February 9, 2023
Humanizing Our Professors:Mark A. Klemp, Ph.D., Chemistry
BOOM! A safe, controlled detonation startles the half-awake college students of Professor Klemp’s chemistry class, drawing all eyes to him to begin his day. As Professor Klemp put it, “Starting off with a small explosion is always a great attention grabber.”Mark A. Klemp, Ph. D, is an Associate Professor in Natural and Applied Sciences at the Marinette Campus. Additionally, he has a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Computer Science and a Ph. D. in Analytical Chemistry. Dr. Klemp has quite the half-life to him as well. He is a veteran when it comes to the college campus. He has been with the Marinette campus since 2003, long before it merged with Green Bay. To some college students, he has been working at the campus longer than we’ve been alive.Yet, even before that, Professor Klemp was overseeing a small start-up, high-tech R&D company named Chromatofast Inc. They commercialized technology and have seven whole patents for their company! They’ve worked with Horiba instruments in Japan and Varian instruments that used Chromatofast’s technology. If you’re looking for some insight into how one should run a classroom, look no further than Professor Klemp’s laboratory. As Dr. Klemp is an experienced teacher with more than two decades under his microscope, he has a particular teaching style that helps instruct students about the material. In his in-person classes, he uses a technique that reintroduces a subject several times over, building off the last addition and expanding it. This way, it helps implant the information into memory. In online classes, it’s all about rooting engagement into the class. His suggestion to any students intending to teach is to work to their strengths and develop a teaching style tailored to themselves.Currently on Dr. Klemp’s periodic table, he’s working with Cyanobacteria (Blue-green algae) for his research. As most professors oversee some form of study, Dr. Klemp is analyzing how to sequester harmful chemicals using Cyanobacteria, like hexavalent chromium. Beyond the professional aspect of his job, Professor Klemp’s favorite part about his field is the small scale and strange behavior of the microscopic world. Yet, it can go without saying that the scale of his influence goes beyond a microscopic level. Much like how you change the structure of an atom by adding a positive proton to it, Dr. Klemp puts a positive charge on the world, one atom at a time.