Earlham College | A national liberal arts college in the Midwest
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Corinne Deibel
Professor of Chemistry

Corinne Deibel teaches a range of courses in chemistry and has conducted a variety of applied analytical chemistry research projects that range from trace metals in a local watershed (environmental), elemental composition and provenance studies of pottery, obsidian and jade artifacts (archeometry), to the determination of common synthetic cannabinoids (forensic). She regularly collaborates with students on research, often leading to co-authored articles in scholarly journals. Corinne has also led off-campus programs in New Zealand and her native France.

Contact Info

Campus Mail
Drawer 145

Phone
765-983-1480

E-mail

Office
238 Stanley Hall

Office Hours
Open door policy

Programs/Departments

  • Chemistry
  • Biochemistry
  • Environmental Science
  • Quality Science
  • Pre-Engineering

Degrees

  • Ph.D., U of Kentucky, Lexington
  • M.S., Universite Pierre et Marie
  • B.S., ESCOM, Paris, France

Selected Courses:

CHEM111 - Principles of Chemistry: Introductory chemistry course required for the chemistry, biology, biochemistry, neuroscience, geology, and environmental science majors.

CHEM331 - Equilibrium and Analysis: The objective of this problem-based learning course is to provide students with a working knowledge of the principles and practices of analytical chemistry. The course culminates in a 3-week laboratory research project where students work in groups on a service-learning project that addresses the Earlham or Richmond community needs.

I have been conducting a variety of applied analytical chemistry research projects that range from trace metals in a local watershed (environmental), elemental composition and provenance studies of pottery, obsidian and jade artifacts (archeometry), to the determination of common synthetic cannabinoids (forensic).

Collaborative Faculty/Student Research presented at National Conferences in the last 4 years.

“Characterization of an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) System for the Elemental Analysis of Pottery Samples”, E.M. Pavlovic, J.E. Andreasen, R.C. Bovee. H. Lui, C.C Deibel, and M.A. Deibel, presented at the 246th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Indianapolis, IN, September 2013.

“PXRF Differentiation of Ancient Obsidian Projectile Points from Northern Chile”, C.C. Deibel, M.A. Deibel, E.M. Stovel, W.T. Whitehead, J.A. Broach, and J. Shi, presented at PITTCON 2013, Philadelphia, PA, March 2013.

“Application of XRF to the Elemental Analysis of Yixing Pottery”, J.E. Andreasen, R.C. Bovee, H. Liu, E.M. Pavlovic, C.C. Deibel and M.A. Deibel, presented at the 12th Annual Local Section ACS Poster Session, Indianapolis, IN, October 2011. 

“Quantitative Determination of Common Synthetic Cannabinoids JWH Analogs by Thin-Layer Chromatography”, E. Litchfield, G. Lyman, K. Waters, Y. Jaghab, C.C. Deibel, presented at the 42nd Meeting of the ACS Central Region, Indianapolis, IN, June 2011.

“Investigation of trace metal contamination in a local watershed: Springwood Lake, Richmond, IN”, J. Holliday, S. Slocum, X. Liu, H. Murishita, C. C. Deibel, M. A. Deibel, J. B. Iverson, presented at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, San Francisco, CA, March 2010. 

“Arson to Cocaine: Developing Ion Trap Tandem Mass Spectrometry Forensic Applications for the Undergraduate Analytical Chemistry Laboratory”, K. Hostetler, S.A. Hamed, L. Bol and C.C. Deibel, presented at the PITTCON 2009 Conference, Chicago, IL, March 2009.

American Chemical Society (ACS), member since 1991

Midwest Association of Chemistry Teachers at Liberal Arts Colleges, since 1998

One of the reasons I chose to teach at Earlham is because of the strong international character of the campus. It is a very special place where students get to experience the diversity of the world by living and learning in a close-knit community with other students from all over the world.  As an expatriate, I also enjoyed the opportunity to converse in my native French language with some of my students and colleagues.

In the summer of 2013, I traveled to China with 2 Earlham chemistry students to collaborate with local archeologists. Using our portable X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer, we analyzed pottery and jade artifacts from the late Longshan period (3000-1900 B.C.) and early Xia Dynasty (2070-1600 B.C.) that had been unearthed at one of the largest Neolithic sites in Northwest China.  The information provided by the chemical analysis will help the archeologists develop a cultural context for these objects.  We are interested in expanding this project by using additional techniques, such as portable Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), to help us better characterize the artifacts and the environment in which they were found.  We have also started to establish a database of the jade artifacts composition as a first step for a provenance study.

I have had the opportunity to lead 2 semester-long programs abroad, one in France and one in New Zealand.  As a French chemist with a background in radiochemistry, I taught a course called: “the role of France in the Nuclear Age” during the French program.  While most students on the program were not science majors, they were interested in understanding more about the pros and cons of nuclear power, which is the primary source of energy in France.  One of the highlights of the course was the visit of Marie Curie’s laboratory.

I love to travel and learn about new cultures.

I love to cook, read a good mystery book, and spend time with my children.

Earlham College, an independent, residential college, aspires to provide the highest-quality undergraduate education in the liberal arts and sciences, shaped by the distinctive perspectives of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).

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