Graduate Students

Rachel Starr
Rachel grew up in New Jersey before moving across the Hudson River for her undergraduate studies at Barnard College. She received a degree in chemistry and conducted research with Prof. Christian Rojas studying small molecule synthesis towards glycodiversification. Unwilling to leave New York City, she decided to cross the street to join the Columbia Chemistry Department. Joint between the Roy and Venkataraman groups, she studies combining organic and inorganic chemistry to investigate the properties of single molecule devices. Outside the lab, Rachel can be found at the rock climbing gym or hanging out with her dog.
Email:  rls2202@columbia.edu

Ilana Stone
A lifelong New Yorker, Ilana studied philosophy at Columbia University. After graduating, she fell asleep and had a crazy dream that she was a Wall Street trader, a poker player and a yoga teacher. When she finally woke up, she realized she was still a student at Columbia, only now she was pursuing a PhD in chemistry. If you see her, please poke her to be sure she isn't still dreaming, and then give her a donut. 
Email: ibs2101@columbia.edu

Jennifer Han
Jen is a joint student between the Roy and Nuckolls group and joined in the fall of 2019. While at Georgetown University, she received her B.S. in Chemistry and conducted research with Prof. Karah Knope investigating tetravalent actinide-halide complexes isolated from acidic aqueous solution under conditions relevant to nuclear waste management, separations, and discerning covalency of the 5f-block. 
Email: sjh2199@columbia.edu

Christie Koay
Christie grew up in Dublin, California and stuck around in the Bay Area for her undergraduate studies. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley, where she did research on peptidomimetic materials known as peptoids under the guidance of Prof. Matthew Francis. Looking to explore the more colorful world of inorganic chemistry, Christie moved to New York City and joined the Roy group in the fall of 2019. Her current work focuses on the synthesis of novel cluster-based materials. Outside of the lab, Christie enjoys rock climbing, watching basketball, and plant parenting.
Email: csk2172@columbia.edu

Wendy (Shoushou) He
Wendy received her B.S. in chemistry at the University of Toronto, where she conducted research with Prof. Geoffrey Ozin on gas-phase CO 2 hydrogenation using mixed metal oxides-based  catalysts. As a joint student between Prof. Xavier Roy and Prof. Colin Nuckolls at Columbia University, Wendy is now engaged in research involving superatomic materials.
Email: sh3942@columbia.edu

Victoria Posey
Victoria grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and decided to stay in the sunshine state where she received her B.S. in Chemistry from Florida State University in 2018. As an undergrad, Victoria researched excited state proton transfer and dye-sensitized solar cells under the guidance of Prof. Kenneth Hanson. Looking to live in a bigger city, Victoria moved to New York to join the chemistry department at Columbia. She started in the summer of 2019 in the Roy group studying the different properties of cluster-based compounds in devices, such as batteries and capacitors. Victoria is also the recipient of the 2019 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. In her free time, she enjoys going to the gym and exploring the city.
Email: vp2424@columbia.edu

Avalon Dismukes
Avalon was born and raised in Los Angeles, receiving her undergraduate and MS from UCLA in 2014 and 2015 respectively. She investigated transition metal boride systems and learning about the wonderful world of solid state synthesis and analysis under the tutelage of Dr. Richard Kaner. Wanting a change in climate and culture, she moved to Columbia to join the Roy group as a graduate student in the fall of 2016. While she remains involved in solid state chemistry, she hopes to explore a broader swath of inorganic clusters.  When not in lab, she enjoys hanging out in the art and music scene in New York.
Email: ahd2114@columbia.edu

Jake Russell
Born and raised on the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee, Jake adopted the Midwest as his second home while earning a chemistry degree from the University of Chicago. As an undergraduate, he performed research on nanocrystal solar cells under the direction of Dmitri Talapin. Jake now also calls New York City home, studying the properties of the Roy group’s cluster-based materials in batteries and other devices. He stays active with soccer, biking, and jiu jitsu, as well as playing French horn with the school orchestra.
Email: jcr2192@columbia.edu

Alexander Aydt
Alex was born and raised in Southern Illinois. Seeking to flee from winter, he did his undergraduate degree at the University of Arizona majoring in both Biochemistry and Molcular and Cellular Biology. Realizing his distaste for proteins and cells, he chose to pursue a degree in Chemistry at Columbia University. He now works in the Roy Lab focusing on using inorganic clusters as building blocks for new materials. Outside of lab, he enjoys running, playing tennis, and watching baseball.
Email: apa2122@columbia.edu

