INCLUSION & DIVERSITY
We are a relatively small lab. But we have always been a very diverse lab! We are dedicated to ensuring access, fairness and equity for all lab members and adhere to all state and federal equal opportunity/access laws. Since its inception in 2013, Royzen Lab welcomed students and professionals with highly diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. During the past decade the following ethnicities have been represented: Afghanistan, China, Germany, Ghana, India, Iran, Moldova, Morocco, Pakistan, Turkey and the United States. We support the University’s mission “to empower our students, faculty and campus communities to author their own success.”
COMMUNITY
Our lab has been hosting local high school teachers as part of the Questar Research Institute’s summer internships. Local high school teachers and students are encouraged to contact me for possible summer research opportunities. Our lab also collaborates with Rise High Outreach Program to expose High School student to chemical research. Our lab regularly involves undergraduate students in summer research. Students who already completed the Organic Chemistry I and II courses, and who are willing to spend at least 20 hours per week doing hands-on research, are encouraged to contact me at mroyzen@albany.edu.
TEACHING
Carl Sagan said that “science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.” In my courses, from Organic Chemistry (ACHM 220&221) to Chemistry of Sex, Drugs, and Sports (ACHM 101), I challenge students to engage with the science, to understand their work beyond rote memorization. All of my exams are designed to test problem solving skills and rarely contain multiple choice questions; students are encouraged to prepare a “cheat sheet” from a variety of information sources, including the textbook, internet research, classroom notes, discussions with study groups, etc., to be used in solving exam questions.