Sara Alvaro

Degrees

Professional Experience

Prior to coming to Saint Rose in 2011, I taught at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) for nearly seven years. I have greatly enjoyed my transition to Saint Rose with its smaller class sizes and opportunities to truly engage with and get to know all of my students. I love to teach, and I also enjoy my role as faculty advisor to all of the Forensic Science majors.

I am a member of a number of professional societies including The American Chemical Society (ACS), Sigma Xi (Research Honor Society), The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) and the Council of Forensic Science Educators (COFSE.) I am the Vice President of the Albany Chapter of Sigma Xi, and the President and Executive Board Member of the Psi Chapter of Delta Delta Epsilon (a Forensic Science Honor Society).

Teaching Interests

During the fall semester I teach:
General Chemistry I (CHM 190) and General Chemistry I Lab (CHM 190L)
Instrumental Analysis (CHM 301) and Instrumental Analysis Lab (CHM 301L)
Introduction to Forensic Science (FSC 190)

During the spring semester I teach:
General Chemistry II (CHM 191) and General Chemistry II Lab (CHM 191L)
Quantitative Analysis (CHM 203) and Quantitative Analysis Lab (CHM 203L)
Forensic Assays (FSC 375)

Research/Creative Works

I have numerous research interests in the broad field of analytical chemistry including environmental chemistry, food chemistry, and forensic chemistry. My general approach to student research is to find out from potential research students what interests them and, together, we try to design a viable research experience around that interest. Some recent research projects that my Saint Rose students have worked on are:

• “Fiber Analysis for Art Conservation Using Attenuated Total Reflectance – Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR – FTIR) Spectroscopy”
• “Investigation of Synthetic Blood Models for Crime Scene Reconstruction”
• “Using Attenuated Total Reflectance – Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR – FTIR) Spectroscopy to Determine Trace Amounts of Over-the-Counter Drugs on Wool Fibers”
• “Determining How Biological and Environmental Factors Affect the Quality of a Latent Print on Various Surfaces”
• “What’s in a Fingerprint? Using Attenuated Total Reflectance – Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR – FTIR) Spectroscopy to Determine if there are Distinguishing Features in the Spectra of Male and Female Fingerprints”
• “The Use of Attenuated Total Reflectance – Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR – FTIR) Spectroscopy to Detect Contaminants in Over-the-Counter Medications”
• “Long-term Stability of Vitamin D in Fortified Orange Juice”

My students regularly present research posters at Saint Rose’s Undergraduate Research Symposium, and some students have presented posters at the local American Chemical Society Undergraduate Research Symposium and the Sigma Xi induction ceremony.