Sarah Beaudoin (Boettcher lab), Phyllis Liao (Jasti lab) and Pilar Tosio (Hansen lab) are among the fourteen UO undergraduate students have been awarded fellowships that provide an opportunity to conduct research during the summer.
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The Chemistry and Biochemistry department is pleased to introduce the recipients of our 2021 undergraduate scholarships!
This years’ recipients are Sarah Beaudoin, Anabel Chang, Phyllis Liao, Laura Leibfried, Jiayi Yin and Sonny Kusaka. We asked them to tell us a little bit about themselves and their science.
The Faith Van Nice Scholarship is dedicated to the legacy of alumna Faith Van Nice, and recognizes exceptional UO undergraduate students majoring in Chemistry or Biochemistry.
I am an incoming Junior at the University of Oregon. Before attending the UO, I grew up in rural Northeastern Oregon and spent time in Nova Scotia, Canada! Currently, I am majoring in Chemistry and plan to declare a minor in Biology as well, with the goal of contributing to renewable energy materials design. Personal motivation for this goal comes from the resilience of the natural world around us, and our need to protect our world for this generation and future generations alike.
My research: The summer after my freshman year, I reached out to Professor Shannon Boettcher, the primary investigator of the Boettcher lab, to apply as an undergraduate researcher. I was originally exposed to the lab during a research immersion course my freshman year and became interested in their focus on electrolysis technology development. Electrolysis, also known as water splitting, consists of two half-reactions occurring within an electrolytic cell, that make possible the extraction of storable and non-pollutive hydrogen gas from water. Conventional industrial-scale electrolyzers use a proton-exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis cell, wherein the local conditions are very proton-rich and therefore acidic. However, these cells are incredibly sensitive to contaminants in the electrolyte and require stable precious metal catalysts due to the corrosive acidic conditions. Anion-exchange membrane (AEM) electrolysis, which utilizes locally basic conditions, is currently being studied by the Boettcher Lab because of its increased resistance to trace contaminants and potential use of non-precious group metal (PGM) catalysts.
Currently, I am working under the supervision of Grace Lindquist (PhD candidate) and Shannon Boettcher to explore the use of non-PGM catalysts in an AEM electrolysis system. Development of cost effective and efficient AEM electrolyzers will be crucial to the large-scale implementation of hydrogen fuel, helping mitigate climate change and reduce the need for harmful fossil fuels.
What’s next? Upon finishing my undergraduate degree, I plan to attend graduate school for further chemistry or engineering education and continue researching hydrogen fuel production, or possibly other modes of renewable energy advancement. Eventually, I hope to join the scientific research industry, where I can use my acquired skill to solve some of the most urgent issues facing human wellbeing.
The Kuntz-Swinehart Memorial Scholarship recognizes academic excellence in our majors, and was established by former UO Chemistry students in honor of two professors whose instruction, influence and inspiration had a significant impact on their career paths.
I am entering my senior year at UO with a biochemistry major and business administration minor. My hometown is Corvallis, OR and my family is from Taipei, Taiwan! I first became curious about science in middle school when I developed alopecia, an autoimmune disease which causes hair loss, and I sought to understand the disease. Now as I am learning more about science at UO, I find even mundane things around me fascinating as I try to connect them to the science I’ve learned.
My research: I have been in the Marcus lab since freshman year, where I’m involved in a project aiming to characterize conformational fluctuations of DNA fork junctions! We use very cool and fancy lasers to track the dynamics and structure of DNA. I have learned so much through my research experience, and I am extremely grateful to have the guidance of mentors in the lab.
What’s next? I am passionate about autoimmune diseases, so I plan to apply to medical school after I gain some more medical experience! I hope to become a dermatologist or rheumatologist.
Final thoughts: It’s an honor to receive this award, and I am blessed to have professors at UO as inspirational as Professor Swinehart and Professor Kuntz which this scholarship honors.
Established in 2020 by a generous donation, the Percy Julian Scholarship seeks to support talented undergraduate scientists in their pursuit of a career in chemistry and recognizes their contributions to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM and their potential for further academic achievement.
I am from Beaverton, OR and am an incoming senior at UO. Science intrigues me because it’s a strange juxtaposition between the “pursuit of the unknown” but also being the ultimate form of escapism. I noticed this dissonance as I studied upper-division chemistry courses. I was able to ask probing questions and contest with complacency but also shut out the world while delving into such a niche field of science.
