IUP Chemistry Student Presents Research in Osaka, Japan

Ms. Beth Leverett presented her research findings at the 21st Congress and General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography in Osaka, Japan August 23-31, 2008. The IUCr was established in 1948 to promote international cooperation in crystallography and it organizes the largest crystallographic conference in the world. Ms. Leverett was one of nearly 300 students to attend and was one of the only attendees from a non-Ph.D.-granting institution. Close to 3,500 crystallographic professionals attended this year’s meeting.

Ms. Leverett's presentation entitled "Twinning in the Adamantine-Like Quaternary Chalcogenide Li₂ZnSnS₄: A Crystallographic Detective Story" was well received and attracted the interest of a number of world-class scientists. This work has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Solid State Chemistry and will be published later this year. This is Ms. Leverett's first scientific publication.

To attend the conference, Ms. Leverett earned a $1,000 Pittsburgh Diffraction Society Travel Bursary Award. She received additional funding from the Robert E. Cook Honors College Enhancement Fund, the Department of Chemistry, the College of Natural Science and Mathematics, and the School of Graduate Studies and Research.