Marcus Vinicius
Pinto Pereira Junior

Marcus Vinicius was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He attended Connecticut College in New London, CT, where he worked in the laboratory of Prof. Timo Ovaska, and graduated with honors in 2020. In the Ovaska group, Marcus conducted research on the synthesis of tetracyclic natural products, including frondosin D and phorbol. Marcus plans to enroll in the chemistry graduate program at Yale University next Fall.

Experience

Education

Skills

• Gaussian
• Python
• JavaScript
• Scheme
• Igor
• MatLab
• HTML
• C++
• Genetic Algorithms
• Neural Networks
• Arduino
• Raspberry Pi

• Portuguese - Native
• English - Fluent
• Spanish - Advanced

• Gas Chromatography
• Mass Spectroscopy
• Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy
• Nucler Magnetic Resonance
• Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy
• Potentiometric Analysis
• Biotage Isolera Flash Column Chromatography
• Glass Column Chromatography
• High Performance Liquid Chromatography
• Distillation
• SPME • QuEChERS • SPE • Liquid-Liquid Extraction
• Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy

Interests

Apart from being a chemistry researcher, I truly enjoy teaching and sharing my passion for science with others. At Connecticut College, I tutored General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and many computer science classes for the past 3 years. There, I also developed and piloted ACS Chemistry week, which is an event on college campus to share science with middle school students. In 2015, I also created an event in Rio de Janeiro, called SciFun, that gave 5 science workshops for 70+ middle school students from the public school system in Paracambi.

I am also very interested in work related to conservation and sustainability. In the Goodwin-Niering Center for the Environment at Connecticut College, I was able to deepen my knowledge of Environmental Justice and Conservation and I learned to not only look at those issues through a scientific perspective, but rather through an interdiciplinary approach. My dream is to work towards the development of synthetic organic chemistry methods that are both efficient and environmentally sustainable.

Publications & Presentations

• M. V. Pinto Pereira, T. P. Hoadley, M. C. Iranpour, M. N. Tran, and J. T. Stewart, “High-resolution infrared spectroscopy of the ν26 band of isoprene,” Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy 350, 37-42 (2018).
  
  
• Progress towards the total synthesis of Frondosin D via tandem Cyclization/Claisen Rearrangement.
  ACS National Meeting and Expo, Philadelphia, March 2020
  Online Poster
  
  
• Progress towards the total synthesis of Frondosin D via tandem Cyclization/Claisen Rearrangement.
  ACS-CVS Symposium on Applied Synthesis, Connecticut College, September 2019
  
  
• Progress towards the total synthesis of Frondosin D via tandem Cyclization/Claisen Rearrangement.
  ACS-CVS Undergraduate Research Symposium, Amherst College. April 2019.
  
  
• Progress towards the total synthesis of Phorbol.
  Summer Science Research Symposium, Connecticut College. April 2018.
  
  
• Development of a QCL-Based Spectrometer for Analysis of Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds
  Summer Science Research Symposium, Connecticut College. September 2017.
  
  
• Synthesis of Natural Herbicide and Study of its Effects on Grain Seeds Germination and Microorganism Growth
  Intel-International Science and Engineering Fair, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. May 2015.
  
  

Awards & Certifications

• ACS Connecticut Valley Section Award for outstanding work in the field of chemistry 2020
  
  
• ACS Undergraduate Award in Organic Chemistry 2020
  
  
• Selected to the Richard H. Goodwin Environmental Research Fellowship for Honor thesis to received up to $12,000 for Honor Thesis work.
  
  
• Judy Bailen Kateman ’65 Outstanding Senior Prize 2019
  To the member of the rising senior class who, through his or her student years at Connecticut College, has combined outstanding qualities of leadership, good citizenship and service to the College with high academic standing and has achieved special distinction in some area of extracurricular activity or enterprise offered by her family
  
  
• Chemistry Department Prize in Organic Chemistry 2018
  
  
• Sophomore Computer Science Award 2018
  
  
• Honorable Mention by the State Government by the Legislative Assembly of the state of Rio de Janeiro for Outstanding Achievements in Science while in High School 2016
  
  
• Prêmio Jovens Inventores (Young Inventors Award) 2016
  
  
• Harvard Social Innovation Collaborative Global Trailblazer 2015
  "Village to Raise a Child is a program established by the Harvard Social Innovation Collaborative that identifies and nurtures young social entrepreneurs from around the world. These students—called “Global Trailblazers”—are selected via a global competition that searches for the most inspiring high schoolers with the most innovative ideas from countries around the globe."
  
  
• Science Fairs Awards 2015
  - Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 2015 Finalist, Intel Corporation
  - Recognition for Outstanding Science Students in the Americas,May 2015, Organization of American States
  - 2nd place in Agricultural Sciences, Oct 2015, 30ª Mostra Internacional de Ciência e Tecnologia (MOSTRATEC)
  - 2nd place in Agricultural Sciences, Mar 2015, 13ª Feira Brasileira de Ciências e Engenharia (FEBRACE)
  
  
• Delegate at The National Youth Science Camp selected by U.S. Embassy / National Youth Science Foundation
  "The National Youth Science Camp is a residential science education program for young STEM enthusiasts the summer after they graduate from high school. Students from around the country are challenged academically in exciting lectures and hands-on studies"