Education

• Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Physical Chemistry
• B.S., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Chemistry with Biochemical Option

Background

When I started college, I never expected to be a chemistry major! However, my first-year general chemistry professor at Bryn Mawr College made the subject so interesting and relatable. I was fascinated by thinking about nature at a nanoscopic scale and it sparked my imagination. Today, my students can see how passionate I am about chemistry and love to share the world of atoms and molecules. I strive to be as inspiring as my own chemistry professor!

After taking a five-year hiatus from my studies, I returned to finish my chemistry degree at UW-Milwaukee and continued on with my undergraduate research professor to complete a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry. During that time, I was heavily involved in The Point of Grace campus ministry. I enjoyed mentoring college students and growing my faith.

Today, I am blessed to have two school-aged children of my own. We are members of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Grafton, Wisconsin. Outside of chemistry, I enjoy reading a wide variety of subjects (including science non-fiction), collecting rocks (especially agates), photographing and identifying wildflowers, and writing.

Teaching

• CHE 101 – Fundamentals of Chemistry
• CHE 161 – General Chemistry 1
• CHE 162 – General Chemistry 2
• CHE 168 – General Chemistry 1 Laboratory
• CHE 169 – General Chemistry 2 Laboratory
• BCH 351 – Biochemistry 2
• PHY 151/201 – General Physics 1 Laboratory
• PHY 152/202 – General Physics 2 Laboratory

Research Interests

In my lab, we focus on a colorful class of compounds called porphyrins from a biophysical perspective. Porphryins are found in a huge range of living organisms and are the chemical basis for heme, which makes blood red, and chlorophyll, which makes plants green. They appear in important technological applications such as photodynamic and photothermal therapies (cancer treatments) and dye-sensitized solar cells. We use fluorescence techniques to characterize the porphryins. We also substitute synthetic porphryins for native porphyrins in heme proteins. Fluorescence can tell us something about the protein environments that we put them in.

I have always been excited to teach students research methods. It is important to strike the correct balance between guidance and independence in the lab.  Research in my lab affords students experience with protein preparation, synthetic chemistry, absorbance and fluorescence spectroscopy, and analysis of large data sets.

Scholarly Works

Publications

• Wagie, Hannah. “Exploring the Wandering Dunes of Lake Michigan,” Wisconsin People & Ideas, vol. 69, no. 3, Summer 2023.
• Wagie, H. E.; Woehl, J. C.; and P. Geissinger (2016). “A systematic, quantum-mechanical, finite-order approach for the quantitative determination of molecular internal electric fields in guest–host systems from Stark spectroscopy.” Theoretical Chemistry Accounts 135(5): 1-15.
• Wagie, H. E. (2015). “Porphyrin as a Probe of Net Electric Fields in Heme Proteins.” Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee.
• Wagie, H. E. and P. Geissinger (2012). "Hole-Burning Spectroscopy as a Probe of Nano-environments and Processes in Biomolecules: A Review." Applied Spectroscopy 66(6): 609-627.

Presentations

• WUWM (Milwaukee’s NPR affiliate), “Lake Effect,”, radio interview “Soaking Up the Sun & Natural Wonders” (), July 2024.
• UWM Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry Awards Day, poster presentation, April 2015, for graduate research entitled “Spectroscopic Sensitivity of Porphyrins to Protein Environment”
• Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, poster presentation, February 2015, Baltimore, MD, for graduate research entitled “Development of a Quantum-Mechanical Analysis of Stark Effects of Porphyrins Employed as Sensors of Internal Electric Fields in Biological Systems”
• SCIX conference, oral presentation, October 2014, Reno, NV, for graduate research entitled “Spectroscopic Method Using Porphyrins as a Probe of Local Electrostatic Environment”
• UWM Research Foundation Breakfast Research Talk, oral presentation, May 2014, UWM campus, for graduate research entitled “Porphyrin as a Spectroscopic Probe of Net Electric Fields in Heme Proteins”
• UWM Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry Awards Day, poster award, April 2014, for graduate research entitled “Predicting the First Electronic Transition Energy in Porphin with an Applied Electric Field (Stark Spectroscopy)”
• SCIX conference, poster award, October 2013, Milwaukee, WI, for graduate research entitled “Effects of Local Environment on UV-VIS Spectra of Zinc Porphyrins: Protein & Solvent”
• UWM Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry Awards Day, poster presentation, April 2013, for graduate research entitled “Towards an Electrostatic Model of Heme Proteins: Environment & Electronic Properties of Zinc Porphyrins”
• SCIX conference (formerly FACSS), invited talk, October 2012, Kansas City, MO, for recent review paper published in Applied Spectroscopy entitled “What Lies Beneath: Broadened Absorption Spectra of Biomolecules Exposed”
• Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, poster presentation, February 2012, San Diego, CA, for graduate research entitled “Porphyrins as Detectors of Internal Electric Field in Heme Proteins”
• FACSS conference SAS student session, poster award & oral presentation, October 2011, Reno, NV, for graduate research entitled “Molecular Electric Field Determination in Large Proteins with Hole-Burning Spectroscopy”
• UWM Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry Awards Day, poster presentation, April 2012, for graduate research entitled “Describing Myoglobin’s Electrostatic Structure”
• UWM Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry Awards Day, poster presentation, May 2011, for graduate research entitled “Exploring the Electrostatic Effects of Point Mutations in the Myoglobin Heme Pocket”
• UWM Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry Awards Day, poster presentation, May 2010, for graduate research entitled “Determination of Internal Electric Fields in Protoporphyrin IX with Hole-Burning Spectroscopy”
• Federation of Analytical Chemistry & Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS) conference, poster award, October 2009,  Louisville, KY, for undergraduate research entitled “Optimizing a Luminescent Dye Mixture for pH-Sensing in Optical Fiber Systems for Water Quality Monitoring”
• National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), poster presentation, April 2009, LaCrosse, WI, undergraduate research, “Remote Monitoring with Luminescent Optical Fibers: Enhancing Reproducibility and Dynamic Range”
• American Water Resources Association (AWRA) conference, poster presentation, March 2009, Stevens Point, WI, undergraduate research “Enhancing Reproducibility and Dynamic Range in Remote Monitoring with Luminescent Optical Fiber Sensors”

Service

• WLC: Faculty Development Committee
• Church: Stewardship Committee, Sunday School
• Memberships: American Chemical Society, Riveredge Nature Center, Friends of the Cedarburg Bog