Meagan Hinze

Random question of the day: Is there a secret NMR tech club my colleague needs to gain access to for advice on sourcing/acquiring a used NMR probe? (The company of our department's instrument no longer makes new ones for their 300 MHz models...) #chemsky

The tell-tale sign that a student has had me for organic is because they start referring to it is Orgo (like I do). Oddly enough, I said OChem as an UG, but I can't remember when I flipped my default wording.

#chemsky I need some recommendations for a robust (and economical) IR for organic teaching labs. Any favorite brands/models?

Couldn't help myself because my honors seminar courses in undergrad were pretty fun:

Medicinal Plants
Beethoven and His Psychoses
Tibet: History, Culture, and Politics
War and Music

Then a tie between taking Tai Chi for PE and German Culture Through Film (With writing assignments auf Deutsch!)

Reposting of our chemistry department's TT search! We'll begin reviewing applications at the end of the month.

Thanks! It's a weird feeling tbh.

It feels a bit bizarre to say my tenure materials have been submitted. Wasn't 2019 just last week?

...I may have preemptively acquired some new puzzles and books over the holidays in an attempt to productively channel my nervous energy over the next few months.

Also, I've realized that I wrote approx. 40% fewer recommendation letters in 2025 than the preceding two years. Not sure how I feel about that observation/metric.

My tenure package submission deadline coincides with the first day of the spring semester. Interesting choice made by some administrator... At least I can take attention "breaks" by switching which to-do list I'm working on?

I've let some creative sewing work sit abandoned for too long.
1. Need to finish a few baby (now toddler...) quilts as gifts.
2. I really want to dip my toes into learning how to sew a shirt/blouse from a pattern.

3. Get outside more. (Simple, but I want to relax by enjoying nature more.)

Come be my colleague! We are looking for a (bio)chemist/chemical biologist to join the department as a TT assistant professor. #CHEMJobs

shsu.peopleadmin.com/postings/45755

I feel seen. I've gotten better over the years, but it is task dependent. Some folders are still secretly black holes

Nifty! I've been resisting because I find the free-hand so satisfying. Or maybe old habits die hard. That, and pulling my own spotters. (Though I often have to be the mysterious spotter fairy because the skill hasn't been picked up as easily by my mentees...)

Had two complete 'career' opposites happen this week: official notification from my department chair that I'm eligible for tenure/promotion this year and.... was mistaken for an undergrad during a seminar that doubled as a PhD program recruiting event.

Taking a record 5 (!) students to the ACS joint regional meeting in ~2 weeks. I think I've reached the point where I can count poster drafts to fall asleep instead of sheep.

First week of the semester and already reminded that scheduling any kind of [reoccurring] meeting with multiple students is an exercise in mental gymnastics.

Ahh, love the paw high-five! (Actually love all the furry cameos in this pic.)

Eight smiling chemists belonging to the same research group.

Hard to believe today's group meeting was the students' summer research presentations. Incredibly grateful to have an enthusiastic group of students. It was such a pleasure to see them grow as researchers this summer. Can't wait to see how projects develop this school year!

Ditto to loving that part of the job. The amount of enthusiasm and curiosity I get to cultivate (and observe firsthand) is what makes this job special. (And helps me forget the annoying parts...)

Who needs a riveting beach read when you can experience roller-coaster emotions all summer long courtesy of your love/hate relationship with the department's GC-FID

Ugh. It's like putting salt on the wound. I'm sorry.

I had to be the bearer of bad news about no 2025 window to my colleague yesterday who wants to spearhead replacing our aging (and only) NMR.

yeah.... or just resource limited/constrained departments in general.

I'm a big fan of setting writing deadlines for myself (for both various proposal sections and the auxiliary documents). I'll inevitably miss a self-imposted deadline, but I build in buffer time, and the accountability helps.

Three smiling female chemists in graduation regalia

Four smiling female chemists: one in doctoral regalia and three in BS regalia

Celebrated the graduation of three Hinze lab members yesterday! Big congrats to Kat, Liz, and Savannah on their BS degrees! Proud of what they've accomplished and excited for the MS and PhD programs they'll be starting this fall.

Four female chemists smiling and wearing presenter badges

The Hinze lab was well represented at the campus Undergraduate Research Symposium hosted by the Honors College this past weekend. So much so, that we had our own mini session during the oral presentations! Great job Reagan, Liz, Savannah, and Kat!

Congrats! Can't wait to see what exciting work will come out of your lab!

A year ago, a group of science faculty across 4 departments were excited to launch a U-RISE T34 program at our institution for what we thought would be a transformative multi-year endeavor. Today, we have to cease activities... I'm heartbroken for our current and (potentially lost) future trainees.

I feel this so much. Spent a chunk of mine running reactions and trying to plan out some things to stay a step ahead of ordering needs (especially thinking toward summer.)

I have not but will look into it. I'm actually usually more of a board game person, so getting really into The Cave was a novel experience.

It's got quite a bit of dark humor, but I really enjoyed The Cave a few years ago because of the puzzle solving aspect combined with exploring.