Phillip Voegel

 

Dr. Phillip D. Voegel

Associate Professor of Chemistry
phillip.voegel@kwc.edu
270-852-3166
Hahn 220

 Education

B.A. Wabash College, 1991
Ph.D. University of Louisville, 1997

Courses Taught

Concepts in Chemistry Lecture and Laboratory
General Chemistry Lecture and Laboratory
Analytical Chemistry
Instrumental Techniques
Advanced Studies in Chemistry – Environmental

Biography

Dr. Voegel is originally from Evansville, Indiana and has recently started teaching at Kentucky Wesleyan College.  He completed his undergraduate studies at Wabash College where he majored in chemistry and minored in religion.  He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Louisville under the direction of Dr. Richard P. Baldwin where his research focused on the development of electrochemical detectors for use with capillary electrophoresis.  After completing his Ph.D., Dr. Voegel began his academic career as in instructor at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale before moving to his first full time position at Midwestern State University.  At Midwestern, he taught introductory chemistry, general chemistry, analytical chemistry, and environmental chemistry.  Additionally, he served as the coordinator of the environmental science program.  He then moved to Southeastern Louisiana University where he taught similar courses and served as the undergraduate coordinator for chemistry and as chair of the department’s safety committee.  In 2021, Dr. Voegel moved to Kentucky Wesleyan College where he plans to continue teaching and mentoring students in undergraduate research.

Dr. Voegel’s early research focused on detection of carbohydrates using active metal electrodes, the potential effect of introducing waste brine from reverse osmosis water treatment on microorganisms in the Wichita River, and the development of a student outreach program that trained high school students to give chemistry demonstration programs at elementary schools.  The outreach program was recognized as a finalist for the American Chemical Society’s ChemLuminary Award for Outstanding Kids and Chemistry Program and led to two publications in the Journal of Chemical Education.  At Southeastern, his environmental research focused on detection of pollutants in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin including changes in nutrients in the lake system following Hurricane Katrina and multiple openings of the Bonne Caret Spillway for the purpose of flood control, and hydrocarbons and related compounds following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.  In the laboratory, his students synthesized metal pyridinoporphyrazine and related compounds for development of electrochemical sensors and for use as catalysts.  His work has been supported by more than $370,000 in grants from the Louisiana Board of Regents, Louisiana SeaGrant (NOAA), Southeastern Lake Pontchartrain Basin Research Program (US EPA), American Chemical Society Project SEED, and internal grants from Southeastern Louisiana University and Midwestern State University.  His work has involved more than 50 undergraduate and high school research students leading to seven publications and eighty-eight conference presentation.  More than 60% of his students have given at least one conference presentation. 

Current Research Interests

Dr. Voegel’s current research focuses on the distribution of metal pollutants in the environment in the context of rail transportation of coal.  While the use of coal for has fallen to an all-time low in the United States, accounting for 19% of electrical power generation, nearly 400 billion kilograms (400 teragrams) of coal were used in 2020.  In Kentucky and Indiana, coal combustion accounts for 69% and 53%, respectively, of the electrical power generated.  Transportation of coal from mines to power plants occurs primarily by train in open hopper cars. (Coal information from U.S. Energy Information Administration, eia.gov)

Coal dust can be distributed by vibration and wind into the environment near railways.  Common metal pollutants in coal include cadmium, mercury, nickel, lead, and many others.  Dr. Voegel is working to determine spatial distribution of metal pollutants around train tracks that carry significant amounts of coal and to examine the effect of land type and land use on the distribution patterns.  Metals are extracted from soil and sediment samples and then analyzed by atomic spectroscopy.

Publications  

  1. Silcio, Kellie; Ball, Kristy; Risley, Raymond; Voegel, P.D.  Changing Nutrient Levels in Lake Maurepas Following Human Population Shifts in Response to Hurricane Katrina, Chemistry and Ecology, 2010, 26(5), 327-337.
  2. Hanna, Ashley; Voegel, P.D.  Development of Pressed Crystal Membrane Phosphate Ion Selective Electrodes, J. Undergraduate Research, 2008, 7(2), 48-51.
  3. Shaffer, Jacob; Voegel, P.D.  Efficient conversion of thiols to disulfides by 2,3-tetrapyridinoporphyarzinocobalt(III) catalyzed aerobic oxidation, Preprint. ACS Div. Petr. Chem., 2006, 51(2), 577-580.
  4. Kaneko, Takeshi; Durand, Monique; Msinjili, Samwene; Merkel, Eric; Voegel, P.D.  Effect of the Direct Discharge of Reverse Osmosis Effluent on the Microbiology of a Natural Surface Water System, Chemistry & Ecology, 2005, 21, 91-100.
  5. Baker, Megan; McGuinness, Colin; Voegel, P.D.; Trends in Oxidation Potential and Sensitivity for Carbohydrates at Copper and Nickel Electrodes Following Background Subtraction, J. Undergraduate Chemistry Research, 2005, 4(1), 5-10.
  6. Voegel, P.D.; Quashnock, Kathryn A.; Heil, Katrina M.  The Student-to-Student Chemistry Initiative:  The Impact of Chemistry Demonstration Programs Presented by High School Students at Elementary Schools, J. Chem. Educ., 2005, 82, 634-637.
  7. Voegel, P.D.; Quashnock, Kathryn A.; Heil, Katrina M. The Student-to-Student Chemistry Initiative:  Training High School Students to Perform Chemistry Demonstration Programs for Elementary School Students, J. Chem. Educ., 2004, 81, 681-684.
  8. Voegel, P.D.; Baldwin, R.P. Application of On-Capillary Dual Capillary-Capillary Electrophoresis, Electrophoresis, 1998, 18, 2267-2278.
  9. Voegel, P.D.; Baldwin, R.P. Capillary Electrophoresis/Electrochemical Detection, (Review) Electrophoresis, 1997, 19, 2226-2232.
  10. Voegel, P.D.; Baldwin, R.P. Evaluation of Copper-based Electrodes for the Analysis of Aminoglycoside Antibiotics by CEEC, Electroanalysis, 1997, 9, 1145-1151.
  11. Voegel, P.D.; Zhou, W.; Baldwin, R.P. Integrated Capillary Electrophoresis/Electrochemical Detection with Metal Film Electrodes Directly Deposited onto the Capillary Tip, Anal. Chem., 1997, 69, 951-957.
  12. Voegel, P.D.; Baldwin, R.P. Electrochemical Detection at Copper Electrodes in Chromatography and Electrophoresis, American Laboratory, 1996, 28(2), 39-45.

