Following in William & Mary’s tradition of excellence in teaching and research, Associate Professor of Chemistry Nathan Kidwell has been awarded the Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award.

The honor, bestowed by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, recognizes “young faculty in the chemical sciences who have created an outstanding independent body of scholarship and are deeply committed to education with undergraduates.” 

Nationwide, typically only eight of these awards are bestowed annually. With the addition of Kidwell, the W&M Department of Chemistry has had an impressive 12 professors receive the selective award.

“I was delighted, humbled, surprised – all of the adjectives,” said Kidwell. “I’m deeply honored to receive this award. and it’s a privilege to be included among so many talented colleagues in the Department of Chemistry who have also received this honor. We all truly enjoy involving students in the process of discovery. I’m also excited to attend the biennial meeting for award recipients, where I’ll be able to connect with like-minded faculty who share the same educational and research mission.”

Kidwell’s award highlights W&M as a premier public research university and serves as an example of the close mentoring and collaboration between faculty and students that characterizes the undergraduate experience at the university. William & Mary offers the most personal education of any public university in the nation.

“W&M is a unique institution where we pride ourselves on providing undergraduate research opportunities for students,” said Kidwell. “Often, those opportunities are at the forefront of what we know in science.”

Robert D. Pike, professor of chemistry, noted that Kidwell has published numerous articles in top-quality journals and has attracted more than $1.1 million dollars in research funding.

“The Dreyfus award is another testament to his growing reputation in the scientific community,” said Pike. “Professor Kidwell involves undergraduates, master’s students and even high school students in his fascinating and important work.”

Garrett Burroughs ’23, M.S. ’25 has worked in Kidwell’s lab since he was an undergraduate.

“Working with Professor Kidwell has been one of the best experiences I have had at W&M,” he said. “He truly is a mentor in all aspects of the word. He cares about students not only as students, but as people.”

Student research in Kidwell’s lab

Kidwell and his research students specialize in two aspects of atmospheric chemistry, which he describes as “the big and the small.”

In the “small” branch of research, Kidwell and his students study single molecule collisions involving reactive molecules called hydroxyl radicals. Made up of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, these unstable molecules are formed when sunlight breaks the bonds of water in the atmosphere, releasing one hydrogen atom. 

The resulting hydroxyl radicals are highly reactive. They play a critical role in many environmental processes by stealing hydrogen atoms from other types of molecules, triggering a cascade of chemical reactions that influence the chemical composition of the atmosphere.

Each type of molecule has a specific shape, and the orientations at which they collide can influence their reactivity. Kidwell’s team seeks to understand how different collision orientations influence energy exchange and chemical transformations. They also investigate whether specific orientations are conducive to accelerated chemistry in the atmosphere.

The “big” aspect of Kidwell’s atmospheric chemistry research refers to aerosols, which are collections of microscopic particles suspended in the atmosphere. 

Contained within aerosol particles are light-absorbing “chromophore” molecules that give aerosols specific colors and therefore their optical properties. Kidwell’s team studies how the stepwise addition of single water molecules affects the shapes of these chromophores, leading to better understanding of how the interactions of chromophores with water influence the outcome of solar-driven reactions.

Kidwell explained that these types of experiments mimic the environment at the interfacial region – or transition zone between the gas and liquid phase – of aerosols.

“We really want to be able to target these types of molecules, these chromophores, and characterize their interfacial behavior with water,” he said. “By identifying their relative orientations in these extended water networks, we can develop a molecular-scale picture of the structures and solar absorption pathways unique to aerosol interfaces.”

Thus far, the team has been conducting these studies in the gas phase. The funding and collaborations resulting from Kidwell’s Dreyfus award, however, will allow them to study these reactions in the liquid phase. They’ll be using a technique called “vibrational sum-frequency generation,” which provides detailed information about molecular interactions occurring at the air/water or water/oil interfacial region.

Kidwell’s lab also works on interdisciplinary research with several collaborators. An example is a project to design an inexpensive water sensor to monitor water quality in Madagascar. The project is a partnership with Malagasy communities and Conservation International and is facilitated by the Institute for Integrative Conservation.

With funding from the Dreyfus award, Kidwell’s lab is continuing to work on a sensor prototype made of cost-effective materials that are readily available in Madagascar. Successfully designing this sensor will empower Malagasy communities to build the devices and measure the effectiveness of strategies to improve water quality in local waterways.

In all of the branches of research in his lab, Kidwell enjoys working with students to explore their interests.

“It’s incredibly rewarding to witness students grow as they gain confidence and experience those breakthrough moments of discovery, where they’re not only pushing the boundaries of research but also learning new things,” he said. “As a mentor, it’s fulfilling to watch them evolve into independent and capable scientists.”