Jessica Stachowski

Jessica Stachowski is an Assistant Professor in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department at Nazareth University, where she has been teaching since fall 2022. Her office is located in Peckham Hall 234, and she can be reached at 585-389-2583 or jstacho0@naz.edu.

Dr. Stachowski received her Ph.D. and M.S. from the University of Michigan and her B.S. from Canisius University (formerly Canisius College). Prior to joining Nazareth, she completed postdoctoral work at Wayne State University and served as a visiting professor at Kalamazoo College.

Her teaching and research interests focus on biocatalysis, biochemistry, carbohydrate chemistry, and organic chemistry. Dr. Stachowski teaches General Chemistry, Biochemistry I and II, Biochemistry Lab, Bioorganic Research Methods, and Fundamentals of Organic and Biochemistry. She is passionate about biochemistry, which she describes as 'bringing together all the fundamental concepts students learn in general and organic chemistry courses' and showing students 'how these concepts apply to the biochemical processes that sustain life.'

Dr. Stachowski actively involves undergraduate students in research on developing new methods to make sugars found in human breast milk. Her research group investigates the use of engineered enzymes to produce human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) more efficiently through interdisciplinary work in biochemistry (DNA cloning and protein expression) and organic chemistry (carbohydrate substrate synthesis).

She serves as Director of Nazareth University's Science Summer Camp for 2025, featuring Harry Potter-themed science camps for children ages 6-16. Dr. Stachowski's teaching philosophy emphasizes creating a safe learning environment where students feel comfortable asking questions and making mistakes, believing that 'every physical phenomenon that makes up the living and nonliving world can be explained through chemistry.'