Selected Presentations 

  1. Rojas, Juan, Voegel, P.D. “Determination of Metal Content in Sediment and Surface Water from Yellow Water Creek,” 13th Basics of the Basin Research Symposium, Hammond, LA, October 2019 (Poster)
  2. Voegel, P.D. Microwave plasma atomic emission spectroscopy for a project-based real-world ready instrumental analysis project, 2018 Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, November 2018, Little Rock, AR
  3. Genovese, Charles R. III, Voegel, P.D., “Catalytic synthesis of substituted benzimidazoles using metal phthalocyanines, pyridinoporphyrazines, and pyrazinoporphyrazines,” 255th American Chemical Society National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, March 2018 (Poster)
  4. Voegel, P.D. Real-world ready environmental monitoring in the Yellow Water River watershed by instrumental analysis students, 255th American Chemical Society National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, March 2018
  5. McElroy, Charles IV; Jairu, Pankaj; Amorello, ShaNell; Voegel, P.D. Facile Microwave Synthesis and Catalytic Properties of Cobalt (II) Porphyrazinyl Compounds, 250th American Chemical Society National Meeting, Boston, MA, August 2015
  6. Parenteau, Katherine; Voegel, P.D. “Removal of Hydrocarbons from Natural Water by Rangia cuneata,” Basics of the Basin 2013, New Orleans, LA, October 2013 (Poster)
  7. Guice, Caitlyn; Voegel, P.D.  “Early Monitoring for Hydrocarbons in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Following the BP/Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill,” Pittsburgh Conference, Atlanta, GA, February 2011 (Poster)
  8. Stricks, Jessica D.; Voegel, P.D.  “Monitoring the Effects of Freshwater Diversion from the Mississippi River into Lake Pontchartrain through the Bonnet Carré Spillway,” 64th Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Little Rock, AR, October 2008, (Poster)
  9. Silcio, Kellie; Ball, Kristy; Voegel, P.D. “Assessing the impact of Hurricane Katrina on Nutrients and Algal Growth in Lake Maurepas,” 34th FACSS Meeting, Memphis, TN, October 2007 (Poster)
  10. Shaffer, Jacob; Voegel, P.D.  Efficient conversion of thiols to disulfides by 2,3-tetrapyridinoporphyarzinocobalt(III) catalyzed aerobic oxidation, 232nd National ACS Meeting, San Francisco, CA, September 2006
  11. Commodore, Juliette; Voegel, P.D.  “Analysis of Theophylline and Xanthine Using Cobalt(II)tetra-2,3-pyridinoporphyrazine and Cobalt(II)tetra-3,4-pyridinoporphyrazine Chemically Modified Electrodes,” 230th National ACS Meeting, Washington, DC, August 2005 (Poster)
  12. Kaneko, Takeshi; Voegel, P.D.  “Effect of Reverse Osmosis Effluent on the Microbiology of a Natural Surface Water System,” Southwest Regional Meeting of the ACS, Fort Worth, TX, September 2004 (Poster)
  13. Telesford, Judlyn M.; Matsumura, M.; Hansen, C.A.; Voegel, P.D.  “Evaluation of the Electrochemical Properties of a Newly Synthesized Pyridine-Based Cobalt Phthalocyanine Analog,” Southwest Regional Meeting of the ACS, Fort Worth, TX, September 2004 (Poster)
  14. Voegel, P.D.; Rumsey, Kim; Hansen, C.A.; Mastumura, Michiko.  Synthesis, Analysis, and Application of Modified Phalocyanines, Pittsburgh Conference, Chicago, IL, March 2004.
  15. Merkel, Eric; Durand, Monique; Msinjili, Samwene; Voegel, P.D. “Water Quality Determination Prior to the Discharge of Reverse Osmosis Effluent from Municipal Water Treatment,” American Chemical Society National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, March 2003 (Poster)
  16. Augustine, Kim; Cantalini, Joe; Voegel, P.D “Electroanalysis Of Carbohydrates At Nickel Electrodes Following HPLC,” Oklahoma Pentasectional Meeting, Duncan, OK, March 2002. (Poster)
  17. Clopton, Daniel; Heil, Katrina M.; Voegel, P.D “Impact Of A Novel Chemistry Outreach Program On High School Chemistry Students,” Oklahoma Pentasectional Meeting, Duncan, OK, March 2002 (Poster)
  18. Habu, Naoko; Voegel, P. “Isolation of Pheromones from Cebrionidae scaptolenus,” American Chemical Society National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, August 1999 (Poster)