Chair, Professor
Office: 118 Kopchick Hall
Phone: 724-357-2360
Email: nate@iup.edu
Research Group Website
Education
BS - Chemistry, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1994
PhD - Computational Chemistry, Penn State University, 2003
Postdoctoral Fellowship - AstraZeneca Centre de Recherche, Reims, France, 2003-05
Field
Analytical
Water Quality Issues
Courses
CHEM 101/102 College Chemistry I/II
CHEM 103 Intro to Chemistry for Health Sciences
CHEM 107 Chemistry of Food & Beverage
CHEM 111/112 General Chemistry I/II
CHEM 325 Analytical Chemistry
CHEM 390 Chemistry Seminar II
CHEM 401 Advanced Chemistry Lab
CHEM 426 Advanced Analytical Chemistry
CHEM 498 Problems in Chemistry
CHEM 481/581 Special Topics: Advanced Chemical Measurements
HOSP 404 Brewpub and Brewery Operations
Research Interests
My current research interests at IUP deal with water quality issues, with a particular focus on the effects of Marcellus shale gas extraction in Indiana County and western Pennsylvania. From 2011 to 2022, my students and I were involved in a long-term water monitoring study at the Beaver Run Reservoir in Westmoreland County. More about the Beaver Run Project.
In addition to water quality monitoring, I guide students in projects that analyze components in food and beverages such as caffeine in coffee beans, brewing water quality, and organic compounds in commercial distillates.
Select Publications/Presentations
Making teamwork-intensive courses work: logistics that promote teams, not just groups (invited). N.R. McElroy: NSF Workshop "Preparing Students for the 21st Century Workforce: A Free, Virtual Workshop on Cross-Disciplinary, Team- and Project-Based Experiences", August 4, 2020.
McElroy, N.R.; Dietrich, W.E.; Van Dyke, T. "Brewpub and Brewery Operations: Mixing Science and Business". In Ethanol and Education: Alcohol as a Theme for Teaching Chemistry; Barth, R., Benevuto, M.A., Eds.; ACS Symposium Series (Vol. 1189); American Chemical Society: Washington, D.C., 2015. (ISBN: 9780841230590).
Marcellus Shale and the Beaver Run Reservoir (invited) N.R. McElroy and B.W. Okey: 88th Annual Conference of the Water Works Operators' Association of Pennsylvania, August 4, 2015, State College, PA.
Five-year review of water quality monitoring of Beaver Run Reservoir in Westmoreland County, PA. N.R. McElroy, B.W. Okey, and J. Richburg: 252nd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, August 21, 2016, Philadelphia, PA.
"Brewpub and brewery operations: mixing science and business" N.R. McElroy: Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, August 5, 2014, Allendale, MI.
"Water Quality in Indiana County and the Region (invited) N.R. McElroy: Sigma Xi Fall Symposium, November 19, 2013, Indiana, PA.
"Water Quality Monitoring of Beaver Run Reservoir in Westmoreland County, PA" N.R. McElroy and B.W. Okey: 244th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, August 21, 2012, Philadelphia, PA.