Joshua Kittle, Ph.D.
Biography
Prior to joining Liberty in the fall of 2025, Dr. Kittle served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. He spent nearly ten years at the Air Force Academy, teaching general, analytical, and physical chemistry and mentoring student research projects on chemical warfare agent sensing. Dr. Kittle’s other efforts for the Department of Defense focused on development and testing of new explosives and munitions, as well as management of research projects for the U.S. Space Force.
Courses Taught
- CHEM121L – General Chemistry I Lab
- CHEM122L – General Chemistry II Lab
- CHEM131 – Advanced General Chemistry I
Research Interests
- Chemical vapor sensing via light reflected from photonic crystals inherent to butterflies, beetles, and feathers.
- Determining the rate of plastic degradation using biopolymers and enzymes.
Professional Memberships
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
Publications
Publications
∙ Kittle, J.D.; Grasdal, E.N.; Kim, S.M.; Levin, N.R.; Davis, P.A.; Kittle, A.L.; Kittle, I.J.; Mulcahy, J.A.; Keith, B.R. Vapor Sorption-Desorption Phenomena of HD and GB Simulants from Polyurethane Thin Films on Aluminum Oxide via a Quartz Crystal Microbalance. ACS Omega 2022, 7, 22735-22742.
∙ Meier, M; Kittle, J.D.; Levin, J.; Yee, X. C. Supervised Dimension Reduction for Optical Vapor Sensing. RSC Adv. 2022, 12, 9579-9586.
∙ Kittle, J.; Levin, J.; Levin, N. Water Content of Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Films Measured by Quartz Crystal Microbalance and Deuterium Oxide Exchange. Sensors 2021, 21, 771.
∙ Kittle, J.D.; Duff, M.W.; Engesser, J.M. Lunar Resource Harvesting and Manufacturing: Rich Content for the Chemistry Classroom. Journal of Chemical Education 2021, 98, 782-789.
∙ Kittle, J.D.; Gofus III, J.S.; Abel, A.N.; Evans, B.D. Additive Combination of Spectra Reflected from Porous Silicon and Carbon/Porous Silicon Rugate Filters to Improve Vapor Selectivity. ACS Omega 2020, 5, 19820-19826.
∙ Butow, S.J.; Cooley, T.; Felt, E.; Mozer, J.B.; Sadat, M.; Singh, P.; Wegner, P.; Schneider, V.; Roesler, G.; Pittman, B.; Tumlinson, R.; Gaudreault, M; Kittle, J.D.; Spangenberg-Jones, J; Sander, A.; Song, A.; Mommer, R.; Walker, Z. State of the Space Industrial Base 2020: A Time for Action to Sustain US Economic and Military Leadership in Space. DTIC Report AD1106608; Peterson AFB, CO. July 2020.
∙ Kittle, J.D. Quantum Technologies: An Assessment of the Current State-of-the-Art and Recommendations to Increase the United States Space Force Operational Demand Signal. DTIC Report AD1095288; Peterson AFB, CO. Mar 2020.
∙ Mozer, J. B.; Hardy, D.; Sanchez, M.; Rizzo, G.; Gaudreault, M.; Kittle, J.; Garretson, P.; Penn, D. The Future of Space 2060 and Implications for U.S. Strategy: Report on the Space Futures Workshop. DTIC Report AD1095527; Peterson AFB, CO. September 2019.
∙ Kittle, J.; Fisher, B.; Kunselman, C.; Morey, A.; Abel, A.* Vapor Selectivity of a Natural Photonic Crystal to Binary and Tertiary Mixtures Containing Chemical Warfare Agent Simulants. Sensors 2019, 20, 157.
∙ Kittle, J.D.; Qian, C.; Edgar, E.; Roman, M.; Esker, A.R. Adsorption of Xyloglucan onto Thin Films of Cellulose Nanocrystals and Amorphous Cellulose: Film Thickness Effects. ACS Omega 2018, 3, 14004-14012.
∙ Kittle, J.D.; Fisher, B.P.; Esparza, A.J.; Morey, A.M.; Iacono, S.T. Sensing Chemical Warfare Agent Simulants via Photonic Crystals of the Morpho Didius Butterfly. ACS Omega 2017, 2, 8301-8307.
∙ Kittle, J.D.; Gettings, M.; Rinehart, E. Lofted Debris Effects on Air Blast and Impulse for Cased Charge Detonations. In 87th Shock and Vibration Symposium: Explosive Detonations – Tunnel and Crater Applications; Schumaker, A. Ed.; Shock and Vibration Exchange, Arvonia, VA, Oct 2016.
∙ Park, S.-W.; Lib, W.; Viehhauser, A.; Hed, B.; Kime, S.; Nilsson, A. K.; Andersson, M. X.; Kittle, J. D.; Ambavaram, M. M. R.; Luan, S.; Esker, A. R.; Tholl, D.; Cimini, D.; Ellerström, M.; Coaker, G.; Mitchell, T. K.; Pereira, A.; Dietz, K.-J.; Lawrence, C. B. Cyclophilin 20-3 Relays a 12-oxo-phytodienoic Acid Signal During Stress Responsive Regulation of Cellular Redox Homeostasis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2013, 110, 9559-9564.
∙ Jiang, F.; Kittle, J. D.; Tan, X.; Esker, A. R.; Roman, M. Effects of Sulfate Groups on the Adsorption and Activity of Cellulases on Cellulose Substrates. Langmuir 2013, 29, 3280-3291.
∙ Wang, C.; Kittle, J. D.; Qian, C.; Roman, M.; Esker, A. R. Chitinase Activity on Amorphous Chitin Thin Films: A Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation Monitoring and Atomic Force Microscopy Study. Biomacromolecules 2013, 14, 2622-2628.
∙ Kittle, J. D.; Wondraczek, H.; Wang, C.; Jiang, F.; Roman, M.; Esker, A. R. Enhanced Dewatering of Polyelectrolyte Nanocomposites by Hydrophobic Polyelectrolytes. Langmuir, 2012, 28, 11086-11094.