Email address: skinner@chem.wisc.edu
B.A. 1975, University of California, Santa Cruz
Ph.D. 1979, Harvard University
Research Description
Professor Skinner is no longer taking students at UW-Madison.
The Skinner research group has been interested in the structure and dynamics of condensed phase systems, and in particular, in the theory of time-dependent phenomena in liquids. Experimentally, one important approach for determining the structure and dynamics of condensed matter involves linear and non-linear vibrational spectroscopy. Typically, such spectroscopy contains information about local molecular environments, whose extraction, however, usually requires theoretical models and their solutions. In order to accomplish this, we use ab initio calculations, molecular dynamics simulations, statistical mechanics, and basically any theoretical approach that will enable us to further our understanding. The systems we are working on include water, peptides and proteins, interfaces, membranes etc.
Awards and Honors
Hilldale Award in the Physical Sciences, UW-Madison | 2015 |
Irving J. Langmuir Award in Chemical Physics, American Chemical Society | 2012 |
Member, National Academy of Sciences | 2012 |
American Chemical Society Physical Chemistry Division Award in Theoretical Chemistry | 2011 |
Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences | 2006 |
Selected Publications
IR Spectroscopy Can Reveal the Mechanism of K+ Transport in Ion Channels. Biophysical Journal. 2020;118:254-261. | .
Super-Maxwellian helium evaporation from pure and salty water. Journal of Chemical Physics. 2016;144. | .
Water Dynamics in Gyroid Phases of Self-Assembled Gemini Surfactants. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2016;138:2472-2475. | .
Sub- and super-Maxwellian evaporation of simple gases from liquid water. Journal of Chemical Physics. 2016;144. | .
Instantaneous ion configurations in the K+ ion channel selectivity filter revealed by 2D IR spectroscopy. Science (Washington, D. C.). 2016;343:1040-1044. | .