Jennifer Latimer

Alumna
Chemistry and Geology

Teaching has always been one of Dr. Jennifer Latimer’s goals, manifested in part by the support and encouragement she received from science professors at IUPUI.

“Everyone in the Geology Department was really supportive,” says Latimer, who is beginning her first year as an assistant professor of geology at Indiana State University. “In fact, I wouldn’t have pursued my doctorate if it hadn’t been for the support I received from Dr. Filippelli and others. They’re just an amazing group of people who work really well together.”

Latimer says her career in science evolved at IUPUI. A self-confessed “tree hugger” who always knew she wanted to be a scientist, Latimer studied chemistry as an undergraduate, earning a bachelor’s degree certified by the American Chemical Society. Before beginning graduate school, she worked in the lab of Geology Department chairman Gabe Filippelli, Ph.D. It was there she cultivated an interest in paleoceanographic research.

“I had a lot of opportunities to go to national and international science meetings and workshops, which allowed me to network and establish myself in the field,” Latimer says.

After completing her master’s degree in geology in 1998, Latimer continued her research in the School of Science at IUPUI while beginning work on a doctorate degree in geology awarded from Indiana University in Bloomington. While a Ph.D. student, she spent two months as a shipboard scientist on a research cruise in the south Pacific and Indian oceans.

“It was an amazing experience for me,” says Dr. Latimer, who credits Filippelli’s recommendation as one of the main reasons she was chosen for the research trip.

While at IUPUI, Latimer got her first taste of teaching as an oceanography instructor — an experience she describes as “so much fun.”

“Even though we’re miles away from the ocean, I tried to relate the material we talked about in class to students’ lives — the impact they have on the oceans and their physical environment. It’s really rewarding to see students realize that they do make a difference and to see them get excited about a topic.”

Latimer says she plans to incorporate into her teaching philosophy the very thing she most benefited from as a student in the School of Science at IUPUI.

“It was the first time anyone had taken an interest in me academically and saw my potential,” she says. “I would like to do that for other students — find their potential.”

As a geology faculty member at Indiana State, Latimer is continuing her paleoceanographic research, and she is beginning a new project to study the effects of acid mine drainage common in the Terre Haute region and the heavy metal accumulation in the environment.