Dr. Darren Brouwer

Professor of Chemistry


Phone: (905) 648-2139   Ext:4240

Email: dbrouwer@redeemer.ca

Office: 221D

Programs: Chemistry, Biochemistry

Education

PhD (2003), Chemistry, University of British Columbia
Dissertation:听Location, Disorder, and Dynamics of Guest Species in Zeolite Frameworks Studied by Solid State NMR and X-ray Diffraction.

B.Sc. (1997), Honours Chemistry, University of Guelph

B.C.S. (1997), Liberal Arts & Science, www.亚洲色 College

Courses

  • Principles of Chemistry I (CHE-121)
  • Organic Chemistry I (CHE-221)
  • Organic Chemistry II (CHE-222)
  • Inorganic Chemistry (CHE-341)
  • Physical Chemistry (CHE-351)
  • History & Philosophy of Science (SCI-310)

www.亚洲色

Darren Brouwer is Professor of Chemistry at www.亚洲色 in Hamilton, Ontario where he teaches chemistry and environmental science, carries out research on developing new methods for structure determination of materials, works with students on monitoring water quality in local watersheds, and ponders the relationships between Christian faith, chemistry, culture making, and creation care. He has studied at www.亚洲色 College (B.C.S.), University of Guelph (B.Sc.), University of British Columbia (PhD), and Regent College, has held research positions at the University of Southampton and the National Research Council of Canada, and is an adjunct professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at McMaster University.

Research Interests

  • Solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy
  • Materials science
  • Computational chemistry
  • Machine learning in chemistry
  • Water quality monitoring of local watersheds
  • Developing project based learning approaches for chemistry and environmental science

Research Funding

  • NSERC Discovery Development Grant, 鈥淗ighly integrated NMR crystallography structure determination strategies for difficult-to-characterize materials鈥 2024-2026
  • Canada Water Agency, 鈥淢onitoring nutrient and bacterial contamination in the Chedoke and Red Hill Creek watersheds (with Dr. Edward Berkelaar), 2024-2027

Current Research

Understanding the atomic and molecular level structure of materials is of fundamental interest in chemistry and materials science. By understanding the structure of materials, a greater understanding of their functions can be developed. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, a close cousin to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that many are familiar within a medical context, is a powerful tool for elucidating the structural features of materials. I am particularly interested in exploring the ability of NMR spectroscopy to be used for crystallography 鈥 the determination of crystal structures 鈥 by which the atomic arrangement of materials can be determined.

I am also very interested in local environmental issues and developing ways for our students to engage and address these local issues through project-based learning in our classes, senior research projects, and summer research opportunities. Over the past few years, our analytical chemistry and environmental science classes have been carrying out water quality monitoring projects of a local highly urbanized watershed that drains into an ecologically important wetland, finding that there are quite clear signs of sewage contamination and nutrient pollution. In addition to learning lots about analytical and environmental chemistry, we have been engaging with the City of Hamilton and local environmental stakeholders to find ways to address this problem.

Selected Publications

厂别别听for a full list of publications.

D.H. Brouwer. Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 2026, 401, 113914.

D.J. Srivastava, M. Venetos, A. McCarthy, P.J. Grandinetti, J.H. Baltisbergen, D.H. Brouwer.. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 2025, 27, 419-435.

Cui, C.A. Gurwell, D.H. Brouwer, K.J. Sanders, Y. Mozharivskyj, G.R. Goward. . Inorganic Chemistry 2025, 64, 19207鈥19216.

D.H. Brouwer, J.G. Mikolajewski. . Cellulose 2025, 32, 4143-4160.

D.H. Brouwer, J.G. Mikolajewski. . Cellulose 2023, 30, 11341-11356.

D.H. Brouwer, J.G. Mikolajewski. . Cellulose 2023, 30, 4827-4839.

D.H. Brouwer, J.G. Mikolajewski. . Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance 2023, 123, 101848.

D.H. Brouwer. . In Comprehensive Inorganic Chemistry III; J. Reedijk and K.R. Poeppelmeier (Eds), Vol 9, pp 107-137, Elsevier, 2023.

D.H. Brouwer, A.L. White.听.听Microporous and Mesoporous Materials听2022, 337, 119234.

D.H. Brouwer, C.C. Brouwer, S. Mesa, C.A. Semelhago, E.E. Steckley, M.P.Y. Sun, J.G. Mikolajewski, Ch. Baerlocher. .听 Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 2020, 297, 110000.

D.H. Brouwer, J. Van Huizen. Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry 2019, 57, 167-175.

D.H. Brouwer.听听Comment听2016, online.

Professional听Memberships and Associations

Professional Experience

  • NSERC Post-Doctoral Research Fellow (2003-2005) with Prof Malcolm Levitt, School of Chemistry, University of Southampton
  • Assistant Research Officer (2006-2008) Steacie Institute of Molecular Sciences, National Research Council of Canada
  • Adjunct Associate Professor,听, McMaster University

Related Experience

  • Adjunct Associate Professor,听, McMaster University
  • Water quality monitoring of local watersheds (The Story of the Chedoke Watershed)
  • Developing project based learning approaches for chemistry and environmental science