Joseph DiVerdi is an associate professor of chemistry at Colorado State University. His research spans a litany of topics, including the chemistries of everything from cannabis to flavors and fragrances. He has also studied radio science, instrumentation and astronomy.  

In these varied fields, he has (in collaboration with others):  

• Created the first sensory description for cannabis.  
• Studied the wood treatments used in violins made by 17th century Italian luthiers Stradivari and Guarneri.  
• Designed and built MRI and NMR devices used around the world.  
• Examined the microscopic behavior of water molecules in the most confined of spaces.  
• Created and cultivated citizen-driven observatories of the Earth’s magnetosphere, ionosphere and even galactic radio emissions.   

DiVerdi earned his bachelor’s degree in biological chemistry from St. Peter’s College and obtained his master’s at the University of Pennsylvania before leaving the U.S. to attend medical school in the Vatican City, though he did not ultimately earn a degree there. He later returned to Pennsylvania to earn his Ph.D in biophysical chemistry. His most recent degree was an MBA from CSU.  

DiVerdi’s research has been published in Nature, the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, the Journal of the American Chemical Society and more.