Kimberley Cousins
Contact
Bio
Kimberley Cousins earned 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, and a lecturer at Southwestern University (Georgetown, Texas) and Austin Community College (Austin, Texas) prior to joining California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB)Department of Chemistry in 1991. Dr. Cousins’ research interests are in the areas of computational materials science and physical organic chemistry. Current projects include computational modeling of ferroelectric, piezoelectric and related functional materials, as well as hydrogen storage in microporous materials, as well as detecting trace quantities of lithium ions in salt solutions. While at CSUSB, Cousins has authored or co-authored proposals that have been awarded nearly $20,000,000 from public and private agencies and has mentored more than 150 student researchers. She is currently serving as PI for NSF-CREST II program as the Director of the Center for Advanced Functional Materials, and is the Graduate Coordinator for the new MS Materials Science 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 six years as department chair.
Education
B.S Chemistry, Duke University 1984
Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin 1991
Camille and Henry Postdoctoral Fellow, Hendrix College, Conway AR, 1989-1990
Courses/Teaching
Organic Chemistry (all levels)
Introductory Chemistry
Chemistry Seminar
Topics in Chemistry: Computational Chemistry
Research and Teaching Interests
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/biochemistry 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/high school/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, the top campus-wide teaching award.
Dr. Cousins research interests are in the areas of computational organic materials science, physical organic chemistry, and chemical education. Current projects include computational modeling of ferroelectric, piezoelectric and related functional materials and modeling porous materials for hydrogen storage. 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 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