
John R. Swierk
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Education
2014 The Pennsylvania State University, Ph.D. in Chemistry (with Tom Mallouk)
2008 University of Pennsylvania, B.A. in Chemistry and B.S.E. in Materials Science & Engineering
Professional Appointments
2018-present Assistant Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, Binghamton University
2016-2018 Associate Research Scientist, Yale University - Energy Science Institute
2015-2016 Postdoctoral Associate, Yale University (with Charles Schmuttenmaer)
2014-2015 Postdoctoral Chemist, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab - Joint Center for Artificial
Photosynthesis (with T. Don Tilley)
2010-2012 NSF GK-12 Graduate Fellow, Pennsylvania State University
Awards
2021 NSF CAREER Award
2021 Bearcat Award for Outstanding Support and Service (Binghamton University) (Nominee)
2020 Harpur College (Binghamton University) Teaching Award (Honorable Mention)
2010 DOE Basic Energy Science Graduate Fellowship (Honorable Mention)
2010 NSF GRFP (Honorable Mention)
2008 American Institute of Chemists Medal, Univ. Pennsylvania
Grants
Funded
ACS Petroleum Research Fund Doctoral New Investigator Award. Grant #60013-DNI4 “Photochemical Oxidation of Refractory Sulfur Compounds for Fuel Desulfurization.” 2019-2021, $110,000. Sole PI.
NIH-NIGMS R15 Grant #1R15GM140404-01. “Photochemical transformations of multicomponent aggregates containing photolabile small molecules, heavy metal ions, and/or nanoparticles in biological environments.” 2020-2023, ($300,000 direct, $150,480 indirect). Sole PI.
NSF CAREER Award "CAREER: Mechanistic Investigations of Photoredox Reactions." 2021-2026 ($472,668 direct, $226,670 indirect)
Pending
Dept. of Energy: "Ashlawn Energy Vanadium Redox Flow Battery Systems" 2022-2025
NIH R35 "Kinetically-Driven Design of Cooperative Hydrogen Atom Transfer (cHAT) Reactions) 2022-2027
Courses Taught
CHEM 341 - Intermediate Inorganic Chemistry
CHEM 484T/584T - Transition Metal Chemistry
CHEM 484B/584B - Bioinorganic Chemistry
CHEM 484M/584M - Molecular Inorganic Chemistry
UNIV 101 - Alchemy and the Birth of Modern Science
UNIV 103 - Food Chemistry
Invited Lectures
2021 Temple University
2021 University of Pennsylvania
2021 Illinois Institute Technology
2021 Rutgers Newark
2021 Kalamazoo College
2020 Lehigh University
2020 Photochemistry Spotlight (online symposium)
2019 State University of New York at Potsdam
2019 St. Lawrence University
2019 Penn State Wilkes Barre
2016 Gordon Research Conference on Renewable Energy, Solar Fuels
Media Appearances
2021 NPR (All Things Considered, Shortwave Podcast, print)