My research: I’ve been working in the Jasti Lab for the past year and a half. My research consists of synthesizing a novel structure called the nanohoop-based rotaxane to react with reactive oxygen species (ROS). Success of the system is indicated by a turn-on fluorescence response when reacted with these ROS and this shows that nanohoop-based [2] rotaxanes are tailorable for use in biomedical research.
What’s next? Through the Jasti Lab, I’ve been interested in continuing with organic synthesis, but I aspire to go to grad school to pursue research in alignment with the environment. I’m interested in working for the EPA and use experience in research to find novel ways to tackle climate change. Additionally, bringing back the idea of dissonance, I want to bridge conversations of diversity/inclusion with science because it’s so easy to completely dissociate from the world in pursuit of science.
Final thoughts: It is an honor to be awarded with the Percy Julian Scholarship as I recognize the significance of Julian as a scientist and my own personal accomplishments.
The Anita and Friedhelm Baitis Scholarship provides funding for undergraduate students to conduct research during the summer in a chemistry or biochemistry laboratory at the University of Oregon, under the mentorship of a Chemistry and Biochemistry department faculty member. Award recipients are chosen from among students that are nominated by department Faculty. This year, the scholarship was awarded to two students.
I grew up in Boulder, Colorado before moving to Eugene in 2018 to attend the University of Oregon. I am pursuing a double major in physics and chemistry, along with a minor in computer science. Science inspires me not only due to its role in the exploration of the natural world and the quenching of curiosity but more importantly through all the innovation allowed by a greater understanding of physical principles.
My research: I have been doing research since my freshman year where I embarked upon a project working with Dr. Hailin Wang studying the optical modes of micro resonators. I specifically look at microsphere whispering-gallery resonators which have surprisingly high Q-factors and many potential applications including biosensing due to an extremely sensitive evanescent field. During the latter half of my junior year I joined the Wong Group, a primarily optics based physical chemistry lab studying the in situ non-equilibrium excited state dynamics of various materials, all with known applications in solar renewable energy. The project I am involved in is the study of electronic aggregation in squaraine thin films while they are being thermally annealed using transient and linear absorption. Squaraines are a class of molecules showing great promise as donor compounds in organic photo-voltaics, which are easily synthesized and allow for great chemical tunability through R-group substitution.
What’s next? I plan on attending graduate school and plan on pursing a pHD in either physical chemistry or physics with a specialization in optics. Ultimately, I intend to find a career in sustainability linked research.
Final thoughts: I am extremely humbled and grateful to have received this award, as well as all of the numerous opportunities provided to me by the University of Oregon.
I am a Biochemistry major from China. I will become a senior at the University of Oregon this upcoming Fall. I have enjoyed math and science since I touched base on them in elementary school and got more interested in the next few years. I started out at the University of Oregon unsure of what I wanted to do, but I dived into the general chemistry sequence immediately, thinking that whatever I was going to do in the future would need this, and I was right. So, I stepped onto the track for biochemistry the first day of college without my full awareness. I feel lucky for that and have never regretted it.
My research: I am currently a member of the lovely Harms Lab, that studies relationships between biochemistry and evolution. The Harms Lab is a place full of interesting and positive thoughts, exciting experiments, and awesome scientists.
The immune system activates inflammation in response to both foreign pathogens and internal damage. Dysregulated inflammation can lead to many chronic diseases including cancers. S100A9, a protein expressed in immune cells, strongly activates TLR4, a proinflammatory receptor, and thus activates pathological inflammation. Understanding how S100A9 interacts with TLR4 would be useful to create therapeutics to treat these diseases. My research project is to use evolutionary and biochemical techniques to find out what sequence changes to S100A9 were important in its evolutionary history that led to greater proinflammatory activity. Knowledge of what changes to the protein gave way to this new activity will help us understand how the protein works.
What’s next? I want to attend graduate school and be a PhD student in the Biochemical field, and then become a professor who will keep asking questions that might help the world become a better place.
The P-Chem Undergraduate Fellowship provides funding for undergraduate students to conduct research during the summer in a physical chemistry lab at the University of Oregon, under the mentorship of a physical chemistry faculty member.
I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon before moving to West Linn, Oregon to attend high school. I will be a senior at UO this upcoming fall. I became interested in medicine at a very young age, and this passion was further nurtured through my science classes in elementary, middle, and high school, with biology and chemistry being two of my favorites. This led me to pursue biochemistry at UO, and I also picked up a Spanish minor after taking Spanish 101 for fun in my freshman year before falling in love with learning the language.
