People – Colleen Scott's Research

Dr. Scott was born in Kingston Jamaica where she grew up and attended Meadowbrook High School. Following high school, she accepted a track and field scholarship to Auburn University where she graduated with a Bachelor degree in Chemistry (cum laude) in 1998. She went on to obtain her Ph.D. in 2005 from the University of Pittsburgh, under the guidance of Dr. Craig Wilcox. Her thesis focused on the development of methods for the synthesis of organic and supramolecular compounds. Dr. Scott then took a position as a Post-Doctoral Assistant at Southern Illinois University where she developed an interest in materials’ research focusing on silole-containing polymers. In 2010, she was hired as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Following her tenure at Southern Illinois University, Dr. Scott took her research to Mississippi State University in 2015 where she currently remains.

Dr. Scott’s research focuses on the design and synthesis of organic compounds and materials with desired properties and functions. Some properties include conductivity, electron transfer, opto-electric, optical sensing of biological analytes, and functional polymers for protein separation. Due to the ‘design-by-properties and function’ approach, the application of her research interest can be broad, although currently she is focusing on biological applications.

Dr. Scott is married and has a 12 year old son.

Name	Research area
Post Doctorate
Daijun Feng	C-H Functionalization and Organic Semiconducting materials
Graduate Students
. Mohammed Almtiri	Synthesis and characterization of Biosensor polymers
Ranganath W. Wahalathantrige Don	Synthesis and characterization of conducting polymers and polymer sensors
Guery Saenz	Synthesis of lignin-based and sustainable polymers
Nazanin Mokhtarpour	Synthesis of silole for applications in electronic devices
Chathuranga Rathnamalala	Synthesis of long wavelength florescent dyes for bio imaging and sensing applications
Ishanka Rajapaksha	Synthesis of small molecules for sensory applications
Hari Giri	Synthesis and Design of Heterocyclic Aryldiamine Polymer
Undergraduate Student
Chris Garza	Synthesis of long wavelength florescent dyes for bio imaging and sensing applications
Kezia To	Synthesis of lignin-based starting materials
Mariat Thankachan	Synthesis and characterization of Biosensor polymers
Summer Student(2019)
Leonna Conley	Synthesis of organic semiconducting materials and it’s C-H Functionalization