Principle Investigator
Dr. Jerry LaRue
B.A. in Chemistry at Willamette University
Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at the University of California at Santa Barbara
Postdoctoral Studies at Stanford University / SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Postdoctoral Scholars
Bingjie Zhang
Ph.D. in Chemistry at Stony Brook University
About: Bingjie focuses on design, synthesis, characterization and application of transitional metal-based materials and carbon materials, including metals, transitional metal oxides, nitrides and graphite. She study the materials as catalysts, as well as electrodes in energy storage devices.
Chapman Students
Kevin Alvarado
Major: Chemistry
Devon Ball
Major: Physics
Minor: Chemistry, Math
About: I am a physics maor whose interest in chemistry led me to join the lab to investigate the reaction mechanism of carbon monoxide oxidation.
Abby Bechtel
Major: Physics
Conner Carnahan
Major: Philosophy, Physics, Math, Business Econ
About: One time I got to shoot a laser while working here. 😎 Also I do math, physics, and music or something.
Barbara Carpenter
Major: Chemistry
Chelsey Cortez
Major:
Riley Kendall
Major: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Minor: Computational Sciences
About: I am a senior Biochemistry major, Computational Neuroscience minor at Chapman University. I am investigating the reaction of Calmodulin and the HIV-1 MA protein peptide using fluorescence anisotropy. Specifically, I am analyzing the binding mechanisms of the individual protein domains.
Zubair Lakhia
Major: Biology
Minor: Data Analytics
About: I am a Biology major with an emphasis in molecular biology and a minor in data analytics at Chapman University. I am studying the interactions of CalModulin with the HIV matrix protein with the use of fluorescence anisotropy. I hope to eventually obtain an MBS and pursue a career in data science and biotechnology. Outside of school, I love to play sports, eat food and travel around the world.
Amy Lam
Major: Physics
Minor: Chemistry
Favorites: Doughnuts, Cool Ranch Doritos, Mushroom and lentil soup with a splash of dishwater
Research: My current project deals with selective chemistry via transition metals on gold nanoparticles. Gold nanoparticles exhibit strong plasmon resonances, oscillations in the electron bath. These oscillations generate high energy electrons that can be used to do excited state chemistry. Aside from working with the gold nanoparticles, I also help maintain the optics in the lab for Raman Spectroscopy and occasionally do some CAD stuff, such as designing sample holders and chamber supports.
Davis Mau
Major: Biochemistry
Bryn Merrill
Major: Chemistry
Minor: History
About: Castle and science enthusiast! Loves animals, reading, and nice people. Ready to take an electric field sledgehammer to some unsuspecting molecules.
Elif Narbay
Major: Biochemistry
Minor: Honors, Music Technology
About: Elif Narbay is an undergraduate student majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular biology and double minoring in the Honors program and Music Technology. Originally from Turkey, Elif was born and raised in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Living abroad for her whole life, Elif has grown up with over 200 different cultures and obtained fluency in 4 languages (Arabic, Turkish, Spanish and English). She hopes to pursue her passion for the sciences and research by completing a Master’s and Ph.D. in the future. Outside of academia, Elif enjoys playing basketball, experimenting with vegan flavors, singing and producing music, and also runs for Chapman’s Track and Field team.
Gabriella Nutt
Major: Physics
Kacie Sakamaki
Major: Biology
Ishaan Shah
Major: Chemistry
About: A Freshman chemistry major researching how photoexcitation can enhance the property of chemical selectivity of metal nanoparticles.
Tiffany Vallejo Olivera
Major: Chemistry
Jason Yoon
Major: Biology
About: I am a freshman biology major helping to create a vacuum chamber to test and study metal catalysts and what exactly happens during certain reactions. It’s pretty neat!
Gary Zeri
Major: Computer Science
About: Computer Science student interested in computational simulations. Current CatLab project involves designing and implementing pedagogical Computational Chemistry programs to illustrate how to perform such calculations as well as to demonstrate the underlying chemical principles of said simulations.
Non-Chapman Students
Meiry Chavez
Major: Physical Sciences
Angel Garcia
School: Santa Ana College
Major: Civil Engineering
High School Students
Joaquin Arroyo
School:
Jonas Weissberg
School: