As a group we believe that whether in the classroom, a conference, or the lab, teaching and training are integral to our success as scientists. In our chemistry and spectroscopy research, we often face unfamiliar topics and experimental practices that are not often covered in chemistry courses, such as optics and lasers, time-resolved spectroscopy, computer programming, and more. As a team, we strive to maintain a friendly environment where we teach each other advanced research topics and train each other in experimental spectroscopy methods.
Prof. Grieco teaches Physical Chemistry courses at Auburn University, where he strives to eliminate false rumors about barriers in P-chem. For example, one often hears: “Physical chemistry is really hard, and it takes a special person to succeed at it”, and “P-chem is useless”. In his teaching, Prof. Grieco brings fundamental topics in physical chemistry down-to-earth, relating them to things we encounter our daily lives, from energy and the environment to electronics and displays. With a special interest in spectroscopy, Prof. Grieco aims to challenge students to think outside the “black box” that we call a spectrometer.
Prof. Grieco teaches students about light diffraction.
Courses taught at Auburn University:
MOLECULAR SPECTROSCOPY (CHEM 7380)
Semesters taught:
Spring 2023, Spring 2022
Course topics:
Quantum theory and quantization, transitions and lineshapes, optics and instrumentation, vibrational spectroscopy, electronic spectroscopy, time-resolved spectroscopy.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY I (CHEM 4070)
Semesters taught:
Fall 2023
Course topics:
Chemical Thermodynamics and Chemical Kinetics: Theory of gases, work, internal energy, enthalpy, entropy, Helmholtz and Gibbs energies, thermodynamic relations, phase diagrams, mixtures, chemical potential, properties of solutions, chemical equilibrium, rate laws, Arrhenius equation, reaction mechanisms.