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Kimberley Cousins

Kimberley Cousins

Professor, Faculty Project Member

Contact

Professor
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Office Phone(909) 537-5391
Office LocationCS-213
Faculty Project Member
UEC - Miscellaneous Projects & Grants
Office Phone(909) 537-5391
Office LocationCS-213

Education

Kimberley Cousins obtained her B.S. in Chemistry in 1984 from Duke University and a Ph.D. (organic chemistry) in 1991 from the University of Texas at Austin. She was a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teaching-Research Fellow (1989-90) at Hendrix College, Conway Arkansas. In 1991 she was a lecturer at Southwestern University (Georgetown, Texas) and Austin Community College (Austin, Texas). Dr. Cousins has been at CSUSB since 1991.

Courses/Teaching

Dr. Cousins has taught courses in organic chemistry, primarily the year-long sequence for biology majors/pre-health professions, and the year long sequence for chemistry majors, as well as intermediate organic chemistry. She has also taught introductory chemistry for non-majors, and for liberal studies majors, as well as advanced topics courses in polymer chemistry, computational chemistry, and chemistry literature and has supervised more than 150 undergraduate/HS/graduate research students. Cousins continues to develop her teaching, using technology as appropriate, and using POGIL (process oriented guided inquiry learning) and project-base laboratories into her courses. In 2008, she received the "Golden Apple" award for teaching, and in 2020, was named "Outstanding Professor"; both are top campus-wide awards. 

Research and Teaching Interests

Dr. Cousins research interests are in the areas of computational organic materials science, green organic synthetic methodology, physical organic chemistry, computational organic chemistry, and chemical education. Current projects include the development of a greener synthesis of carpanone, and computational modeling of ferroelectric, piezoelectric and related functional materials. While at CSUSB, Cousins has authored or co-authored proposals that have been awarded nearly $20,000,000 from public and private agencies. She is currently serving as PI of the NSF-STEM Transfer Success Program, and a PI for research and workforce development grant from the NSF-CREST II program. Cousins has taken an active role in Departmental and University Affairs, including serving for nearly 8 years on the Faculty Senate (three on the executive committee), and has served on, and chaired, a number of departmental, college, and university committees. A campus news release describes in detail some of her accomplishments and thoughts: https://www.csusb.edu/inside/article/568564/department-chair-dedicated-ensuring-students-have-vital-resources-needed