Corinne Deibel, Ph.D.

About me

I teach a range of courses in chemistry and have 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). I regularly collaborate with students on research, often leading to co-authored articles in scholarly journals. I’ve also led off-campus programs in New Zealand and, my native country, France.

I love to travel and learn about new cultures and enjoy cooking, reading a good mystery book and spending time with my children.

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.

Education

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

Professional memberships

• American Chemical Society (ACS), member since 1991
• Midwest Association of Chemistry Teachers at Liberal Arts Colleges, since 1998

Research projects

Collaborative student research experience

In the summer of 2013, I traveled to China with two 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.

Off-campus study experience

I’ve had the opportunity to lead two 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.

Scholarly interest

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).

Published works

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.