Dr. Sara Choung's interest in chemistry was sparked in high school and she went on to study chemical engineering at MIT and UC Berkeley. She discovered her love of teaching and mentoring undergraduate students during graduate school. After doing research at Argonne National Laboratories, she started her teaching career at PLNU in 2004. Choung also enjoys her role as the pre-health advisor, working with students who plan to attend various health professions schools. She grew up in Illinois and misses the Chicago pizza, but not the weather. She tries to enjoy the sunshine in San Diego whenever she can with her husband and two sons.
Education
- Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of California at Berkeley
- B.S., Chemical Engineering, Minor in Music, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Courses Taught
- Introduction to Health Professions I – PHP 1001
- Preparation for Health Professions Schools I – PHP 2001
- Preparation for Health Professions Schools II – PHP 2002
Experience in Field
- Point Loma Nazarene University (San Diego, CA), Professor, 2004 – present
- Point Loma Nazarene University (San Diego, CA), Adjunct Professor, 2004
- Grossmont College (San Diego, CA), Adjunct Professor, 2004
- San Diego City College (San Diego, CA), Adjunct Professor, 2004
- Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne, IL), Principal Scientist, 2001 – 2004
- University of California at Berkeley (Berkeley, CA), Graduate Student and Teaching Assistant, 1996 – 2001
- University of California at Berkeley (Berkeley, CA), Undergraduate Research Student, 1995
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA), Undergraduate Research Student, 1994
Professional and Community Involvement
- Member, American Chemical Society, 2000 – present
- Member, National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions, 2010 – present
Dissertations, Presentations, and Publications
- Nair, H., Gatt, J.E., Zhang, R., Thomsen, J.M., Bordley, J.A., Choung, S.Y., Baertsch, C.D., Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 2011, 50 (19), 10972-10981, “Simulating the Performance of a Catalytic Microsensor for Quantifying Ethanol in Inert and Reactive Environments.”
- Justin A. Bordley, Julianne M. Thomsen, Joseph E. Gatt, Chelsey D. Baertsch, and Sara Yu Choung, presented at 2010 Spring Meeting of American Chemical Society, San Francisco, CA (3/10). “Studies of the Partial Oxidation of Ethanol and Methanol over an Iron Molybdate Catalyst and the Effect of Sulfur Compounds.”
- Julianne M. Thomsen, Justin A. Bordley, Joseph E. Gatt, Chelsey D. Baertsch, and Sara Yu Choung, presented at 2010 Spring Meeting of American Chemical Society, San Francisco, CA (3/10). “Effect of Methanol and Nitrogen Containing Compounds on the Activity, Selectivity and Stability of Fe2(MoO4)3 Catalysts in the Partial Oxidation of Ethanol.”
- Choung, S.Y., Ferrandon, M., and Krause, T., Catalysis Today, 99 (2005) 257-262, “Pt-Re bimetallic supported on CeO2-ZrO2 mixed oxides as water-gas shift catalysts.”
- Yu, S.Y., Waku, T., and Iglesia, E., Applied Catalysis A, 242 (2003) 111-121, “Catalytic Desulfurization of Thiophene on H-ZSM5 using Alkanes as Co-Reactants.”
- Dissertation: Coupling Alkane Dehydrogenation with Hydrogenation Reactions on Cation-Exchanged Zeolites, 2001.
