The University of Montana Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

09/27/2026

She came to the University of Montana convinced she’d leave Missoula for college. She ended up finding a home.

After attending about 12 schools while growing up, Ava Heintzelman wasn’t looking for another place to put down roots. But a campus tour changed her perspective — and UM became the place where she discovered not only a community, but a path that brought together her passions for science, healthcare, research and helping others.

At UM, Ava earned dual degrees in biochemistry and cellular and molecular neuroscience, became a peer-learning leader and adjunct instructor, worked in an emergency room as an EMT, conducted research and became involved in public health.

Now completing her Master of Public Health, she’s exploring what comes next — from medical school and global health to Ph.D. research. Along the way, she also earned a $5,000 Mortar Board National Foundation Fellowship, one of just two awarded nationally each year.

Most importantly, Ava found something she hadn’t had before: a community she could call home.
“I’ve now found my home here, and I think high school-me would be so glad to know that.”

Read Ava’s story and discover how UM helped her turn curiosity into purpose: bit.ly/UMpubh

📸 Ryan Brennecke

09/04/2026

This summer, Dr. Lu Hu’s lab participated in the Salt Lake City Summer Ozone Study (SLC-SOS), a field campaign that deployed a series of instruments in an airplane over Salt Lake City and the Great Salt Lake to characterize urban air and ozone formation. Our team, including graduate students Amity Deters, Emily Cope, Lexie Rhodes, and Matthew Yim, and Drs. Wade Permar and Logan Forshee, operated a proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer to measure volatile organic compounds, a key precursor to ozone. The campaign also involved Colorado State University, the University of Wyoming, NCAR, and NASA and was funded through NSF.
Here are some news articles and a spotlight that give more information:
https://umt.exposure.co/chemistry-above-the-clouds

https://www.kuer.org/science-environment/2026-08-06/this-plane-is-buzzing-the-great-salt-lake-to-sniff-out-ozones-secrets

https://www.deseret.com/environment/2026/07/18/research-plane-tackles-salt-lake-inversion-pollution-ozone-nasa/

08/21/2026

We’re so excited to welcome students back to campus! Before the semester starts, we wanted to highlight some of the amazing research our students have done this summer:

Image one: graduate student Melissa Aridoux getting liquid nitrogen for work in Dr. Wang’s lab

Image two: graduate student Ashley Freeman (white top) pictured with members from the 2026 Structural Biology NMRFAM Workshop in Madison, Wisconsin. The program supports her work in Dr. Riel’s lab and focused on identifying, quantifying, and mapping binding of protein-ligand interactions using solution NMR

Image three: undergraduate student Tony Shelton synthesized beautiful anion transporters as part of Dr. Berryman’s lab

Image four: graduate student Lexie Rhodes’ poster from the 12th International Conference for GEOS-Chem held at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri

Image five: graduate student Cameron Keller’s silica column to purify synthesized nonactin in Dr. Priestley’s lab

07/31/2026

Our graduate students, Amity Deters, Emily Cope, Lexie Rhodes, and Matthew Yim, are in Salt Lake City for a summer ozone study. They use the UofWy King Air airplane to sample and map air pollutants in the valley. Check out this article about their work:
https://www.deseret.com/environment/2026/07/18/research-plane-tackles-salt-lake-inversion-pollution-ozone-nasa/

05/11/2026

Congratulations to the UM Chemistry & Biochemistry Class of 2026!
🐻👨‍🎓🐾We're so proud of you! 🐾👩‍🎓🐻

05/11/2026

Congratulations to the UM Chemistry & Biochemistry Class of 2026!
We're so proud of you!

05/08/2026

More than 2,000 students who went The Montana Way will graduate Saturday during University of Montana Commencement ceremonies.

Did your student or friend make the list? Congratulate them in the comments!

🎓👉 bit.ly/UMspringGrads26

Find the graduation livestreams here: umt.edu/registrar/commencement/springcommencement.php

04/28/2026

04/28/2026

A B**r Made by Grizzlies, For Grizzlies: UM’s Brewing Science Class, which is part of a six-class certificate in the Department of Chemistry in UM’s College of Science, originally developed the recipe for 1901. https://www.umt.edu/news/2026/04/042726beer.php

04/10/2026