When Lara Watanabe (PhD 2022) was an undergraduate at a small Canadian university, she dreamed of getting access to high quality equipment like X-ray diffractometers for crystallography. Pursuing her doctoral degree in the UWindsor Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry not only turned that dream into reality but quickly led to a fulfilling role in a highly specialized field.

In May of 2024, Dr. Watanabe started her position as crystallographer and teaching lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Guelph.

“It is Because of Science at UWindsor that I’m prepared for this role,” she says.

“Without being at Windsor and without having that exposure to using the X-ray crystallography instrument, I wouldn’t know half of what I need to know for this role. It was super instrumental in what they were able to provide.”

The inorganic chemist says it all started when she began her degree in the Faculty of Science. Along with her co-supervisors Jeremy Rawson and Chuck Macdonald she used materials chemistry to explore applications for specific compounds.

“It was great to be given the freedom to explore what I wanted,” she says.

“Depending on the molecule, they could be used as sensors, for lubricants, or non-linear optic molecules, which are good for solar cells. There were a variety of different applications because I looked at a variety of different molecules.”

Early in her time at the University of Windsor, she asked both supervisors for training on the single crystal X-Ray diffractometer.

“They were very supportive and sent me to a workshop as part of a major chemistry conference,” she said.

“They provided hands-on-training to collect the data and showed me how to process the data through from solving and refining of crystals and that support was invaluable.”

She says the faculty’s former technician, Joe Lichaa, also helped her learn the maintenance aspects of caring for the instrument, aspects that students normally do not get to learn. The instrument takes a focused beam of X-rays and shoots it at a single crystal or powder sample. It produces a piece of data where you can get the connectivity of atoms based on the electron density in the molecule.

“It is one of the most powerful tools to a chemist when making new molecules in synthesis because it tells you definitively the connectivity of the atoms of the molecule you’re actually making — it tells you what it looks like,” says Watanabe.

“For example, it is used by the pharmaceutical industry to test their products because drugs can have specific forms of the active ingredient and this instrument will definitively tell you what form you have.”

While completing her degree, Watanabe was involved in the Women in Chemistry group. She helped organize the annual chemistry conference ChemiConn and led WinChem, a group that conducts tours and hands on experiments for visiting high school students to promote the chemistry and biochemistry department.

“I think that UWindsor had a lot of opportunities to showcase my love of chemistry and to try and be a role model for women in STEM, which has always been important to me. I like to be an advocate and show that there are women in these fields, and you can be successful at it.”

After graduating, Watanabe started a post-doctoral position at Carleton University. The industrial collaboration opened her eyes to a different view of research.

“It solidified my love of academia and the freedom it affords you to explore and publish.”