Faculty Bio

Raised in Nova Scotia, Dr. Matthew Clay earned a B.Sc. with first class honours in Chemistry and Psychology at Dalhousie University. He continued his education at the University of Ottawa, earning a Ph.D. in Chemistry before continuing west to take up a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Alberta. He has enjoyed teaching chemistry at St. Mary's University since 2008. In his spare time he loves hiking and backpacking in the Rockies and spending time at his trailer outside Waterton.

• REFERENCED PUBLICATIONS: Detection of Salicylic Acid in Willow Bark: An Addition to a Classic Series of Experiments in the Introductory Organic Chemistry Laboratory. M. D. Clay and E. J. McLeod. J. Chem. Ed. 2012, 89, 1068-1070.
• The open conformation of LL-DAP-AT from Chlamydia trachomatis: Implications on broad substrate specificities. N. Watanabe, M. D. Clay, M. J. van Belkum, C. Fan, J. C. Vederas and M. N. G. James. J. Mol Biol. 2011, 411, 649-660.
• Exploration of Inhibitors for Diaminopimelate Aminotransferase. C. Fan, M. D. Clay, M. K. Deyholos, and J. C. Vederas. Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2010, 18, 2141-2151.
• Mechanism of Substrate Recognition and PLP-induced Conformational Change in LL-Diaminopimelate Aminotransferase from Arabidopsis thaliana. N. Watanabe, M. D. Clay, M. J. van Belkum, M. M. Cherney, J. C. Vederas and M. N. G. James. J. Mol Biol., 2008, 384, 1314-1329.
• Crystal Structure of ll-Diaminopimelate Aminotransferase from Arabidopsis thaliana: A Recently Discovered Enzyme in the Biosynthesis of l-Lysine by Plants and Chlamydia. N. Watanabe, M. M. Cherney, M. J. van Belkum, S. L. Marcus, M. D. Flegel, M. D. Clay, M. K. Deyholos, J. C. Vederas and M. N. G. James. J. Mol. Biol. 2007, 371, 685-702.
• Acetylenic Allenophanes: An Asymmetric Synthesis of a bis-Alleno-bis-butadiynyl-meta-cyclophane. M. D. Clay and A. G. Fallis. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2005, 44, 4039-4042.
• Competing Diels-Alder Intramolecular Pathways from Cross Conjugated Trienes: Fused Hydrindenones (Bicyclo[4.3.0]nonenones) versus Bridged Ring (Bicyclo[3.3.1]nonenones) Adducts from a Diene-Transmissive Precursor. M. D. Clay, D. Riber and A. G. Fallis. Can. J. Chem. 2005, 83, 559-568.
• Aryl Annulation of Cyclic Ketones via a Magnesium Carbometalation-6-π Electrocyclization Protocol. P. E. Tessier, N. Nguyen, M. D. Clay and A. G. Fallis. Org. Lett. 2005, 7, 767-770.
• Photochemical Generation and Absolute Reactivity of an Allene Oxide in Solution. M. D. Clay, J. Durber and N. P. Schepp. Org. Lett. 2001, 3, 3883-3886. Conference Proceedings
• Pre-service teachers’ experiences co-teaching with scientists in Discovering Science. K. Francis-Poscente, M. A. McLean, M. D. Clay, G. Grothman, and L. Braverman. Proceedings of the 2011 Annual Conference of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education. Conference Presentations
• Detection of Salicylic Acid in Willow Bark: An Experiment for Introductory Organic Chemistry. M. D. Clay and E. J. McLeod. 94th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition (2011).
• Lysine Biosynthesis: Characterization of LL-DAP Aminotransferase. M. D. Clay. 7th Annual Pigeon Lake Symposium on Organic and Bioorganic Chemistry (2008).
• Lysine Biosynthesis in Plants: Characterization of LL-DAP Aminotransferase from Arabidopsis thaliana. M. D. Clay. Volcano Conference in Chemical Biology (2008).
• Characterization of ll-Diaminopimelate Aminotransferase. M. D. Clay, M. J. van Belkum, S. L. Marcus, N. Watanabe, M. M. Cherney, M. K. Deyholos, M. N. G. James, and J. C. Vederas. Zing Natural Products Conference (2008).
• Characterization of ll-Diaminopimelate Aminotransferase. M. D. Clay, M. D. Flegel, M. J. van Belkum, S. L. Marcus, N. Watanabe, M. M. Cherney, M. K. Deyholos, M. N. G. James, and J. C. Vederas. 90th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition (2007, poster prize winner).
• Characterization of ll-DAP Aminotransferase. M. D. Clay. 6th Annual Pigeon Lake Symposium on Organic and Bioorganic Chemistry (2007).
• Synthetic Investigations Towards C60. M. D. Clay and A. G. Fallis. 88th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition (2005).
• Synthetic Investigations Towards C60. M. D. Clay and A. G. Fallis. Ottawa-Carleton Chemistry Institute Day (2005).
• The First Asymmetric Synthesis of an Acetylenic Allenophane. M. D. Clay and A. G. Fallis. 15th Quebec-Ontario Mini-Symposium in Synthetic and Bioorganic Chemistry (2004).
• Progress Toward the Asymmetric Synthesis of Allenophanes. M. D. Clay and A. G. Fallis. Ottawa-Carleton Chemistry Institute Day (2004, Poster prize winner).
• Studies Toward the Synthesis of Enantiopure Allenophanes. M. D. Clay and A. G. Fallis. 14th Quebec-Ontario Mini-Symposium in Synthetic and Bioorganic Chemistry (2003).
• Design and Synthesis of Enantiopure Allenophanes. M. D. Clay and A. G. Fallis. 39th IUPAC Congress and 86th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition (2003).
• A Tether-Controlled Intramolecular Diels-Alder Approach to Hydrindanes. M. D. Clay, D. Riber and A. G. Fallis. Ottawa-Carleton Chemistry Institute Day (2003).
• A Tether-Controlled Intramolecular Diels-Alder Approach to Hydrindanes. M. D. Clay, D. Riber and A. G. Fallis. 13th Quebec-Ontario Mini-Symposium in Synthetic and Bioorganic Chemistry (2002).
• Generation and Reactivity of Allene Oxides. M. D. Clay, J. Durber and N. P. Schepp. 84th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition (2001).

