Chemistry Faculty: Joshua Melko, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Office: Science & Engineering (Building 50), Room 2828
Lab: Science & Engineering (Building 50), Room 2732
Phone: (904) 620-2565
Email: josh.melko@unf.edu
Education
Bachelor of Science - University of Florida 2005
Ph.D. - Pennsylvania State University 2011
Postdoctoral Research – National Research Council Fellow: Air Force Research Laboratory 2011-2014
Teaching
Dr. Melko teaches Introduction to Chemistry, General Chemistry II, Physical Chemistry I, and Physical Chemistry II.
Research
Dr. Melko’s research focuses on characterizing the energetics and reactivity of transition metal molecules. The research features a custom-built apparatus capable of conducting gas phase experiments in mass spectrometry, ion-molecule reactivity, and spectroscopy. These techniques yield energetic and kinetic data, which are coupled with computational chemistry approaches to provide details of reaction mechanisms relevant to atmospheric chemistry, catalysis, and fuels. Specific areas of interest include quantifying the degree to which orbital hybridization, spin crossings, and charge locality play a role in reactivity and energetic stability.
