June 22, 2010

About me

My name is Caroline Hatton. I’m a scientist and an author of books for young readers.

As a sports anti-doping scientist, I help test athletes for prohibited performance-enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids. I became qualified to do this by earning a pharmacist degree from the Université de Paris and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and going to work at the UCLA Olympic Lab when the 1984 Olympics came to Los Angeles. I loved running the lab, which became the biggest of its kind, for more than a decade. I also worked at the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996 and Salt Lake City in 2002.

A book I wrote for young people, The Night Olympic Team, takes readers behind the scenes at the Olympics to see how scientists do their work.

I hope you enjoy my blog. If you have any comments or questions for me, please feel free to e-mail me anytime. I would like to hear from you and do what I can to help shed light on careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

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SELECTED VIDEOS
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* My "Writing Tip of the Day" for non-fiction writers, at Tina Nichols Coury's blog.
* My science lesson on TV, "Be an Olympic detective"
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* Introduction to sports doping control: this informational video was made by Agilent Technologies in 2004 for distribution to the media before the Athens Olympics. Stuart Cram (who worked for Agilent at the time) and I (a consultant to the UCLA Olympic Lab at the time) appear in it.
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SELECTED INTERVIEWS
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* by the School Library Journal, about doping in sports
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* by Bonnie O'Brian, for California Readers
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* by historical detective and author Vicki Leon, about research for science writing:
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- part 1 about interviewing experts... with more or less success!
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- part 2 about fact-checking
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- part 3 about weaving together the scientist's adventures in life and the science
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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
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* Werner TC, Hatton CKPerformance-enhancing drugs in sports: how chemists catch users. Journal of Chemical Education 88, 34-40, 2011.
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* Hatton CK. We're winning the fight against drugs in sports, The Christian Science Monitor, November 29, 2010, page 34.

* Hatton CK. The Night Olympic Team. Boyds Mills Press, 2008. (science nonfiction story for ages 10-110)
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* Hatton CK. CIR foils cheaters, Drug Free Sport Insight, newsletter of The National Center for Drug-Free Sport, Inc. First quarter 2005, page 3.

* Hatton CK. Surprise Moon. Bebop Books, 2004. (an easy-to-read book for ages 5 and up, also available in Spanish)

* Hatton CK. A Pet for Grandma. Seedling Publications, 2004. (an easy-to-read book for ages 5 and up)
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* Catlin DH, Hatton CK. Designer drug find sounds alarm. UCLA Today, December 9, 2003.
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* Aguilera R, Hatton CK, Catlin DH. Detection of epitestosterone doping by isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Clinical Chemistry 48, 29-36, 2002.
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* Hatton CK. "Plant pals". Highlights for Children June 2002. (a craft activity)

* Hatton CK. "Stacking Bears." Highlights for Children Feb. 2001. (a craft activity)

* Hatton CK. Véro and Philippe. Front Street/Cricket Books, 2001. (a chapter book for ages 8 and up).

* Hatton CK. Where Is My Puppy? Bebop Books, 2004. (an easy-to-read book for ages 5 and up, also available in Spanish)

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* Hatton CK. "Panda Card." Highlights for Children Nov. 2000. (a craft activity)

* Catlin DH, Leder BZ, Ahrens B, Starcevic B, Hatton CK, Green GA, Finkelstein JS. Trace contamination of over-the-counter androstenedione and positive urine test results for a nandrolone metabolite. Journal of the American Medical Association 284, 2618-21, 2000.
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* Catlin DH, Hatton CK, Starcevic SH. Issues in detecting abuse of xenobiotic anabolic steroids and testosterone by analysis of athletes' urine. Clinical Chemistry 43, 1280-8, 1997.
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* Catlin DH, Kammerer RC, Hatton CK, Sekera MH, Merdink JL. Analytical chemistry at the Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad in Los Angeles, 1984. Clinical Chemistry 33, 319-27, 1987.
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Updated February 2, 2012