Chair
Dr. Ivan Lorkovic (Grinnell BS ’89, MIT PhD Inorganic Chemistry ’95) has been working as a scientist and engineer in the Santa Barbara area for 25 years. He served as treasurer and was on the executive committee for CALPACS between 2004 and 2010. His research interests were studying redox transformations of small molecules: with Peter Ford studying nitrogen oxide interactions with heme models, with Gas Reaction Technologies developing novel gas to liquids partial oxidation technology, and with Cool Planet Biofuels developing catalysts for biomass derived syngas to higher hydrocarbons. More recently he has been working with developing and characterizing remote sensing technology at Raytheon Vision Systems in Goleta as systems engineer.
Treasurer
Dr. Jerry Macala is a consulting chemist specializing in product development, materials synthesis and characterization, and analytical instrumentation on the Central Coast. He earned a B.S. in Chemistry from UCLA and worked in the organic peroxide industry for ten years, first as environmental compliance manager and later as plant manager where he coordinated the expansion and modernization of the facility for pharmaceutical production. He left this position to manage a remote research station at the geographic South Pole in Antarctica. During the winter he coordinated the first ever mid-winter medical evacuation to save the station’s ailing doctor. His crew was one of the last to occupy the historic geodesic dome which was built in the 1970’s and had become an icon of the US Polar Program. Following this assignment, and inspired by the science projects he managed in Antarctica, he returned to university to complete a Ph.D. at UCSB developing new catalytic processes for chemical transformation of biomass feedstocks. He has recently worked as Senior Scientist in the biomaterials research group at Allergan Medical, characterizing physical and morphological properties of silicone implants and drug eluting biopolymers, and Chemistry Manager at iCRCO, where he directed research and development efforts to improve efficiency and performance of medical x-ray detectors. He has served on the board of Calpacs for several years and looks forward to contributing as Treasurer in the coming year.
Secretary
Dr. Ashley Ringer McDonald is an associate professor of chemistry at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Ashley earned her Ph.D. in theoretical chemistry at Georgia Tech and was an NIH NRSA post-doctoral researcher at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy in the Center for Computer Aided Drug Design. Ashley’s research focuses on using computational chemistry to characterize molecular interactions in complex chemical systems. Ashley previously served on the CALPACS Executive Committee as a member-at-large and chair of the Women’s Chemist Committee. Nationally, she serves as the Undergraduate Programming Chair for the Computers in Chemistry (COMP) division of ACS. Ashley is a faculty associate of the Molecular Sciences Software Institute and an invited member of the MERCURY Consortium. To learn more, you can follow her on Twitter at @ARingerMcDonald.
Alena Higgins is an Extraction Scientist at Apeel Sciences focused on extracting, purifying, and transforming valuable compounds from biomass for use in Apeel’s technologies. By sourcing materials from discarded biomass, her work aims to serve the company’s mission of reducing food waste by giving new value to fruits and vegetables that would otherwise go to waste in the processing of food products. A member of the Apeel team since 2016 – when she began as an Extractions Intern – Alena became an Extraction Scientist in 2018 after receiving a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She fills her free time with friends, family, and her dog by enjoying quiet activities like knitting, watching movies, and driving through Santa Barbara’s beautiful mountains in search of the perfect ocean view.”
Members at Large
Dr. James Pavlovich is a Senior Analytical Scientist at Apeel Sciences in Goleta. Prior to that he spent more than 22 years as Manager of the UCSB Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Mass Spectrometry Facility. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from Cal Poly, SLO in 1985. He worked at an environmental analytical laboratory in SLO from 1985-1987. He received his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Oregon State University in Corvallis in 1993. He did postdoctoral research in the Environmental Science and Engineering Department at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. James has served as section chair, treasurer, and secretary. Sandra Lamb Award for service to the section and the chemistry community.
Charles Huber My name is Charles Huber, and I have been a member of CALPACS from its inception twenty years ago. I arrived in Santa Barbara in 1987 to take on the job of Chemical Sciences Librarian at UC-Santa Barbara and have done so ever since. Throughout these almost 33 years, I have been active in the American Chemical Society, primarily in the Division of Chemical Information, of which I have served as chair, and, currently as an Alternate Councilor. I served for several years on the Joint Board-Council committee on Chemical Abstracts Service (CCAS), and before that on library advisory committees for CAS and ACS Publications.
Locally, I have served the UCSB chapter of Phi Beta Kappa for several years reviewing prospective members, and and have reviewed projects by middle school and high school students for the local Math, Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) program.
I would be honored to continue to serve CALPACS on its Board, and hope to build on its tradition of service to the chemistry community in our region at all levels – from K-12 students to retirees – and all parts of our section from north to south.
Dr. Ahmed Awad is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at CSU Channel Islands. Dr. Awad earned his Ph.D. in Bioorganic Chemistry from Ulm University in Germany, and was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Iowa State University and at UC Santa Barbara. His research interest is in the area of therapeutic nucleic acids, chemical modifications and biological applications, such as antisense oligonucleotides for treatment of cancer and nucleoside analogues that can target bacterial and viral infections. Dr. Awad enjoy traveling and watching American football.
Dr. Jayesh Dharia earned his Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry from IIT, Mumbai and postdoc at Florida State University and at the University of Michigan. Jay spent fifteen years working at PALL Corporation’s R&D Center in Pensacola, FL and as six years as R&D manager at Parker Hannifin in Oxnard, CA. Jay has 21+ years of experience working in polymer chemistry, membrane, filtration and separation sciences. His research work is in the areas of membrane development, surface modification, membrane chromatography and oleophobic vents. Jay enjoys travelling and visiting National Parks.