Mary Hatcher- Skeers

Biography

Education

• B.A. Biochemistry and Cell Biology, University of California, San Diego
• M.S. Chemistry, San Francisco State University
• Ph.D. Physical Chemistry, University of Washington
• NIH Post-doctoral Fellowship, MIT and Brandeis University

Research Interests

Academic Focus

Biophysical Chemistry – The Hatcher-Skeers group is fascinated by the local structure and dynamics of biological molecules. Her group uses nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and other spectroscopies to study backbone dynamics in DNA, protonation states in proteins, and rotational barriers in amide-containing vitamins and cofactors.

Inclusive Pedagogy – Professor Hatcher-Skeers is currently Scripps College’s Associate Dean of Faculty for Racial Equity (ADRE) and previously served as a faculty co-director of the Claremont Colleges Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). These experiences led to the development of pedagogy-focused research projects. Her group studies belonging and community building in STEM classrooms and how the presence or lack of strong classroom communities affects student self-confidence and persistence in STEM majors.

Courses Taught

• Chemistry 14L – Basic Principles of Chemistry
• Chemistry 122 – Physical Chemistry
• Chemistry 126L – Advanced Laboratory in Chemistry
• Chemistry 172 – NMR Spectroscopy
• Chemistry 177 – Biochemistry
• IBC 42L – Introductory Biological Chemistry
• Core 2 – Mis-Representations of Women by Science and Society

Selected Research and Publications

Books, chapters, essays, reviews

• Hatcher-Skeers, M. “The Pitzer College 50th Anniversary Engaged Faculty Collection: Community Engagement & Activist Scholarship”, 2014, Tess Hicks Peterson, editor
• Doucleff, M., Hatcher-Skeers, M.E., Crane, N. “Pocketguide to Biomolecular NMR”, Springer, New York, February 2011.
• Hatcher-Skeers, M.E. essay “Reality Check” Inside Higher Education, July 25, 2008.

Peer-reviewed journal articles (undergraduate authors in bold)

• Varun V. Sakhrani, Eduardo Hilario, Bethany G. Caulkins, Mary E. Hatcher-Skeers, Li Fan, Michael F. Dunn & Leonard J. Mueller “Backbone assignments and conformational dynamics in the S. typhimurium tryptophan synthase α-subunit from solution-state NMR”, J. Biomol, NMR, 2020, 74, 341-354.
• Khan, T.R.; Jordan, B.; Levitan, R.; Mitchell, P.S.; Wood, C.; Hatcher, M.E., “An FTIR Investigation of Flanking Sequence Effects on the Structure and Flexibility of DNA Binding Sites”, Biochemistry, 2009, 48, 1315-1321.
• Tian, Y.; Kayatta, M.; Shultis, K..; Gonzalez, A.; Mueller, L.J.; Hatcher, M.E., “31P NMR Investigation of Backbone Dynamics in DNA Binding Sites”, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2009,113, 2596-2603.
• Leskowitz, G.M.; Ghaderi, N.; Olsen, R.A.; Pederson, K.; Hatcher, M.E.; Mueller, L.J., “The Amide Rotational Barriers in Isonicotinamide: NMR and Ab Initio Studies”, Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2004, 109, 1152-1158.
• Olsen, R.; Liu, L.; Ghaderi, N.; Johns, A.; Hatcher, M. E.; and Mueller, L. “The Amide Rotational Barrier in Picolinamide and Nicotinamide: NMR and Ab Initio Studies”, J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 2003, 125,10125-10132.