My research: I have been doing research in Professor Marina Guenza’s lab for the past two years. My contributions to the group focus on the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. I am analyzing atomistic computer simulations of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein with FDA-approved inhibitor drugs and comparing that to analysis of simulations without the inhibitor drugs to explore potential treatment options.
What’s next? After my time at UO, I aspire to attend medical school and become a physician. My medical specialty of interest changes all the time the more I learn about all of them, but I love interacting with patients and I could not see myself doing anything else.
Final thoughts: I am honored to have received this fellowship opportunity, and I am very excited to see where my research this summer will take me. I also want to thank Professor Guenza and the rest of the group for their support!
Chemistry and Biochemistry graduate student Amber Rolland has been awarded the 2021-22 UO Doctoral Research Fellowship.
Open to students in any UO PhD program, the fellowship is awarded to the most outstanding doctoral student as determined by a faculty selection committee. Dissertations are judged on the quality of the written proposal and the potential impact of the research both within and beyond the student’s field. The fellowship carries an award stipend of up to $20,000 and includes a University tuition waiver, GE fee subsidies, and GE health insurance.
Amber is a fifth-year graduate student in the Prell Lab. Her dissertation work has pushed the boundaries of native ion mobility-mass spectrometry to elucidate more complex, detailed information about biomolecular structure, overcoming the quantitative barrier of this technique. The first half of Amber’s dissertation work comprises her computational and molecular dynamics approaches to gain insight into gas-phase compaction/structure of protein ions and to enable, for the first time, quantitative comparison between experimental and simulated structural data with known accuracy and precision. The second, ongoing half of her PhD research applies these computational approaches to investigate features of protein complexes which are important for human health yet typically difficult to characterize with other state-of-the-art methods due to their heterogeneity and/or disorder, including pore-forming toxins of interest for drug delivery such as alpha-hemolysin and cytolysin A, human eye lens crystallin proteins involved in cataract formation, and dynein motor protein subcomplexes.
In her free time, Amber enjoys hiking, traveling, and photography. She is the recipient of an ARCS Foundation of Oregon fellowship, John R. Moore Scholarship, Graduate Doctoral Service Award, and Peter O’Day Fellowship.
We are happy to announce the availability of five departmental undergraduate scholarships for 2021. There are three separate applications for the awards. The application deadline for all scholarships is Friday, April 23, 2021. Scholarship awards will be announced near the end of May. More information about these scholarships can be found on our website.
If you have questions regarding the application process, please contact Leah O’Brien by phone (541) 346-4839 or by email..
The Faith Van Nice and Kuntz-Swinehart scholarships recognize outstanding academic and research achievements by undergraduate chemistry and biochemistry majors. Funds will be made available for the 2020-2021 UO academic year. Eligibility: Applicants must have a minimum GPA of 3.5 on a scale of 4.0 (or similar grade assessment). Application process: Online application. By submitting this application, you will be considered as a candidate for both scholarships. Instructions and application at: https://blogs.uoregon.edu/chemugscholarships/
The Percy Julian Scholarship supports talented undergraduate scientists in their pursuit of a career in chemistry, and recognizes their contributions to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM and their potential for further academic achievement. Preference is given for students with financial need, as determined by the UO Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships. Eligibility: To be eligible for these awards, applicants must be enrolled at the University of Oregon and be a declared major in Chemistry or Biochemistry. Application process: Online application. Instructions and application at: https://blogs.uoregon.edu/chemugscholarships/
The P-Chem Undergraduate Fellowship provides funding for students to conduct research during the summer in a physical chemistry lab at the University of Oregon, under the mentorship of a physical chemistry faculty member. Eligibility: Open to undergraduate students at the University of Oregon and from other undergraduate institutions that meet the following eligibility criteria: minimum 3.0 GPA; U.S. citizen; must be returning to the UO or home institution the term after the fellowship; may not be paid to conduct research through other internal UO research support programs during the same fellowship period. Application process: Online application. Instructions and application at: https://research.uoregon.edu/apply/apply-internal-funding/p-chem
The Baitis Undergraduate Fellowship provides funding for undergraduate students to conduct research during the summer in a chemistry or biochemistry laboratory at the University of Oregon, under the mentorship of a Chemistry and Biochemistry department faculty member. Faculty are asked to submit nominations for the award. No application is necessary on the part of the student.
