John Helms, assistant professor of chemistry and biology at Morningside College, was an author of four papers that were recently published.

John Helms, assistant professor of chemistry and biology at Morningside College, was an author of four papers that were recently published.

Helms had articles published in Aquatic Sciences, Organic Geochemistry and Marine Chemistry. These papers discuss how natural environmental systems function and how human activities influence them, specifically relating to the carbon cycle and potential climate change related processes.

Helms also recently co-authored an article in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. This paper explores the process by which sunlight breaks down the popular allergy medicine Zyrtec in natural waters. This process is considered important since normal wastewater treatment does not work.

Helms came to Morningside College this fall after completing a postdoctoral fellowship in the Marine and Atmospheric Chemistry Research Laboratory at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He received his doctorate from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.