The department of chemistry is delighted to announce that Professor Susanna Widicus Weaver will be joining our faculty in June of 2008. Professor Widicus Weaver’s research interests are focused on the mechanisms by which prebiotic molecules are formed in interstellar space, and the means by which they may be detected.  Professor Widicus Weaver uses a combination of laboratory measurements, astronomical observations and theoretical model development to advance the frontiers of astrochemistry – a field that may ultimately shed light on the origins of life.

Professor Widicus Weaver earned her Ph. D. at the California Institute of Technology where she worked with Professor Geoffrey Blake on a project entitled “Rotational Spectroscopy and Observational Astronomy of Prebiotic Molecules”.   Since graduating in 2005 she has worked with Professor Benjamin McCall at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Professor Widicus Weaver’s most recent projects have been the design and construction of high-sensitivity IR spectrometers for the characterization of astrochemically important ions.

At Emory, Professor Widicus Weaver will construct a new generation of spectrometers that will permit high-resolution studies of transient molecules using THz radiation.  This region of the spectrum has been particularly difficult to access, but has great potential for the detection and identification of molecules in deep space. Professor Widicus Weaver will use her laboratory results to guide astronomical searches for prebiotic molecules using new observational facilities such as the Herschel Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array.

Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005 - 2008, Ph.D., California Institute of Technology, 2005, B.S., Illinois Wesleyan University, 2000.

Green Bank Telescope Student Fellowship (2004), American Chemical Society Peoria Local Section Collegiate Scholar Award (2000), Eugene M. Shoemaker Impact Cratering Award (1999).