Rhonda Hillbery
Rhonda Hillbery writes for the Department of Chemistry.
Stories by Rhonda Hillbery:

USC Dornsife PhD graduate feels a responsibility to others
Deeply affected as a child by the Rwandan genocide, Robert Nshimiyimana volunteers to help the underserved, works to make compounds that may reduce harmful inflammation — and hopes one day to help his home nation reach its full, unified potential.

Creating a better plastic bottle — and a more supportive environment for female scientists
Megan Fieser of USC Dornsife wants to solve the world’s plastic pollution problem while also making it easier to be a woman in science.

Brush with cancer inspires chemist as a researcher and a communicator
After being diagnosed with treatable lymphoma, USC Dornsife’s Michael Inkpen adopted a new philosophy on life: don’t get hung up on the small things.

USC, UCLA pledge to collaborate on transformative urban projects
As they celebrated women in science and engineering, leaders from the two universities recognized L.A. as the best place in the world to launch major sustainable projects.

Plan to recycle aircraft scrap wins USC Wrigley Sustainability Prize
This USC-grown research team has built a prize-winning chemical process to extract and resell in-demand carbon fibers from airplane carcasses.

Childhood love of chemistry leads to large-scale energy research and coveted Sloan Fellowship
After being inspired by science as a child in Romania, Smaranda Marinescu draws inspiration from nature to develop efficient and inexpensive catalysts for harnessing energy from renewable sources.

From refugee to researcher, chemist Jahan Dawlaty is a catalyst in the lab and classroom
The scientist’s path to USC was paved with challenges, beginning with his childhood in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan.

How to help the environment: Turn cooking oil into renewable fuels
Chemistry startup founded at USC takes on two of the world’s biggest environmental challenges — greenhouse gases in the air and plastic waste in oceans.

Low-cost science kits help African students conduct experiments
USC chemistry student joins an international team that supplies easily shipped equipment for lab work.

Training program leads to collaboration among grad students in chemistry and biology
Two-year program aims to build innovative thinkers and solve biological problems.

Undergraduates help fuel innovative energy research
Work in the USC Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute may solve one of the world’s biggest challenges — the clean generation and storage of renewable energy.