Pamela Mertz

Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Pamela Mertz

Biography

Pam Mertz is a biochemist who teaches both biochemistry lecture and laboratory courses as well as other courses in chemistry such as general chemistry II lab and Medicinal Chemistry.  She also teaches first year seminar.  Her lab has worked on a number of biochemical projects including in the areas of lipid metabolism and intracellular drug synthesis.  She also does research in science pedagogy, from laboratory and capstone projects to students’ professional skill development, and biomolecular visualization.  She was a department co-leader for the CUR Transformations Project (NSF-DUE Award #1625354), which involved scaffolding undergraduate research experiences throughout the curriculum. 

She is on the steering committee for BioMolViz, https://biomolviz.org, and the editorial board for the journal Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education. She also serves as chair of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Student Chapters steering committee, https://www.asbmb.org/education/student-chapters

Areas of Research Specialization

  • Lipid Metabolism
  • Chemical Biology
  • Biomolecular visualization

Areas of Teaching Specialization

  • Biochemistry
  • Medicinal Chemistry

Education

  • in Junior Year Abroad at University of Leeds, 1990
  • B.A. in Chemistry at Juniata College, 1992
  • Ph.D. in Biochemistry at Mayo Graduate School, 1999