Current Research

I was introduced to X-ray spectroscopy during my first visit to the synchrotron at the Advanced Photon Source in Argonne National Lab in late 2025. I had long been pining to use synchrotron spectroscopy after reading how structure-property relationships were studied with EXAFS in the garnet solid solution series. My enthusiasm for synchrotron spectroscopy was immediate! Let there be light!

I was incredibly excited to attend the XAS Data Analysis Course at Brookhaven National Laboratory with the legendary Dr. Bruce Ravel! My obsession with synchrotron spectroscopy and beamlines solidified at this course. It was intriguing to see how diverse research disciplines are utilizing XAS to better understand their molecules and materials!

My attention is now focused on the structure-property relationships of lanthanoids involved in complexes with amino acid and carboxyl-derived ligands. To understand how the electrophoretic separation of lanthanides is possible, I employ a two-fold combination of computational chemistry and synchrotron spectroscopy to elucidate likely structures of complexes. The power of DFT and FEFF is incredible!

I worked as a research associate in the Climate Solutions Laboratory at Colorado State University's Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory. Our group was focused on understanding the chiral complexity of carbohydrates and how utilization of hexose enantiomers by life may not be restricted by the designation of D- or L-enantiomers, but rather by the potential energetic landscape a substrate traverses upon being recognized at an active site, displaced to a transition state, and finally transformed to the product.

Since I was introduced to the world of anthocyanins in 2022, I have been fascinated by the diversity of color and pattern formation in plants. The role of anthocyanins in photosynthesis and phytophotoprotection are questions I would like to continue to probe. I envision that hyperspectral data collected in vegetated regions may provide cursory spectral data and serve as a vector to inform exploration geology. This would require more study in the fields of phytomolecules and their behavior with transition metals and lanthanoids.

While I was in highschool, I developed my own independent research projects and presented them at my local science fair. During my four years of high school, my projects received invitations to state and international science fairs. Without having any scientists as family members, I cracked open as many books as I could find and began to teach myself about what I was interested in. My excitement about science at this time was at an all-time high!

I have a lifelong interest in mineralogy and have been involved in mineral identification and curation since 2015. A good deal of my research experience has been related to Earth science because of my interest in mineralogy, but I have since discovered I am most thrilled by crystal chemistry, crystallography, and spectroscopic characterization of inorganic solids.