Dr. Palmer's research interests span the areas of analytical, inorganic and physical chemistry. Current projects involve the use of FTIR spectroscopy in the investigation of dynamic processes on the nanosecond to millisecond time scale. Included are nanosecond studies of photoexcited states in metalloproteins and other metal complexes, rheo-optical measurements of the sub-molecular dynamics of polymer films perturbed by mechanical fields and development of fiber optic-based photothermal spectral detection for materials and biomedical applications.