Alum spotlight on Gregory Vandergrift

Working as a researcher in VIU’s Applied Environmental Research Laboratories (AERL) was the “most pivotal experience” of Gregory Vandergrift’s undergraduate experience.

Vandergrift said the mentorship he received from professors set the stage for success in the rest of his career. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science, double major in Chemistry and Mathematics in 2016 and continued as a PhD student researcher at AERL while studying at the University of Victoria.

He’s now a Chemist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), which is a United States Department of Energy user facility.

“Researchers from around the world submit proposals to work with EMSL, and I’m one of the scientists (amongst many) that collects and interprets data to help answer our users’ diverse scientific questions,” said Vandergrift. “For me, that usually involves using mass spectrometers to answer questions about environmental research, a type of technology that I first got experience with while at VIU.”

We caught up with Vandergrift to talk about his time at VIU.

Why did you choose VIU for your education? 

I graduated high school in Nanaimo, so there was an element of familiarity with VIU that first led me to choose it. But as I progressed in my degree, I stayed with VIU because of the excellent prof-student interactions that I had across all my classes.

Can you share an experience where one of your profs made an impact on your learning experience? 

It started with Sandy Patrick, my first-year chem professor who got me an opportunity to work in the Chemistry department over the summer. That experience gave me my first exposure to scientific research since the Applied Environmental Research Labs (AERL) was right next door. Through that, I met Drs. Chris Gill, Erik Krogh and other AERL students. By my second year, I was participating in fundamental research as an undergraduate. And while I may have picked chemistry for my career, my experiences in the Math department also were invaluable in teaching me how to think and not just recall information. Drs. Dave Bigelow and Cobus Swartz were especially impactful.

How did working as a student researcher at VIU’s Applied Environmental Research Laboratories help you in your studies and your current role in the workforce?

Working in the AERL as an undergraduate was likely the most pivotal experience of my undergrad. The mentorship I received from both Chris and Erik really set the stage for the rest of my career, as it was an incredibly practical way of translating what I was learning in the classroom to the real world. I also greatly benefitted from working with Dr. Kyle Duncan, who was a graduate student at the time. Under his additional mentorship, I was able to co-author academic papers as an undergraduate, which has boosted my career in ways that I think I am still benefitting from.

What are you most proud of since completing your program at VIU? 

My greatest pride will always be with my family – being a dad to two boys will always be mentioned first! As for my career, I’m most proud of some of the high-impact publications I’ve been a part of while at EMSL, including having recently led an article published in my favourite journal (Environmental Science & Technology).

What advice would you give VIU students following a similar trajectory as yourself?

Nobody does it alone! I’d recommend prioritizing a path where mentorship and learning are emphasized, which is something that I’m grateful to have found with my current position, too. A common theme of my best experiences at VIU is that they all involved dedicated mentorship. I wouldn’t be half the scientist that I am today if it wasn’t for people like Chris, Erik, Kyle and many other VIUers.