Gary E. Douberly

  1. Chair, Chemistry
  2. Professor
Email Addressgary.douberly@wsu.edu
LocationFulmer 337
Phone509-335-7620

Biography

Gary E. Douberly received a BSCHEM degree in chemistry from the University of Central Florida in 2000.  He received a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2006 under the direction of Roger E. Miller and Tomas Baer.  Following postdoctoral work with Michael A. Duncan at the University of Georgia, he began his faculty appointment at the University of Georgia in 2008.  He was promoted to Professor in 2018.  Professor Douberly has received the CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, the Early Career Award from the Department of Energy Office of Science, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, a JILA Visiting Fellowship, the Journal of Physical Chemistry Lectureship Award, and the Coblentz Memorial Award from the Coblentz Society recognizing advancements in the field of Molecular Spectroscopy by a scientist under the age of 40. In 2019, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Also in 2019, Douberly was appointed the Head of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Georgia. Following three and a half years serving in this role, he was appointed as Associate Dean of the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences (2022-2026), wherein he supported the Division of Biological Sciences (3400 students and 160 faculty), with college-wide assignments focused on Industry Engagement and Research/Instructional Facilities. As of June 2026, Professor Douberly is the Boeing Endowed Chair of Advanced Materials Research and the Chair of the Department of Chemistry at Washington State University.

Education

  • Post-Doctoral Associate, 2006-2008
    University of Georgia, Department of Chemistry
  • Ph.D., Chemistry, 2006
    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Chemistry
  • BSCHEM Chemistry, 2000
    University of Central Florida, Department of Chemistry

Research

The Douberly research group develops spectroscopic tools for the helium nanodroplet and solid para-Hydrogen matrix isolation methods.  We employ these methodologies to address a diverse set of fundamental problems in chemical physics, all of which are relevant to the atmosphere, combustion, and other environments in which gas phase radical chemistry is prevalent. The low temperature (0.4 K) and rapid cooling associated with helium droplets provides a perfectly suited medium to isolate and spectroscopically probe transient species, such as molecular radicals and carbenes. Reactants sequentially added to helium droplets are often stabilized in high-energy, metastable configurations on the potential energy surface. Single and double resonance infrared laser spectroscopic techniques are used to probe the structural and dynamical properties of these systems, often in the presence of externally applied electric and magnetic fields. Our group also develops the theoretical models required to interpret the spectra of these novel molecular systems.

Representative Publications

  • Raston, P.L.; Douberly, G.E. “Infrared laser Stark spectroscopy of methyl fluoride in 4He nanodroplets”, ChemPhysChem, (2024), e202400224. DOI: 10.1002/cphc.202400224
  • Douberly, G.E. (2022). Infrared Spectroscopy of Molecular Radicals and Carbenes in Helium Droplets. In: Slenczka, A., Toennies, J.P. (eds) Molecules in Superfluid Helium Nanodroplets. Topics in Applied Physics, vol 145. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94896-2_4
  • King, K.E.; Franke, P.R.; Pullen, G.T.; Schaefer, H.F.; Douberly, G.E. “Helium droplet infrared spectroscopy of the butyl radicals”, Journal of Chemical Physics, (2022), 157, 084311. DOI: 10.1063/5.0102287
  • Franke, P.R.; Stanton, J.F.; Douberly, G.E. “How to VPT2: Accurate and Intuitive Simulations of CH Stretching Infrared Spectra Using VPT2+K with Large Effective Hamiltonian Resonance Treatments” Journal of Physical Chemistry A, (2021), 125, 1301-1324.
  • Pullen, G.T; Franke, P.R.; Haupa, K.A.; Lee, Y.-P.; Douberly, G.E. “Infrared Spectroscopy of n-Propyl and i-Propyl Radicals in Solid para-Hydrogen” Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy, (2019), 363, 111170.
  • Douberly, G.E.; Miller, R.E.; Xantheas, S.S. “Formation of Exotic Networks of Water Clusters in Helium Droplets Facilitated by the Presence of Neon Atoms” Journal of the American Chemical Society, (2017), 139, 4152-4156.
  • Brice, J.T.; Liang, T.; Raston, P.L.; McCoy, A.B.; Douberly, G.E. “Infrared Stark and Zeeman spectroscopy of OH-CO: The entrance channel complex along the OH + CO →  trans-HOCO reaction pathway” Journal of Chemical Physics, (2016), 145, 124310.
  • Moradi, C.P.; Xie, C.; Kaufmann, M.; Guo, H.; Douberly, G.E. “Two-center three-electron bonding in ClNH3 revealed via helium droplet infrared laser Stark spectroscopy: Entrance channel complex along the Cl + NH3 → ClNH2 + H reaction” Journal of Chemical Physics, (2016), 144, 164301.
  • Hernandez, F.J.; Brice, J.T.; Leavitt, C.M.; Pino, G.A.; Douberly, G.E. “Infrared Spectroscopy of OH∙∙CH3OH: Hydrogen-Bonded Intermediate Along the Hydrogen Abstraction Reaction Path” Journal of Physical Chemistry A, (2015), 119, 8125-8132.
  • Moradi, C.P.; Douberly, G.E. “On the Stark effect in open shell complexes exhibiting partially quenched electronic angular momentum: Infrared laser Stark spectroscopy of OH-C2H2, OH-C2H4, and OH-H2O” Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy, (2015), 314, 54-62.
  • Broderick, B.M.; McCaslin, L.; Moradi, C.P.; Stanton, J.F.; Douberly, G.E. “Reactive Intermediates in 4He Nanodroplets: Infrared Laser Stark Spectroscopy of Dihydroxycarbene” Journal of Chemical Physics, (2015), 142, 144309.
  • Liang, T.; Magers, D.B.; Raston, P.L.; Allen, W.D.; Douberly, G.E., “Dipole moment of the HOOO radical: Resolution of a structural enigma” Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, (2013), 4, 3584-3589.