Dr. Antoinette Y. Odendaal

Antoinette Odendaal is an Associate Professor of Biology and Chemistry, Assistant Dean of CSE, and the Pre-Health Advisor. She is a physical organic chemist and toxicologist. Dr. Odendaal received a B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Southern Maine (2003), and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of New Hampshire (2009).  Her graduate research was on the design, synthesis, and stability of tetraamine cancer imaging chelators. She completed her postdoctoral research at Indiana University (2009-2011) working on novel technologies for natural product isolation. She then joined the American Institute for Biosocial and Medical Research (AIBMR) as a research associate, where she evaluated the toxicological effects and safety of natural product extracts (2011-2014). Dr. Odendaal’s research interests include isolation and bioactivity assessments of plant extracts, as well as evaluating the potential toxicological effects of xenobiotics on Daphnia magna. She has established a Natural Products and Daphnia Research Laboratory at SAU, where she involves biology and chemistry undergraduate students in various multidisciplinary research projects. Dr. Odendaal teaches Organic Chemistry I and II, Biochemistry, Introduction to Toxicology, and Principles of Biology II.

Service Bio

• Pre-Health Advisor
• Assistant Dean for College of Science and Engineering
• NRRC Research Associate
• Alpha Chi National College Honor Society Sponsor
• Pre-Health Club Sponsor

Education

• B.A. in Chemistry, University of Southern Maine, 2003
• Ph.D. in Chemistry, University of New Hampshire, 2009

Mentors: Gary Weisman and Edward Wong

• Postdoctoral Researcher, Indiana University, 2009–2011

Mentor: Erin Carlson

Research

• Toxicology
• Natural products discovery
• Inquiry-based biochemical experiments

Scientific and Academic Affiliations

• National Collegiate Honors Council
• American Chemical Society
• Arkansas Academy of Science
• Alpha Chi Honor Society