Faith Longnight has been selected as the first recipient of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department’s Percy Julian Scholarship, a new department scholarship award for chemistry and biochemistry majors at the University of Oregon.
Established in 2020 by a generous donation, the Percy Julian Scholarship seeks to support talented undergraduate scientists in their pursuit of a career in chemistry and recognizes their contributions to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM and their potential for further academic achievement.
We asked Faith to tell us a little about herself and her science.
I was born in California, but I was raised in Eugene for most of my life! I am a junior this year and am double majoring in Chemistry and Sociology. The part of science that I love most is the aspect of discovery. It feels like I am using the skills I have learned to solve a puzzle each time I answer a question and it is such a rewarding process!
I am in the joint Darren Johnson and Haley lab under the supramolecular anion recognition project. I first got into a research lab spring term of my freshman year but once I found my true place within the chemistry department, I joined the Johnson and Haley lab. I have been in this lab since March of 2020 and have loved every minute of it. I am currently working on a project that studies the kinetics of a reaction with hydrosulfide (HS–) with and without the addition of a supramolecular sensor. The goal of the project is to see if the presence of noncovalent interactions slow down the reaction with HS–. This would give insight in how our bodies might slow down reactions with HS–, which is a highly reactive molecule that is essential to our bodies’ function.
I am still undecided in what I exactly want to do in the future, but I know that I want to pursue higher education within chemistry. No matter what I end up doing I want to find somewhere where I can use chemistry and research to help benefit the community around me. I want to pursue research so that I can show others that might feel alone that they are worthy and to show that researchers of color are valid, and that diversity is vital within the sciences. I am currently very passionate about both pharmacology and forensic chemistry and I hope to learn more about both career fields while I am finishing out my time here at UO.
The Percy Julian Scholarship was established to support the scientific aspirations of undergraduate students enrolled as majors in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Oregon, and to advance our commitment to an inclusive diverse student population. Preference is given for students with financial need, as determined by the UO Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships.
Application process: Scholarship details and application instructions are available at https://tinyurl.com/yxaecojp and are also attached to this email as a pdf.
Application period: October 28 – November 16, 2020. The recipient will be announced in early December.
UO Chemistry and Biochemistry graduate student Hazel Fargher has been named the department’s 2020-21 John Keana Fellow, and has also recently been selected for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Program. Hazel is in her fifth year of the UO Chemistry Doctoral program, working on a joint project between the D.W. Johnson, Haley, and Pluth Labs.
The Keana Fellowship was established in 2017 in honor of Professor Emeritus John Keana, and provides annual fellowship awards to graduate students studying in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Oregon. The award may be used to assist with defraying the academic costs associated with attending the university such as tuition, fees, books, miscellaneous supplies, research and living expenses.
The SCGSR Program is open to graduate students pursuing doctoral degrees in areas of physics, chemistry, material sciences, biology (non-medical), mathematics, engineering, computer or computational sciences, or specific areas of environmental sciences that are aligned with the mission of the Office of Science. The award provides supplemental funds for recipients to conduct part of their thesis research at a host DOE laboratory in collaboration with a DOE laboratory scientist. The research projects are expected to advance the graduate awardees’ overall doctoral research and training while providing access to the expertise, resources, and capabilities available at the DOE laboratories. Hazel is one of 52 students nation-wide that were selected for the award this fall.
I grew up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, not too far from the beach. I went to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in MA for my undergraduate degree in chemistry. I then started my first year of graduate school at UO in 2016.
I first got really excited about research when I learned about the principles of ‘green chemistry’. This is a really vague term but can refer to any chemical research that helps address environmental problems. During my time at WPI, I worked in Prof. Marion Emmert’s lab, studying ways to separate mixtures of rare earth elements so that they can be recycled. Now, I hope that some of the really fundamental work that I’m doing in physical organic chemistry can one day be useful in applications such as chemical sensing and pollutant extraction.
I am a host-guest chemist, so I design and synthesize organic hosts to bind guest molecules. More specifically, I develop hosts to bind hydrosulfide, which is both a highly toxic, foul-smelling molecule usually found in wastewater, and also a biomolecule that is essential for life.
I’m very excited to share that this award will help fund an internship at Oak Ridge National Lab through the DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research program. I will be bringing hosts designed in the DWJ and Haley labs to the Moyer chemical separations group. We hope to use these hosts to study ion pair extraction of radioactive cesium salts from water. This area of research can be used to remove cesium nuclear waste from waterways and tank storage.
