Chemistry
Sierra King
Sierra King
Visiting Assistant Chemistry Professor
Dr. Sierra King is from Upstate NY, where she received her B.S. at Binghamton University in biochemistry. She earned her Ph.D. (bioinorganic chemistry) from Cornell University in 2020 working under Prof. Justin Wilson. Her research specialized in synthesizing metal complexes as anticancer agents. Dr. King then moved to Rockville, MD where she completed her post-doctoral research at the National Cancer Institute with Dr. Martin Schnermann, specializing in fluorophore design. She joined the Ursinus faculty in 2023. Dr. King is passionate about community engagement and outreach. She chaired her department’s Women in Chemistry group at NCI and has been involved in numerous science outreach programs. Dr. King’s other interests include spending time with her husband, son, and two cats, hiking, and drawing.
Dr. King enjoys engaging with students and introducing them to the world of organic chemistry. Her research interests include organic and inorganic fluorescent probe design for biological applications.
Department
Degrees
A.S., SUNY Broome Community College
B.S., Binghamton University
M.S. and Ph.D., Cornell University
Teaching
Organic Chemistry (CHEM-207/208)
Laboratory in Organic Chemistry (CHEM-207L/208L)
Recent Work
M. Usama*, S. C. Marker*, D. Li*, D. R. Caldwell*, M. Stroet, N. L. Patel, A. G. Tebo, S. Hernot, J. D. Kalan, and M. Schnermann. A method to diversify cyanine chromophore functionality enables biomolecule tracking and intracellular imaging. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 14647-14659. *These authors contributed equally
C. Marker, A. P. King, R. V. Swanda, B. Vaughn, E. Boros, S.-B. Qian, and J. J. Wilson. Exploring ovarian cancer cell resistance to rhenium anticancer complexes. Angew. Chemie Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 13391–13400.
C. Marker*, C. C. Konkankit*, M. C. Walsh, D. R. Lorey II, and J. J. Wilson. Radioactive world: an outreach activity for nuclear chemistry. J. Chem. Ed. 2019, 96, 2238–2246. *These authors contributed equally
C. Marker, S. N. MacMillan, W. R. Zipfel, Z. Li, P. C. Ford, and J. J. Wilson. Photoactivated in vitro anticancer activity of rhenium(I) tricarbonyl complexes bearing water-soluble phosphines. Inorg. Chem. 2018, 57, 1311–1331.