Jodie Fahey
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Bio
Prior to coming to Mount Saint Mary College, Professor Fahey (née Wasacz) was a visiting assistant professor at Manhattan College. While there, she taught Chemistry for non-science majors and General Chemistry lectures as well as Organic Chemistry (I and II) laboratories. During graduate school, Professor Fahey co-taught a myriad of chemistry courses, including Chemistry for non-science majors, General Chemistry (I and II lecture), and Organic Chemistry (I and II lecture). Additionally, she has taught the laboratories for General Chemistry (I and II) and Organic Chemistry (I and II).
Currently at Mount Saint Mary College, she is teaching Intro Chemistry for nursing majors and Organic Chemistry lecture and laboratory.
Despite a diverse teaching background, her passion for teaching lies in Organic Chemistry. Professor Fahey has taught Organic Chemistry for the past few years now and has come to enjoy the subject as well as the challenge of teaching the subject to students. She tries to pass on her own excitement and interest for chemistry to my students.
In her spare time, Professor Fahey enjoys various sports, hiking, kayaking, swimming, snowboarding, music, and art.
Degrees
Doctor of Philosophy, Chemical Education, University of Northern Colorado
Master of Science, Organic Chemistry, University of Northern Colorado
Bachelor of Science, Chemistry, Hartwick College
Courses
Organic Chemistry I Lecture and Lab
Natural Science Senior Seminar
Memberships
American Chemical Society
Presidentof the Mid-Hudson section of the Younger Chemists Committee
Research
Professor Fahey's research background can be divided into two parts: Organic Chemistry and Chemical Education. Her Organic Chemistry research interests lie in the field of solar energy. She has done structural characterization on various dendrimers for their potential use in organic photovoltaic cells. For this project, she worked closely with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado. Future research interests would be the investigation or other phenyl-cored compounds for use in photovoltaic devices.
Her Chemical Education research interests include investigating potential factors that could contribute to student success in organic chemistry, chemistry in general, and science in general. These factors could include students' preconceptions about a course, prior experiences, and other potential factors that may affect student success in chemistry and, more specifically, organic chemistry. In addition, she's interested in exploring the predictability of organic chemistry students' grades.
Publications
Fahey, J., Maelia, L. (2016). “Green Chemistry Experiments in Undergraduate Laboratories”. ACS Symposium Series book I am putting together and am editor of with Dr. Maelia as my co-editor. Book final submission plan is scheduled for spring 2016.
Fahey, J., Dineen, A., Henain, J. (2015). “Microwave-Assisted Aspirin Synthesis from Over-the-Counter Pain Creams Using Naturally Acidic Catalysts: A Green Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Laboratory Experiment.” In preparation for submission to ACS Symposium Series Text “Green Chemistry Experiments in Undergraduate Laboratories". Text to be submitted Spring 2016.
Wasacz, J., Pacheco, K., and Schreck, J. (2012). Predictability of organic chemistry students’ final course grades using four-week averages. Advances in Teaching Organic Chemistry, American Chemical Society. Published December 2012.
Wasacz, J., J. Fajardo, et al. (2006). "Online Collaborative Learning in a Science Laboratory Course: Student-generated inferences and misconceptions. Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications, 1336-1343.