CHEMISTRY
What Is The
Western Difference?
Western offers a comprehensive
program with three emphases:
General Chemistry, Biochemistry and
Secondary Education Licensure.
The program allows you to tailor
your education to match your goals
and interests. Small classes allow
faculty members to work closely with
each student. Students majoring
in other areas find it possible to
complete a double major with
Chemistry.
QUICK FACTS
A Chemistry degree opens doors to a variety of careers, including
research, medicine, pharmacy, industry, graduate school and teaching.
Western’s Chemistry graduates have experienced a
100 percent acceptance rate into pharmacy schools.
Our Thornton Biology Undergraduate Research Program engages
undergraduate students in high-quality, original research in biology
and related fields, including chemistry. Stipends are available.
Students work with faculty on a range of research topics, from
synthesizing glutamate analogs to measuring silver in old library
microfiche, to various projects with the new fluorescence instrument.
Chemistry majors have participated in the CREATE Health
Scholars month-long summer research program, where students
learn more about careers in health fields.
Chemistry Club members share their love of chemistry with the
community in an annual demonstration that draws hundreds.
Students also have opportunities
to learn outside the classroom. Many
work as lab assistants after their
first year, allowing them to reinforce
the knowledge they’ve acquired by
teaching it to others.
Field trips take them to such
facilities as the Crested Butte
wastewater treatment plant, where
they collect water samples for metal
analysis, and to the Colorado Bureau
of Investigations lab, where they see
crime data being analyzed.
Students attend a variety of
conferences and work with faculty on
original research. Western students
have participated in summer research
at Vanderbilt University, Montana
State University, the University of
Wyoming and other institutions
in the Research Experiences for
Undergraduates program.
What Can I Do With My Degree?
What Skills Will I Learn?
Employment opportunities include teaching, academic
and research laboratories, governmental agencies,
hazardous materials management, sales, environmental
testing and remediation. The Secondary Education
Licensure in Chemistry qualifies students for a Colorado
license in Science Education.
Students learn basic theories and gain practical experimental skills
in inorganic, organic, analytical and physical chemistry. Supporting
courses provide a foundation in calculus, physics and other subjects
needed to understand modern chemical concepts. Coordinated lab work
reinforces the ideas presented in lecture classes.
Recent graduates include
•high school teacher and assistant football coach at
Westminster High School, Westminster, CO
•research and development engineer at Diamond
Wire Material Technology, Colorado Springs, CO
•independent pharmacist, Buena Vista, CO
•chemical/geochemical lab technician at
Whetstone Associates, Gunnison, CO
•worker at Doble Engineering Company, Boston,MA
Students learn to use state-of-the art chemistry instruments like our
new GC-MS and electrochemistry equipment. They also do their own
research, a requirement for all students. Faculty members work with
students to tailor research to fit their educational goals.
Meet Tepora Su’a
Tepora Su’a ’16 was a first generation
college student from San Diego, California.
Tepora heard about Western by chance
through her volleyball coach, and decided
to contact Western’s volleyball coach.
“Within two emails of corresponding back
and forth, she says, “she booked me a
flight to come check out the school and
tryout with the team.”
Opportunities expand greatly if you continue your
training for a master’s or doctoral degree. Chemistry
majors are well prepared to go on to pharmacy and other
graduate schools.
Students are currently attending graduate school at
UC-Davis for Environmental Engineering, Colorado State
University, Colorado School of Mines and University of
Hawaii--Manoa.
Once she visited, Tepora fell in love with the beautiful campus and
inviting community of Western. “I knew when I got back to San Diego
that Western was where I wanted to spend the next four years of
my life,” she says. She met with Anne Ryter, a chemistry professor,
who gave her the first taste of the supportive and invested faculty at
Western: “she had such a bright personality and had an even brighter
perspective on not only Western, but the Gunnison community.”
The small classes, supportive faculty and program, and sense
of community continued to be Tepora’s favorite parts of Western
throughout her time here. She received support not only from the
Chemistry faculty but also from the many activities she was involved
with: “Western is all about community, so that helped a lot. In each of
my involvements I established a sense of community.”
Now, Tepora is a graduate student in Chemistry at Wayne State
University in Michigan, a route she never imagined herself taking.
More Info: 800.876.5309 | [email protected]
Updated Jan 2017
western.edu/chemistry