MLRC Partner Highlight: Colby College scientist and sportsman, Whitney King

Dr. Whitney King has been a chemistry professor at Colby College for 25 years. He graduated from St. Lawrence University and trained as a chemical oceanographer at the University of Rhode Island. Dr.King teaches General Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, and Analytical Chemistry courses and has served the college as Chemistry Department Chair, Science Division Chair, and as a member on numerous college and research committees.  Professor King and his research students develop and build analytical instruments for the analysis of metals and reactive oxygen species in natural waters. The instruments are now used by over one hundred research groups in over fifteen countries.  In 2002, King co-founded Waterville Analytical to meet the commercial demand for this specialized instrumentation.

“Goldie”, a Colby research buoy launched by King and his students, is creating expanded research opportunities investigating lake dynamics. A web-based dashboard has been created to communicate this data to the community.

In 2011, King joined the board of the Maine Lakes Resource Center and led the development of the “wet lab” and summer field station for Colby College environmental students. He was the principle investigator on a National Science Foundation – funded project to study the effects of human development in the Belgrade Watershed and as such, has acquired knowledge of the functions of all of the major lakes in the shed.

As an avid sportsman, one can often find Whitney hunting, fishing or hiking in the Maine outdoors with his wife, Jan, and dog, Kepler.  Whitney is also the proud father of two grown daughters, Sarah and Carin, both of whom have successfully entered careers in science.