UCM Chemistry Seniors Pursue Degree Dreams Through Research, Involvement & Hard Work

Reagan Shippy, left, and Paige Schneller will graduate with Chemistry degrees from UCM during 2025 Spring Commencement.

 

Countdown to Commencement 

The University of Central Missouri offers a community of support, allowing students to redefine what’s possible as they forge a path to their future. With help from faculty and staff, UCM students are empowered to be the heroes of their own stories and as we prepare for 2025 Spring Commencement, the News Bureau is shining a spotlight on some of those stories.

 

They may not have started as Chemistry majors when enrolling at the University of Central Missouri (UCM), but seniors Reagan Shippy and Paige Schneller will be headed to doctoral programs after walking across the commencement stage this spring.

Shippy, of Centerview, Missouri, entered her freshman year as a Speech Pathology major. At the same time, Schneller, of Knob Noster, Missouri, started with the Open Options program as she figured out where her path was headed. Both first-generation students took a chemistry class early in their college careers, which changed their entire trajectory.

“I was in between Speech Pathology and Chemistry when I came in, so I chose one intro chemistry class just so I could kind of try them both,” Shippy recalled. “And chemistry ended up being my favorite class by a long shot.”

 

Over the last four years, Shippy and Schneller have grown from unsure freshmen to officers in the UCM chapter of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Science Club, student employees, and undergraduate researchers at UCM and beyond. 

Thanks to small class sizes and personalized instruction, undergraduate science students at UCM can work directly with faculty members on research projects. The opportunity provides students with much more hands-on experience and the ability to lead their own research.

Schneller completed her undergraduate research at UCM with Dr. Chen Zhou, professor of Chemistry. She worked with gold nanoparticles using different ligands to see how they work under fluorescent lighting with the goal of cancer detection. She also completed a National Science Foundation (NSF) research experience for undergraduates (REU) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she worked on polymer research.

For Shippy’s research at UCM, she worked with Dr. Joshua Parham, assistant professor of Chemistry. She studied nickel-catalyzed peptides to observe their optimal formation that could potentially be used to mimic an enzyme. She completed two REUs: making uranium bimetallics to see if nuclear fuel could be reprocessable at the University of Kansas and working with redox reservoirs to study alternative energy methods at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Jay Steinkruger, chair and professor of Chemistry, said the UCM faculty works diligently to help students like Shippy and Schneller who want to further develop their research skills. 

“Securing these opportunities was a critical milestone for each of them that most certainly made their graduate school applications more impressive,” Steinkruger said.

 

The pair have also earned numerous recognitions at UCM and had the chance to attend and present at regional and national conferences with ACS. Schneller was among a few UCM undergraduate students invited to the National First Generation Student Leaders Conference. She received the Emerging Student Leader Award and was a finalist for Officer of the Year and Student Employee of the Year. Shippy was twice recognized with the Donald R. Kelsey Undergraduate Research Award and received the 2024 ACS Division of Organic Chemistry Undergraduate Award.

“Reagan and Paige are outstanding students. They’re bright, inquisitive and very disciplined,” Steinkruger said. “Both of them have made enormous contributions to our student organization, to our outreach events like Science Olympiad, and generally do all they can to support our mission from the student perspective.

“Furthermore, they are both extremely lovely individuals that always bring joy and laughter to the learning environment. Our faculty team feels lucky to have had the chance to work with them.”

Both students received several impressive offers to continue their education this fall. Shippy will attend the University of Kansas to pursue a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry, and Schneller will attend the University of Tennessee for a Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry.

Shippy said she’d wanted to be a scientist since elementary school but wasn’t sure she had the merit to do it. Looking back, she thinks her younger self would be proud she took the leap to pursue her dream and took advantage of many opportunities along the way. She said it’s hard to believe she’s accomplished so much, from graduate-level projects to working in research labs at R1 universities, not to mention the friends she made while spending countless hours in the library.

“I feel like we both have made a big impact, at least on the culture of the Chemistry department,” Shippy said. “Before we came in and kind of made everybody be friends, everyone was a lot more isolated. I feel like that will be a lasting impact that we’ll have after we leave.”

 

Schneller said her freshman self, who selected UCM for its affordability and proximity to home, probably didn’t think she’d be graduating with numerous doctoral program offers. 

“I was very much just trying to get through the degree. Whatever happens, happens,” Schneller said. “Now, looking back, I have done so much for myself, my faculty and my department and the university, and I would like to think that freshman year me is very proud of how I am now.”

 

 

 

 

Check the News Bureau daily from May 5-9, as we share stories of UCM graduates who are redefining what’s possible and shaping the future, one step across the stage at a time.