Bringing Chemistry to Life Podcast

About the Series

Join Dr. Paolo Braiuca, Director of Global Market Development at Thermo Scientific Chemicals, as he chats with some of the most fascinating and influential scientists in the world. Learn about their personal stories, notable contributions and the enthusiasm for discovery that unites them all. Covering various fields and industries, this is a podcast for anyone who wants to learn more about science and the brilliant minds advancing it. Don't miss an episode of this engaging and informative series.

 

Listen to Bringing Chemistry to Life on Simplecast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify  or wherever you find your podcasts. Below, you can watch extended video versions of each episode and enjoy extra content curated by the guests themselves. 


Episode 7: The life-altering impact of one chemist’s sabbatical (Monte Helm, PhD, Professor of Chemistry, Metropolitan Community College)

Anyone that’s followed this podcast will know that Paolo’s final question to each guest is, “What advice would you like to share with younger scientists just starting their career?” Here, our guest, Dr. Monte Helm, professor of chemistry at Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City, shares advice that he clearly lives by, which is, “…be flexible in your career and follow what you think you’ll be passionate about.”

 

While Monte’s academic training is in inorganic chemistry, he’ll tell you he’s always cared about teaching as much as the subject itself. Join us to meet this lifelong learner and teacher, that’s parlayed his passion for phosphine chemistry and teaching into roles as a postdoctoral researcher, a professor at an undergraduate research institution, a deputy director at a national laboratory, and now a teaching-focused role at a community college—a set of roles that definitely demonstrates flexibility!

 

In addition to learning about the fundamental research Dr. Helm has done in crown-phosphine and phosphine ligand synthesis, we learn about his unconventional career path and the key role that mentors and sabbatical opportunities played in its development. He talks openly about the joys and challenges of each role, about his motivations for each career change, and his current love of teaching at a community college where he’s able to focus solely on teaching to students that may not have had positive primary educational experiences in science.


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