Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition, CSC 2025

Dr. Rigoberto Hernandez is the Gompf Family Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Johns Hopkins University since 2016, and the Director of the Open Chemistry Collaborative in Diversity Equity (OXIDE). He is also a Professor in the Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. He was born in Havana, Cuba and is a U.S. Citizen by birthright. He holds a B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering and Mathematics from Princeton University (1989), and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley (1993). He has published over 180 articles in theoretical and computational chemistry and discipline-based diversity research in chemistry. He has been a member of the American Chemical Society since 1992.

Originally from Toronto, Rachel earned her Bachelor of Science Specialization in Chemistry (CHEM-P-BSH, 2021) and a Certificate in Law (CIL, 2021) from Queen’s University, where she came to consider Kingston a second home and chose to stay to pursue graduate studies, focusing primarily on green and sustainable chemistry. Currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry, Rachel is fortunate to be supervised by Dr. Philip G. Jessop (Canada Research Chair in Green Chemistry & Chemistry Department Head) and Dr. Michael F. Cunningham (Donald and Sarah Munro Chair in Engineering and Applied Science), and to collaborate closely with Dr. Pascale Champagne on ORF related projects (Director General, Energy Mining & Environment, National Research Council Canada), whose unwavering support throughout all her endeavours she is deeply grateful for. Rachel’s PhD focuses on removing emerging contaminants from water systems and applying filtration technologies for other industrial processes. Additionally, she collaborates with domestic and international research labs and industry partners to develop/scale proprietary materials, leading characterization/performance analysis. Beyond academic work, Rachel is deeply committed to contributing to the chemical community. She served as a member of the first international cohort of Responsible Futures student auditors, a group dedicated to promoting sustainability in higher education. Additionally, Rachel has held the role of Social Media Director, Events Director, and is now the Vice President for the Queen’s University International Student Chapter of the American Chemical Society (Q-ACS), where she has led and co-led several impactful projects and founded two public outreach initiatives. Rachel’s passion for public outreach extends beyond Q-ACS, where, after volunteering at Science Rendezvous 2024 (Kingston, Ontario), she was inspired by the public’s strong interest in environmental issues, prompting her to initiate a public outreach project with the ORF Contaminants of Emerging Concern Research Excellence Network (CEC-REN). As a volunteer, Rachel collaborated with Dr. Yu Pei and Nadia Quick to develop educational content, deliver school presentations, and create hands-on learning activities. Rachel is now working with CEC-REN and other organization(s) to expand CEC-REN’s outreach and make learning materials more accessible to educators. For this initiative, she was selected as an ACS Sustainability Star Awardee (2024) and has recently been employed by CEC-REN as one of the Youth Outreach and Education Coordinators, where Rachel collaborates with colleague Prama Roy to further develop and implement CEC-REN’s public education and outreach goals.