Dr. Maria Contel

Dr. Maria Contel

I was born in Pamplona-Iruña (Navarra, Basque Country) in 1970.

I got my degree in Chemical Sciences (major in Inorganic Chemistry) at the University of Zaragoza (Spain) in 1993 and my Ph.D. in Organometallic Chemistry at the Public University of Navarra in 1996.

My first postdoctoral position was at the Research School of Chemistry (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia) in 1997-99 under the supervision of Prof. Martin A. Bennett. I went to the University of Utrecht (The Netherlands) for a second postdoc with Prof. Gerard van Koten (1999). I returned to Spain in 2000 (University of Zaragoza-Materials Science Institute of Aragon) with a research contract from the Spanish Ministry of Science and then I was awarded a Ramón y Cajal Research contract (Spanish Ministry of Science and Education) in 2002.

I joined Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center (The City University of New York) in September of 2006 as an Assistant Professor in Inorganic Chemistry.

My research interests are in the area of inorganic chemistry (organometallic chemistry, bioinorganic chemistry, homogenous catalysis and green chemistry). I am actively engaged in undergraduate research education and in the incorporation of underrepresented groups and women to my research laboratories. My educational interests are in the areas of inorganic and organic chemistry with a special input in introducing green chemistry concepts across the curriculum. I am very interested in learning techniques involving ‘peers’ such as peer-led team learning (PLTL) and POGIL which I use in Organic Chemistry I.

Languages: English, Spanish (first language), French (basic)