Nice to meet you! I am a professional chemist hailing from Livermore, CA. I hold a B.S. in biochemistry from UC Davis, a M.S. in chemistry from UC San Diego, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from UC San Diego. After leaving San Diego, I did a postdoc at The Ohio State University, before taking my position on the faculty of Penn State. Over the years, I have performed research in the areas of protein crystallography, DNA damage and repair, intramolecular electron transfer, nanoparticles interfaces, polymer formation/degradation, and photothermal processes. I have done both experimental and theoretical chemistry. Currently, my group is primarily experimental, and we occupy ourselves studying the interplay between nanoscale materials and their chemical environments.
In my role as faculty, I also teach and have taught four courses: a graduate course in group theory, our first semester introductory chemistry, the first semester introductory chemistry for honors students, and a course on the design of data visualizations. The last of these was a course of my own invention, currently has spawned another project seeking to help people who work professionally with data create effective data visualizations.
Beyond my professional roles, I enjoy reading, cooking, biking, golfing, squash, baduk, travel, and playing video games. I particularly like new experiences—meaning learning new skills and eating new things.
