The life-altering impact of one chemist’s sabbatical

Anyone that’s followed this podcast will know that Paolo’s final question to each guest is, “What advice would you like to share with younger scientists just starting their career?” Here, our guest, Dr. Monte Helm, professor of chemistry at Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City, shares advice that he clearly lives by, which is, “… be flexible ii your career and follow what you think you’ll be passionate about.” While Monte’s academic training is in inorganic chemistry, he’ll tell you he’s always cared about teaching as much as the subject itself. Join us to meet this lifelong learner and teacher, that’s parlayed his passion for phosphine chemistry and teaching into roles as a postdoctoral researcher, a professor at an undergraduate research institution, a deputy director at a national laboratory, and now a teaching-focused role at a community college. A set of roles that definitely demonstrates flexibility! In addition to learning about the fundamental research Dr. Helm has done in crown-phosphine and phosphine ligand synthesis, we learn about his unconventional career path and the key role that mentors and sabbatical opportunities played in its development. He talks openly about the joys and challenges of each role, about his motivations for each career change, and his current love of teaching at a community college where he’s able to focus solely on teaching to students that may not have had positive primary educational experiences in science. Related episodes: Season 2, Ep. 3: Rethinking Catalysis Season 2, Ep. 6: The charm of the forgotten elements Season 3, Ep. 3: Imagination and the chemistry of the things around us Season 5, Ep. 4: Shining a photochemical light on undergraduate research Bonus content! Access bonus content curated by this episode’s guest by visiting for links to recent publications, podcasts, books, videos and more. View the video of this episode on . A free thank you gift for our listeners! Visit the episode website and request your free Bringing Chemistry to Life t-shirt. Use Podcast Code: laBcheM in March or sc13nc3 in April We read every email so please share your questions and feedback with us! Email helloBCTL@thermofisher.com

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The life-altering impact of one chemist’s sabbatical is an episode from Bringing Chemistry to Life by Thermo Fisher Scientific.

This episode is 00:31:39 long.

This episode was published on Apr 3, 2024.

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