Participants complete 4th Cyclic Voltammetry Boot Camp
Photo of the participants and instructors of the 2024 Cyclic Voltammetry Boot Camp.
July 9, 2024 | By UNC-Chapel Hill Chemistry Communication
UNC Chemistry would like to thank everyone who was involved in making the the 4th Cyclic Voltammetry Boot Camp successful this summer. Our ‘campers’ hailed from 19 different institutions and were composed of two undergraduate students, thirteen graduate students, five postdoctoral researchers, and four faculty members. CV Boot Camp is designed for anyone seeking to learn the theory and practical aspects behind cyclic voltammetry, with a focus on using cyclic voltammetry to study freely diffusing molecular analytes. We welcome all participants interested in learning about voltammetry, be they students, postdocs, faculty, or industry scientists. Participation is limited to 24 members due to space, but we were fortunately able to include several lecture-only auditors in addition to a full slate of ‘campers’.
CV Boot Camp was first held in 2019, jointly organized by UNC faculty members Prof. Jillian Dempsey and Prof. Jeffrey Dick and Pine Research Instrumentation, with special input from Dr. Frank Dalton, Dr. Tim Paschkewitz, Dr. Alex Peroff, and Dr. Neil Spinner. In its inaugural year, the workshop ran for two days and was available to all UNC graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and undergraduate students, of which sixteen participants attended. Workshops were not held in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. In 2022, the second CV Boot Camp was held and expanded to three days and it welcomed 24 participants from across the United States. In 2023, 26 participants convened in Chapel Hill for the 3rd annual CV Boot Camp.
Participants to the 2024 CV Boot Camp were presented five different lectures covering topics such as The Practical Aspects of Electrochemistry, Potentiostat Basics & IR Compensation, and Electrochemical and Chemical Reversibility/Coupled reactions and had the opportunity to complete three different labs exploring what they learned, along with chances to present their findings to each other and receive feedback and troubleshooting advice from the instructors. The camp was three full days packed with learning and experimenting, and we all had a blast!
For the 4th CV Boot Camp, we would like to highlight the work of our two faculty members who led the camp, Prof. Jillian Dempsey and Prof. Megan Jackson, along with our friend and colleague Dr. Alex Peroff from Pine Research. Thanks to their leadership, our campers were treated to fantastic lectures, excellent labs, and a wonderful chance to network with each other. We would also like to recognize the fabulous teaching assistants from UNC and Pine Research who helped with all of the work preparing and running the labs. They represent the best of UNC and we are proud of all their hard work. Also we would like to thank the various UNC staff who helped everything go off without a hitch. Finally, we offer a large thank you to everyone at Pine Research for being valued partners in this endeavor and for providing all of the resources in equipment and staff for making it possible.
Because of our dedicated department members and colleagues, UNC has been (and always will be) the premier location to learn about electrochemistry and to perform cutting edge research in electroanalytical chemistry. It has been an honor to further that legacy through the 2024 CV Boot Camp! Thank you again to everyone who was able to participate and help, and we look forward to seeing everyone again next year!
If you would like to learn more about the UNC CV Boot Camp, please keep an eye on our website for updates and information. Information for future experiences will be found there, and we look forward to learning with you next year.