Thesis chapter by Jordan Nutting ’15 adapted into article for Journal of Organic Chemistry

A thesis chapter that Jordan Buhle Nutting ’15 wrote during her doctorate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was adapted into the Journal of Organic Chemistry, becoming one of the three most-read articles in the journal in 2021.

Nutting’s thesis is concerned with the fields of organic synthesis and electrochemistry. She and her co-writers discovered that to reach their audience of primarily organic chemists, they needed to demonstrate the interrelatedness between the two fields. This finding prompted them to detail the fundamental electrochemical concepts and their connections to organic chemistry in an introductory chapter — the chapter that later was adapted into the Journal of Organic Chemistry.

“Basically, it’s a work of translation — it helps one group of people understand another group and their area of study better,” Nutting says. “It’s been really well-received, and we hope that it helps organic chemists better understand and talk about electrochemical processes.”

Nutting’s article can be read on pubs.acs.org.

During the earlier part of her doctorate studies, Nutting was awarded a 2016 National Science Fellowship in the field of chemistry-chemical catalysis, a fellowship opportunity for scientists-in-training. The award granted her funding for three years of her studies.

She has since graduated from UW-Madison with a Ph.D. in chemistry and is now a science writer at Promega, a global biotechnology company headquartered in the Madison area.

At Ripon College, Nutting majored in chemistry and minored in Spanish and physics. She says that Ripon College taught her critical thinking, research, writing, editing and listening skills that are required for effective communication. “I used these skills every day in my graduate studies and now in my work as a science writer,” she adds.

Amanda Barlow ’23
Appleton, Wisconsin