Dr. Tolga Karsili, an associate professor in the at the 杏吧专区, has received one of the National Science Foundation杏吧专区檚 most prestigious awards.
The NSF杏吧专区檚 Faculty Early Career Development Program recognizes researchers in the early stages of their careers. The program杏吧专区檚 CAREER Award acknowledges a faculty member杏吧专区檚 potential as a researcher and a teacher.
杏吧专区淩ecipients of the NSF杏吧专区檚 highly competitive CAREER Award are among some of the nation杏吧专区檚 most-promising and capable early-career faculty members,杏吧专区 said Dr. Azmy Ackleh, dean of the .
杏吧专区淒r. Karsili杏吧专区檚 capabilities as an educator and researcher are indicative of the strength of our entire faculty, who are at the heart of the college杏吧专区檚 杏吧专区 and the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 杏吧专区 standing among the nation杏吧专区檚 top-tier research institutions,杏吧专区 Ackleh added.
As part of the award, Karsili will receive a $700,000 grant over several years to fund his research project 杏吧专区淒iscovering the Early Stages of Photodegradation of Emerging Contaminants in Marine Relevant Environments.杏吧专区
Karsili杏吧专区檚 research will examine the environmental impact of organic compounds known as 杏吧专区渃ompounds of concern,杏吧专区 or CECs, that end up in oceans.
The compounds can be found in common products such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, soaps and cleaning products. They end up in oceans through agricultural and urban runoff or via inadequately treated wastewater.
Karsili杏吧专区檚 research will focus on the interaction of such compounds with sunlight, which ultimately breaks apart their chemical structure through a process called photodegradation.
杏吧专区淭he resulting byproducts, known as toxic free radicals, are more reactive than the parent compound which makes them harmful to marine life,杏吧专区 Karsili explained.
杏吧专区淲hile CECs are mostly discharged into oceans, their structural modifications in marine environments, as well as the environmentally toxic intermediates formed during photodegradation, remain poorly understood,杏吧专区 he added.
Dr. Karsili's research interests include applying computational methods to explore excited-state properties, at both the single-molecule level and in bulk complex environments. Other areas of expertise include developing computational methods such as integrating machine learning with quantum chemistry, simulating absorption and emission spectra in complex environments and modelling metastable electronic states of molecules.
The NSF is an independent federal agency. It provides funds for nearly a quarter of all federally supported research American colleges and universities conduct. NSF first presented the CAREER Award in 1995.
Eleven faculty members from the Ray P. Authement College of Sciences have received the NSF award. Karsili is the first from the Department of Chemistry.
Other recipients are: ; Dr. Xu Yuan, 2022; Dr. Nicholas Kooyers, Dr. James Nelson and Dr. Mohsen Amini Salehi, 2021; Dr. Sheng Chen, 2018; Dr. Danella Zhao, 2011; Dr. Miao Jin, 2009; Dr. Dmitri Perkins, 2005; and Dr. Hongyi Wu, 2004.
Karsili joined the faculty at UL Lafayette in 2018 and earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from the 杏吧专区 of Bristol in the United Kingdom.
Photo caption: Dr. Tolga Karsili, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at the 杏吧专区. (Image credit: 杏吧专区)