• Research and Scholarship in Chemical Education: The progressively greater role science plays in our everyday lives mandates that the average citizen possess, at the minimum, a rudimentary understanding of science for both their own self-interest and society as a whole. Even such basic everyday decisions as to what to eat or to buy at the grocery store are based on science, with the modern examples (scams, if you will) of “organic” food and bottled water providing ample evidence as to the importance of scientific understanding in our everyday lives. Citizens must also be scientifically informed if they are to contribute to society in a useful capacity. For example, any discussion of climate change requires an understanding of the science behind the theories, a discussion on stem-cell research requires an understanding of stem cells, and decisions on oil sands exploration necessitates a knowledge of petroleum and environmental science. Increasingly and frighteningly so, however, decisions on these and similar matters are being made by those with little understanding of the science behind them. The question thus becomes how to equip citizens with sufficient scientific understanding so that they may make informed decisions on matters involving science. While education is the likely answer, the question as to how to educate is far more complex. The obvious approach – educating everyone in science to the same degree as scientists – is as ridiculous as it is impractical, but even far less lofty ideas, such as mandating certain minimum requirements in science through standardized testing or required courses, have failed. What is generally found is that interest in science for many people simply evaporates during their formal education, and while the reasons for this are varied, common to all is a poor understanding of what science truly is. Many believe that by correcting common misconceptions about the nature of science, citizens will acquire a greater understanding of it, and if corrected early enough, encourage them to take additional formal courses in science. The overarching goal of my research program is therefore to educate the population about the true nature of science, illustrating what science is and how it is conducted by having them perform scientific experiments themselves. Under this broad theme, I have developed two separate projects that approach this goal from different angles. The Discovering Science program targets students in junior high school and aims to illustrate the experimental nature of science, while my development of multidisciplinary undergraduate laboratory experiments works to illustrate the broad reach and collaborative nature of modern science.