Mary Hatcher-Skeers,
Office: KCS 104C
Academic History
- B.A. Biochemistry and Cell Biology, University of California, San Diego
- M.S. Chemistry, San Francisco State University
- Ph.D. Physical Chemistry, University of Washington
- NIH Post-doctoral Fellowship, MIT and Brandeis University
Academic Focus
Biophysical Chemistry - The Hatcher-Skeers group is fascinated by the local structure and dynamics of biological molecules. Her group uses nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and other spectroscopies to study backbone dynamics in DNA, protonation states in proteins, and rotational barriers in amide-containing vitamins and cofactors.
Inclusive Pedagogy - Professor Hatcher-Skeers is currently 61传媒's Associate Dean of Faculty for Racial Equity (ADRE) and previously served as a faculty co-director of the Claremont Colleges Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). These experiences led to the development of pedagogy-focused research projects. Her group studies belonging and community building in STEM classrooms and how the presence or lack of strong classroom communities affects student self-confidence and persistence in STEM majors.
Courses Taught
Chemistry 14L - Basic Principles of Chemistry
Chemistry 122 - Physical Chemistry
Chemistry 126L - Advanced Laboratory in Chemistry
Chemistry 172 - NMR Spectroscopy
Chemistry 177 - Biochemistry
IBC 42L - Introductory Biological Chemistry
Core 2 - Mis-Representations of Women by Science and Society
Selected Research and Publications
Books, chapters, essays, reviews
Hatcher-Skeers, M. 鈥淭he Pitzer College 50th Anniversary Engaged Faculty Collection: Community Engagement & Activist Scholarship鈥, 2014, Tess Hicks Peterson, editor
Doucleff, M., Hatcher-Skeers, M.E., Crane, N. 鈥淧ocketguide to Biomolecular NMR鈥, Springer, New York, February 2011.
Hatcher-Skeers, M.E. essay 鈥淩eality Check鈥 Inside Higher Education, July 25, 2008.
Peer reviewed journal articles (undergraduate authors in bold)
Varun V. Sakhrani, Eduardo Hilario, Bethany G. Caulkins, Mary E. Hatcher-Skeers, Li Fan, Michael F. Dunn & Leonard J. Mueller 鈥淏ackbone assignments and conformational dynamics in the S. typhimurium tryptophan synthase 伪-subunit from solution-state NMR鈥, J. Biomol, NMR, 2020, 74, 341-354.
Khan, T.R.; Jordan, B.; Levitan, R.; Mitchell, P.S.; Wood, C.; Hatcher, M.E., 鈥淎n FTIR Investigation of Flanking Sequence Effects on the Structure and Flexibility of DNA Binding Sites鈥, Biochemistry, 2009, 48, 1315-1321.
Tian, Y.; Kayatta, M.; Shultis, K..; Gonzalez, A.; Mueller, L.J.; Hatcher, M.E., 鈥31P NMR Investigation of Backbone Dynamics in DNA Binding Sites鈥, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2009,113, 2596-2603.
Leskowitz, G.M.; Ghaderi, N.; Olsen, R.A.; Pederson, K.; Hatcher, M.E.; Mueller, L.J., 鈥淭he Amide Rotational Barriers in Isonicotinamide: NMR and Ab Initio Studies鈥, Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2004, 109, 1152-1158.
Olsen, R.; Liu, L.; Ghaderi, N.; Johns, A.; Hatcher, M. E.; and Mueller, L. 鈥淭he Amide Rotational Barrier in Picolinamide and Nicotinamide: NMR and Ab Initio Studies鈥, J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 2003, 125,10125-10132.