After getting my PhD, I would love to continue to do hands-on research in a lab. I am keeping an eye out for post-doc positions and opportunities at national labs.
The Chemistry and Biochemistry department is pleased to introduce the recipients of our 2020 undergraduate scholarships!
This years’ recipients are Amanda Linskens, Maya Pande, Daria Wonderlick and Dylan Galutera. We asked them to tell us a little about themselves and their research experience.
The Faith Van Nice Scholarship is dedicated to the legacy of alumna Faith Van Nice, and recognizes exceptional UO undergraduate students majoring in Chemistry or Biochemistry. Amanda says that she feels deeply grateful and honored to receive an award that honors such a successful and inspirational researcher.
My name is Amanda Linskens and I grew up in a small town called Seymour just outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin. I am currently a junior majoring in Biochemistry, and I became interested in biochemistry and molecular biology when I took a biochemistry class in high school. What inspires me about science is the problem solving involved in research and how much there is yet to learn and discover.
About her research: I have been involved in research since my junior year of high school when I decided to do an independent research project with my biochemistry teacher. At the start of my freshman year at the University of Oregon, I joined the Doe Lab and have been with the lab ever since. Currently I am performing research regarding what type of neuroblasts the MDN and Pair1 neurons arise from and what transcription factor window these neurons are born in. MDN controls backwards crawling and walking in fruit flies and Pair1 neurons control stopping in larvae. This research is important for better understanding the development of neurons and for further research into neurodegenerative diseases.
What’s next? My plans after my completing my undergrad degree include graduate school for molecular biology or biochemistry and pursuing a career in molecular genetics or another type of biomedical research.
The Kuntz-Swinehart Memorial Scholarship recognizes academic excellence in our majors, and was established by former UO Chemistry students in honor of two professors whose instruction, influence and inspiration had a significant impact on their career paths. Maya shares that it is such an honor to be recognized through this award.
My name is Maya Pande and I am in incoming Senior at UO! I’m from Portland, Oregon and I started school here in the fall of 2017. I am double majoring in biochemistry and political science. I like science because it represents innovation and progress. It centers around principles that you can observe in daily life, and I love the prospect of using my knowledge to one day better the lives of others.
About her research: I am a member of Andy Marcus’s Lab! The Marcus lab studies the physical properties surrounding the movement of macromolecules in biological environments. One project I’ve worked on within the lab looks to characterize the conformations DNA takes under different sets of biological conditions. I cannot imagine my time at UO without the chemistry department. I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by the most supportive students and faculty I could have asked for.
What’s next? I am planning on taking a gap year after graduation, during which I’ll be applying to medical school. I am currently interested in becoming an oncologist, and I would love to one day work at St. Jude. I am also interested in one day working in science policy.
The Anita and Friedhelm Baitis Scholarship is new this year and provided funding for two undergraduate students to conduct research during the summer in a chemistry or biochemistry laboratory at the University of Oregon, under the mentorship of a Chemistry and Biochemistry department faculty member. Award recipients are chosen from among students that are nominated by department faculty. Daria says she’s grateful for the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department’s commitment to valuing and supporting undergraduate research. Dylan shares that he is very grateful to receive this award because it has allowed him to pursue research during the summer and focus on his education – a unique opportunity to relax and invest more time in his future plans, rather than having to work.
My name is Daria Wonderlick. I am a Biochemistry major from Portland, Oregon, entering my senior year at UO. I have been fascinated by the molecular underpinnings of life for as long as I can remember. In high school, I had the opportunity to study the genetic disease PKU at the Oregon Heath & Science University during the summers. From this early exposure to biomedical research, I became enthralled with the creativity and diligence behind scientific discoveries. I chose to attend UO for the well-respected honors college and opportunities for undergraduate research.
About her research: On the first day of my freshman year at UO, I walked into Mike Harms’s Honors Biology class and immediately fell in love with the course material and his teaching style. I officially joined the Harms Lab after a tour during a science open house. The Harms Lab studies relationships between biochemistry and evolution. My research project aims to characterize how mutations in RNA molecules interact at a biophysical level. Mutational interactions complicate our ability to predict the evolution of existing RNA and proteins and hinder efforts to design new biomolecules for medicine and technology. I am looking at a simple RNA system to learn how its ensemble of structures generates these mutational interactions.
