Douglas T. Petkie Ph.D.

Dr. Petkie received his Ph.D. from Ohio State University in experimental spectroscopy and is currently an Assistant Professor of Physics at Wright State University where he is starting up a molecular spectroscopy research laboratory that will involve undergraduate and graduate students.

Since receiving his Ph.D. in 1996, he has taught at two liberal art colleges, Bluffton College and Ohio Northern University, before starting at Wright State University in 2002. He has remained active in research during the academic year and summers and maintains an active collaboration with the Microwave Laboratory at Ohio State University, holding the position of Visiting Scholar during the summers. He has also spent one summer with the Molecular Spectroscopy Group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory through a NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship.

Dr. Petkie’s field of expertise is in millimeter, submillimeter, and terahertz wave spectroscopy of gas phase molecules found in the atmosphere and interstellar medium. He has experience in the development of spectroscopic techniques, including the development of the FAst Scan Submillimeter Spectroscopic Technique (FASSST). He also has extensive experience in the analysis of high resolution molecular spectra, which include such molecules as nitric acid, hydrogen peroxide, chlorine nitrate, and peroxy nitric acid, all of which play a crucial role in chemical processes in the atmosphere.
He is a member of the American Physical Society, American Association of Physics Teachers, Council on Undergraduate Research, and Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society.