Ian Thorpe
Hi, I'm Ian Thorpe. I've been a member of the American Chemical Society since I was a junior in college. I was not a very active member during that time and only sought to become an active participant in ACS activities in the past few years. I have been a member of the national YCC since 2001, which is the year I also became active in our local San Diego ACS section. I was responsible for coordinating our section's Younger Chemist Committee from 2001-2003. I then served on the board of our section in the role of Member-at-large (2002-2003) and as an Alternate Councilor (2003-2005).
I began my undergraduate career with a strong interest in biology that slowly evolved to have more of a focus on chemistry and physics. After receiving BS degrees in chemistry and biochemistry from the University of Miami, Florida; I began doctoral studies at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. While there, I worked in the lab of Dr. Charles L. Brooks. The Brooks research group pursues a variety of projects in which computational chemistry and biophysics methods are applied to study biological molecules. My personal research interests lay in exploring the impact of molecular processes on the structure and function of proteins and focused on enzyme catalysis and ligand binding.
I received my PhD in 2005 and am now a postdoctoral associate with Professor Gregory A. Voth at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Our research group studies diverse areas of chemical and biological physics including liquid structure and dynamics, proton transport, ionic liquids and nanoscience. Lately, our group has placed an emphasis on multiscale theory and modeling of biomolecular systems which encompasses my current research project. This is concerned with developing reduced representations of peptides and proteins for use in molecular simulation. Such models can be used to extend the time and length scales accessible to molecular simulation methods.
I have several interests outside of science and I have just enough free time to enjoy some of the best of what Salt Lake City has to offer including theater, movies and snowboarding. Within the YCC I have been appointed to head the Communications subcommittee. This group is charged with informing our constituents about YCC programs and activities and providing information relevant to their professional development. Serving on the YCC has been an incredible learning experience for me. I appreciate having the opportunity to work with other younger chemists within the YCC to address issues that we face both within the ACS and in society at large.