About us

Our lab is located in the Science and Technology building at ECU. The lab’s research interests are distributed across three main efforts that lie at the intersection of chemistry, biology and physics. Please feel free to click on the “Research” tab to learn more!

If you are interested in the research topics, please contact us!

About Prof. Offenbacher

ECU chemistry professor Adam Offenbacher prepares students for a general chemistry lab. (ECU Photo by Rhett Butler)

Dr. Adam Offenbacher was born and raised in a small rural community in northwest Ohio. He is a first generation student, receiving his bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry at Ohio Northern University (ONU). While at ONU, he was immersed in two areas of research: transient laser spectroscopy and nucleic acids. After participating in a research experience for undergraduates (REU), Dr. Offenbacher pursued a graduate degree at Georgia Institute of Technology.

At Georgia Tech, he was trained by Prof. Bridgette A. Barry and studied the regulation of high energy intermediates in biological proton-coupled electron transfer reactions using a combination of high resolution vibrational (FT-IR, UV resonance Raman) and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopic techniques.

After working for a short stent as a postdoc in Prof. Barry’s lab on the mechanism of proton transport in photosystem II, Dr. Offenbacher was a NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein postdoc in Prof. Judith P. Klinman’s group at University of California Berkeley. He studied the mechanism of enzymatic C-H activation reactions that occur by quantum tunneling.