What’s next? I plan to pursue in PhD in biophysics. I hope to contribute to the biomedical field by designing therapeutic proteins as a research professor.
My name is Dylan Galutera and I am currently a junior studying biochemistry with a focus in pre-med at UO and the Clark Honors College. I was born and raised in California and I moved around from there, to the Philippines, and finally settled down in Beaverton, OR. Ever since I can remember, the natural sciences have enamored me because of how far humans have come in terms of characterizing the physical world with its very intricate systems. Although the sciences have always interested me, I believe that it was piqued during my fourth-grade year. I remember witnessing a family member going through a medical emergency for the first time; my grandmother suffered from a stroke one night. Since then, it’s been my goal to pursue a career in medicine and further my own interests in biochemistry. With my focus on biochemistry and the human body, I hope to contribute to how we understand and interact with the complex human body.
About his research: I am in the Widom lab and I have been doing research with them since fall of my sophomore year. Before then, I did a term of research with the Dave Johnson lab as an option for completing the Research Immersion Course during the spring term of my freshman year. In the Widom lab, we use various spectroscopic methods to study the folding mechanisms of RNA molecules. Understanding the structures of these bio molecules contributes to the study of crucial RNA functions such as gene regulation. I am very honored to receive this research award. The scholarships and opportunities available to UO undergraduates have provided me with more opportunities than I could ask for.
What’s next? After I graduate, I hope to attend OHSU where I plan to pursue my medical degree. It has always been my long-term goal to become a doctor and specialize in a field of surgery of some sort. Currently, I have my plans set on specializing in cardiothoracic surgery, but I’m open to other options as I discover the right one for me during medical school.
Chemistry graduate student Checkers Marshall has been selected as the next recipient of the Rosaria Haugland Graduate Research Fellowship.
The Haugland Fellowship is a prestigious award. It is the first graduate research fellowship ever awarded by the UO Chemistry and Biochemistry Department and made possible by a generous gift from Dr. Rosaria Haugland. Dr. Haugland is the co-founder of Molecular Probes, which was a Eugene company founded in 1975 that is now part of Thermo Fisher’s Invitrogen brand. Checkers was selected from a highly accomplished pool of applicants for excellence in research on metal organic framework nanoparticles, coursework, and ongoing activities that embody the intent of the Haugland award.
I grew up in Denver, a city with a vibrant artistic community. In my high school years, I performed slam poetry at open mics and fell in love with the art of fire spinning. My interests in chemistry and art share a common theme: symmetry. I am designing a series of interactive workshops, Point Groups for Props, to teach performance artists how to apply group theory to their props: hula hoops, juggling clubs, and more can be easily categorized by their symmetry operations. My main props are Russian fire fans, which have a point group of C2V.
I received my BS in Chemistry from Fort Lewis College, a small liberal arts institution in the San Juan mountains in Colorado. I excelled in my first semester of chemistry under Dr. Aimee Morris, who asked me to TA general chemistry lab the following term. This simple act catalyzed my academic career; I am forever grateful to Dr. Morris and the other incredible professors I had at FLC who encouraged my progress and pushed me to become a better scientist. I enjoyed a relatively diverse community at FLC. Many of my professors were women, and because the college gives free tuition to Indigenous students, many of the folks I talked science with were of Indigenous descent. Today I aim to use my position to elevate the voices of the underrepresented and to create a welcoming environment in the traditionally exclusive world of academic science.
I joined Dr. Carl Brozek’s research lab as his first student during the summer of 2018. My research focuses on nanoparticles of highly porous materials known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Understanding how MOF nanoparticles grow allows us to design rational syntheses that target specific particle sizes and functionalities. One of the most promising applications of MOF particles is in gas separation membranes, which must be very thin to be applicable in industrial settings. Controlling particle size is therefore an important step in this direction. I am particularly interested in MOFs that are capable of charge transport; conductive, porous, well-ordered materials are attractive for energy-dense charge storage devices. I am currently developing a model system to study ionic and electronic charge transport in assemblies of porous MOF particles. I believe this fundamental work will pave the way towards the integration of MOFs in electronic devices.
I am keeping my options open, but I aim to join a small company or start-up in sustainable technology that would benefit from my skill set. Regardless of what I choose to do in my scientific career, I hope to return to the Rocky Mountains, get a cat, and continue my journey in the performing arts.
