Dr. Michael Pence, a University of Utah Chemistry postdoc co-advised by Professor Shelley Minteer and Professor Long Luo, recently received the prestigious 2025 NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences Ascending Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (NSF MPS-Ascend) to conduct a program of research and activities related to broadening participation in STEM. This fellowship awarded to Michael will support his research project entitled "Using Autonomous Electrochemistry to Develop Highly Selective Plant Hormone Sensors" under the mentorship of sponsoring scientist Shelley Minteer, University of Utah adjunct professor. The host institution for the fellowship is Missouri University of Science and Technology, Dr. Minteer's current home base. Michael also collaborates with University of Utah chemistry professor Long Luo through the Center for Synthetic Organic Electrochemistry, applying automation to synthetic challenges.
Michael's proposal focuses on developing a highly selective electrochemical sensor for abscisic acid (ABA), a critical plant hormone involved in regulating plant growth and stress responses. The proposed work will use a copolymer approach to enhance the selectivity of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) and an autonomous electrochemical platform for rapidly screening and optimizing sensor performance. The proposed sensor will be low-cost and field-deployable, enabling real-time monitoring of ABA and other plant hormones. Successful implementation of this work would contribute to the fundamental understanding of MIP-analyte interactions, develop a framework for designing sensors for a variety of analytes, expand the scope of automated electrochemistry, and provide a means to selectively detect plant hormones.
Michael also intends to increase the participation of undergraduate and high school students in STEM fields through a summer school program and the implementation of a remote learning-based electrochemistry curriculum for rural populations, where agriculture is highly important. Both efforts will be highly interdisciplinary, with students learning electrochemistry while also gaining exposure to programming, robotics, and machine learning.
In his project description, Michael wrote, "Growing up in a very rural area in Indiana, I did not know how one became a scientist, and certainly had no idea that grad school was a possibility until I had was well into my undergraduate coursework. As such, a large part of my planned outreach will be focused on educating students in Hispanic and rural communities on how to get into doing science, demystifying the process and making it feel like an accessible career path."
"This curriculum would develop students into confident electrochemists, while also giving them invaluable skills such as programming and data analysis that are becoming increasingly in demand by employers across many fields."
Congratulations to Dr. Pence on this outstanding accomplishment - the Chemistry Department looks forward to seeing how he changes the chemistry landscape with his brilliant contributions!
Read about the 2025 NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences Ascending Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (NSF MPS-Ascend)
7/31/2025