Brent Westbrook

bwestbro.com

Welcome!

My name is Brent Westbrook, and I am currently a Staff Scientist at the Open Force Field Initiative working on the parameterization of force fields. Previously, I did my PhD in chemistry at the University of Mississippi with Ryan Fortenberry, where I worked on automating anharmonic vibrational spectra calculations and reparameterizing semi-empirical methods. I am exclusively a computational chemist, so I spend more of my time with computers than with chemistry. As a result, I occasionally have interesting things to share about computers here or on my YouTube channel.

I was also a general chemistry Supplemental Instruction leader for four semesters and wrote many worksheets during that time, so I also have them accessible here.

Recent Publications

(26) B. R. Westbrook, and R. C. Fortenberry. "Anharmonic rotational and vibrational spectroscopic constants of NH₂CH₂OH." Vib. Spec., 2024. DOI: 10.1016/j.vibspec.2024.103690.

(25) A. R. Flint, B. R. Westbrook, and R. C. Fortenberry. "Theoretical Rotational and Vibrational Spectra Data for the Hypermagnesium Oxide Species Mg₂O and Mg₂O⁺." ChemPhysChem, 2024. DOI: 10.1002/cphc.202400479.

(24) A. G. Watrous, B. R. Westbrook, and R. C. Fortenberry. "On the detectability of interstellar diaminomethane ((NH₂)₂CH₂) ." Mon. Not. Royal Astron. Soc., 2024. DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stad3938.