The life-altering impact of one chemist’s sabbatical

Bringing Chemistry to Life

Anyone that’s followed this podcast will know that Paolo’s final question to each guest is, “What advice would you like to share with younger scientists just starting their career?” Here, our guest, Dr. Monte Helm, professor of chemistry at Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City, shares advice that he clearly lives by, which is, “… be flexible ii your career and follow what you think you’ll be passionate about.”

While Monte’s academic training is in inorganic chemistry, he’ll tell you he’s always cared about teaching as much as the subject itself. Join us to meet this lifelong learner and teacher, that’s parlayed his passion for phosphine chemistry and teaching into roles as a postdoctoral researcher, a professor at an undergraduate research institution, a deputy director at a national laboratory, and now a teaching-focused role at a community college. A set of roles that definitely demonstrates flexibility!

In addition to learning about the fundamental research Dr. Helm has done in crown-phosphine and phosphine ligand synthesis, we learn about his unconventional career path and the key role that mentors and sabbatical opportunities played in its development. He talks openly about the joys and challenges of each role, about his motivations for each career change, and his current love of teaching at a community college where he’s able to focus solely on teaching to students that may not have had positive primary educational experiences in science.

Related episodes:

• Season 2, Ep. 3: Rethinking Catalysis
• Season 2, Ep. 6: The charm of the forgotten elements
• Season 3, Ep. 3: Imagination and the chemistry of the things around us
• Season 5, Ep. 4: Shining a photochemical light on undergraduate research

Bonus content!

• Access bonus content curated by this episode’s guest by visiting www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast for links to recent publications, podcasts, books, videos and more.
• View the video of this episode on www.thermofisher.com/chemistry-podcast.

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About Your Host

Paolo Braiuca grew up in the North-East of Italy and holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from nearby esteemed University of Trieste, Italy. He developed expertise in biocatalysis during his years of post-doctoral research in Italy and the UK, where he co-founded a startup company. With this new venture, Paolo’s career shifted from R&D to business development, taking on roles in commercial, product management, and marketing. He has worked in the specialty chemicals, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical markets in Germany and the UK, where he presently resides.

He is currently the Director of Global Market Development in the Laboratory Chemicals Division at Thermo Fisher Scientific™ which put him in the host chair of the Bringing Chemistry to Life podcast. A busy father of four, in what little free time he has, you’ll find him inventing electronic devices with the help of his loyal 3D-printer and soldering iron. And if you ask him, he’ll call himself a “maker” at heart.