after successfully defending her PhD thesis. She then went ahead to work with the famous (in the world of 2oth and 21st century electrochemistry) Shelley Minteer on a bioelectrocatalysis project as a post-doc and later in 2017, moved to Ames, IA as a visiting research associate under Robbyn Annand while lecturing at Grandview University. A year later, she joined the UWEC department of chemistry and biochemistry as an assistant professor.
AT UWEC:
For the few years Dr. Knoche Gupta has been a faculty member at UWEC, she was able to impact a lot of things. Aside teaching for courses like General Chemistry, Quantitative Analysis, Modern Applied Separation and Spectrometry, and Physical Analysis Laboratory, she also is a mentor to two research groups working on different projects. Over her four years at UWEC, Dr. Knoche Gupta has mentored about 16 undergraduate researchers, most of whom have continued to pursue graduate studies post-graduation. She recently also spearheaded the formation of the Chemistry Student Safety Team. I must admit that of all the professors I have had, she is the most keen about lab safety.
Aside these, Krysti has also received many recognitions over the years. Most recent of these was last year when she was recognized as the best faculty member of the Chemistry and Biochemistry department. She was also awarded the WiSys Spark grant that same year. Under her mentorship, one of her research groups also won the 2020 Undergraduate Analytical Research Program Award from the Society of Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh.
Research and Mentorship:
As mentioned earlier, Dr. Knoche -Gupta has over the span of four years mentored about 16 students as they research various topics around analytical chemistry. Currently, she has two groups: one of which works on characterizing the polymer films that are used on electrode surfaces. Prominent amongst these polymers are Nafion. Nafion ties this group to the other group that works on investigating the bioelectrocatalysis of Methylobacterium species as TBAB-Nafion is used in immobilizing bacterial cells onto the electrode surface.
Analyzing Cyclic Voltammograms with Dr. Knoche Gupta 05/22/2021.
Dr. Knoche-Gupta has been a very strong supporter of my course. She is an easy-going research mentor and takes into account the fact that we are undergraduate students with courseworks to complete.