Postdoctoral Researchers

Amymarie Bartholomew
Amymarie received her B.S. in Chemistry from Yale University where she worked with Prof. Nilay Hazari. She then moved to Harvard University to conduct her graduate studies with Prof. Ted Betley. Her PhD research in the Betley Lab focused on the reactivity and electronic structure of first-row trinuclear transition metal clusters, including the assessment of local oxidation states using multiwavelength anomalous diffraction.
Email: akb2207@columbia.edu

Kihong Lee
I was born and raised in South Korea. At UC Berkeley, I researched heterogeneous catalysis of metal nanoparticles under the guidance on Prof. Gabor Somorjai. For my graduate studies, I studied superatom solids and their optical properties as a joint student between Prof. Xiaoyang Zhu and Prof. Xavier Roy. I now work on magnetic 2D materials as joint postdoc.
Email: kl2797@columbia.edu

Ren Wiscons
Ren grew up in San Diego before moving to Oberlin College, where she received her B.A. in Biochemistry. While at Oberlin, Ren was involved in metamorphic geochemistry research and the campus hydroponic wastewater treatment facility before completing her undergraduate thesis in solid-state chemistry under the direction of Prof. Jesse Rowsell. She then moved to Ann Arbor to conduct her graduate studies with Prof. Adam J. Matzger at the University of Michigan. Ren’s graduate studies focused on the design, synthesis, and self-assembly of organic species that undergo symmetry changes in the solid-state for applications in ferroelectric materials.
Email: raw2180@columbia.edu

Elena Meirzadeh
Elena was born in Iran and moved to Israel at age 12. She completed her BSc at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and her MSc and PhD at the Weizmann Institute of Science where she received the Dean's Prize and the Dimitris N. Chorafas Prize for outstanding students. During her PhD with Prof. Igor Lubomirsky and Prof. Meir Lahav, she developed an extremely sensitive technique for detecting deviations from symmetry in crystals in order to improve our fundamental understanding of crystal structure, function and different growth mechanisms. When not in the lab, she spends her time at the gym, salsa dancing, or hiking in some exotic country.
Email: em3428@columbia.edu

Douglas Reed
Doug is a postdoc in the Roy and Nuckolls labs. He did his undergrad studies at Harvard, where he worked on multinuclear metal clusters with Ted Betley. He then pursued his graduate work at UC Berkeley, studying metal–organic frameworks for gas separations with Jeff Long. At Columbia, he is studying superatomic clusters and two-dimensional materials.
Email: dr3026@columbia.edu

Undergraduate Students

Secunda Kariuki
Secunda was born across the pond in Edinburgh, Scotland. Shortly after, she moved to Columbia, Missouri, trading in her accent and love of haggis for cornfields and football. She arrived at Columbia University in the fall of 2018 and was welcomed into the Roy group soon after. When not in class or in the lab, she can probably be found on the 1 train still trying to learn how to subway surf.
Email: s.kariuki@columbia.edu

Alaina Hartnett
Alaina was born in Connecticut but is now an undergraduate majoring in chemistry at Barnard College in New York City. She is a joint student with Dr. Xavier Roy and Dr. Andrew Crowther, and her current research interests include solid state synthesis, spectroscopy, and 2D materials. When not in the lab, Alaina can be found in ballet class, hiking, or performing with her two hip-hop teams.
Email: ach2172@barnard.edu

Alumni

Evan Doud - PhD 2019 - now: Postdoc at UCLA
Anastasia Voevodin - PhD 2019
Bonnie Choi - PhD 2018
Andrew Pinkard - PhD 2018
Evan O'Brien - PhD 2018
Giselle Elbaz - PhD 2017
Wee-Liat Ong - Postdoc 2015-2017 - Now: Associate Professor ZJU-UIUC Institute
Ari Turkiewicz - Undergraduate researcher - Columbia APAM - Now: PhD student UC Berkeley
Jessica Karch - Undergraduate researcher - Columbia Chemistry - Now: PhD student at UMass Boston
Chiara Butler - Undergraduate researcher - Columbia Chemistry
Maria Paley - Undergraduate researcher - Barnard Chemistry - Now: PhD student UC Berkeley
Isabel Klein - Undergraduate researcher - Barnard Chemistry - Now: PhD student CalTech
Ivy Huan - Undergraduate researcher - Columbia Chem Eng - Now: PhD student Northwestern
Gloria Chyr - Undergraduate researcher - MIT Eng