Tim Minton, a researcher and professor at Montana State University and member of the NAI Astrobiology Biogeocatalysis Research Center (ABRC), has been named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society, a prestigious honor given to professionals who make significant contributions to both science and society. Minton is the first ACS Fellow in the state of Montana.

Minton specializes in hyperthermal reaction dynamics and is an expert in space environmental effects. He developed and runs a lab that simulates conditions in space and routinely tests materials that could work in or on spacecraft. His unique lab setting attracts students and scientists from around the world who are interested in the links between fundamental chemistry and practical problems, particularly those facing the aerospace community.

As part of the ABRC, Minton uses molecular beam techniques to understand the mechanisms by which molecular nitrogen reacts on iron-sulfur surfaces to produce ammonia or precursors to ammonia. His work, along with others’ in the ABRC research group, could help us understand the catalysts of biological systems and give insights into the origins of life.

“Tim has a really important role in the center,” said John Peters, director of the ABRC. “He is establishing the real benchmarks of what it takes to get the key reactions that are central for the origin of life to occur.”
“Tim is one of the most versatile chemical dynamicists in the world today,” said Chemistry Professor Gilbert Nathanson of the University of Wisconsin, a long-time collaborator of Minton’s. “Armed with an ability to make exotic atoms and molecules, he and his collaborators can study chemical reactions in the gas phase and on the surfaces of solids and liquids that occur outside our everyday experiences. These include reactions that degrade satellites circling the Earth and the conversion of nitrogen and hydrogen into ammonia that are fundamental to industrial catalysis and the building blocks of life.

“Tim’s experiments allow him to create ‘atomic movies’ that open a window into basic chemical processes, including those that occurred at life’s origins deep in the prebiotic ocean,” Nathanson added.
The ACS Fellows program began in 2009 to recognize and honor ACS members for their outstanding achievements in and contributions to science and the profession, as well as service to ACS. The award is given to scientists in industry, government and academe who have made great contributions to both the ACS and the general field of chemistry. Minton was honored at the national ACS meeting in Boston on Aug. 23.

Minton previously worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Learn more about Minton’s research at http://abrc.montana.edu/people/minton.html