{"id":1337,"date":"2016-01-14T17:53:31","date_gmt":"2016-01-15T01:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/catlab\/?page_id=5"},"modified":"2026-04-16T22:31:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T05:31:24","slug":"meettheteam","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/catlab\/meettheteam\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Principal Investigator<\/h1>\n

Dr. Jerry LaRue<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

B.A. in Chemistry at Willamette University
\nPh.D. in Physical Chemistry at the University of California at Santa Barbara
\nPostdoctoral Studies at Stanford University \/ SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
\nCurriculum Vitae<\/a>
\nChapman Faculty Profile<\/a>
\nGoogle Scholar Profile<\/a>
\nLinkedIn<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

Undergraduate Students<\/h1>\n
\n
\n

D’Angelo Alvarez<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Chemistry
\nMinor: <\/strong>Business
\nProject: <\/strong>Photochemistry
\nAbout:<\/strong> D’Angelo is a Chemistry student interested in Medicinal and Organic Chemistry who has been in the CatLab since his Freshman year. In the Photochemistry group, he focuses on synthesizing bimetallic core-shell nanoparticles and analyzing them using SEM, EDX, and TEM.<\/div>\n

\n

Tanesha Bravo<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Biological Science & Applied Human Physiology
\nMinor: <\/strong>Chemistry
\nProject: <\/strong>Photochemistry
\nAbout: <\/strong>Tanesha is an aspiring oncologist who joined the CatLab in the spring of her first year. She is part of the photochemistry project, focusing on understanding the nanoparticle-based photocatalyst through synthesis and analysis with SEM.<\/div>\n

\n

Andrew Crockett<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Biochemistry
\nMinor: <\/strong>Philosophy
\nProject: <\/strong>Methanol Decomposition
\nAbout: <\/strong>Andrew is a current Senior and aspiring Pediatrician interested in Enzymology who has been in the CatLab for two and a half years. In the lab, he observes species desorption at different temperatures using Temperature-Programmed Desorption (TPD) with different coverages of Oxygen and Methanol.<\/div>\n

\n

Al Hassan Gamal El-Din<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Applied Human Physiology
\nThemed Inquiry:<\/strong> Business & Economics
\nProject: <\/strong>Calmodulin (CaM) & HIV
\nAbout: <\/strong>Al Hassan is a current Senior aspiring to get his M.D who has been in the CatLab since the Fall 2025 semester. In the CaM\/HIV group, he uses fluorescence spectroscopy to study the protein-protein interactions between HIV MA protein and Calmodulin (CaM) to promote developments in the treatment of HIV.<\/div>\n

\n

Olivia Guyette<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Chemistry
\nMinor: <\/strong>Materials Engineering
\nProject: <\/strong>Photochemistry
\nAbout:<\/strong> Olivia is a current Senior interested in studying Chemical Engineering in Graduate school who has been in the CatLab for two years. In the Photochemistry group, she uses UV-Vis to synthesize and characterize gold bimetallic nanoparticles as a green catalyst alternative to create carbon-neutral fossil fuels.<\/div>\n

\n

Melia Hernandez<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Chemistry
\nMinor: <\/strong>Electrical Engineering
\nProject: <\/strong>Photochemistry
\nAbout: <\/strong>Melia is a current Senior and aspiring Chemistry Ph. D. student interested in Instrumental Analysis who has been part of the CatLab for two and a half years. In the lab, she focuses on testing the catalytic efficiency of gold core-shell nanoparticle variations in CO Oxidation using SEM and Mass Spectrometry.<\/div>\n

\n

Stephanie Hoang<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Biochemistry
\nMinor: <\/strong>Health Science
\nProject: <\/strong>Photochemistry
\nAbout: <\/strong>Stephanie is an aspiring PA Graduate student who has been researching with the CatLab for four years. Her research in the Photochemistry group focuses on synthesizing titanium nitride and gold core-shell nanoparticles and characterizing them with SEM, EDX, and TEM.<\/div>\n

\n

Juliana Jordan<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Physics & Philosophy
\nMinor: <\/strong>Electrical Engineering
\nProject: <\/strong>Ultrafast Chemistry
\nAbout: <\/strong>Juliana is a Physics student interested in Optics and Photonics who has been in the CatLab since Fall 2025. Her research focuses on installing an Ultrafast Laser and integrating its output to support other research projects. She is in current collaboration with the Methanol Decomposition group.<\/div>\n

\n

Min Gi Kang<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Health Science
\nMinor: <\/strong>Chemistry
\nProject: <\/strong>Methanol Decomposition
\nAbout: <\/strong>Min is a current Senior, planning to go into Biomedical Engineering or Dentistry, who has been in the CatLab for three years. He is interested in Organic and Physical Chemistry. In research, he investigates the methanol decomposition mechanism on platinum surface catalyst using a UHV chamber.<\/div>\n

\n

Ginny Lee<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Biochemistry
\nProject: <\/strong>Methanol Decomposition
\nAbout: <\/strong>Ginny is a current Biochemistry student interested in working with X-ray Spectroscopy who has been in the CatLab since Fall 2025. In research, her work focuses on data collection, including sample preparation and Temperature-Programmed Desorption (TPD) measurements to study the decomposition of methanol on platinum (111).<\/div>\n

\n

Ryan Lin<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Environmental Engineering
\nSchool:<\/strong> Santiago Canyon College
\nProject: <\/strong>Methanol Decomposition
\nAbout: <\/strong>Ryan is an Environmental Engineering student who has been in the CatLab since Summer 2025. In the methanol decomposition group, he works in data collection which includes cleaning the sample and collecting Temperature-Programed Desorption (TPD) data to observe the decomposition of methanol on the platinum crystal.<\/div>\n

\n

Kaitlyn Miyasato<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Applied Human Physiology
\nMinor:<\/strong> Business Administration
\nProject: <\/strong>Photochemistry
\nAbout:<\/strong> I’m a junior on the pre-dental track, and I’ve loved chemistry ever since high school. The project I’m working on focuses on characterizing metallic gold core nanoparticles using SEM, TEM, and UV-Vis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Kat Nguyen<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Biochemistry
\nThemed Inquiry:<\/strong> The Modern Experience
\nProject: <\/strong>Photochemistry
\nAbout:<\/strong> I am a Biochemistry student who is interested in medicinal chemistry. In the lab, I focus on synthesizing and characterizing gold bimetallic nanoparticles using SEM, TEM, and UV-Vis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Maahi Rakholia<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Biological Sciences
\nMinor: <\/strong>Studio Art
\nProject: <\/strong>Calmodulin (CaM) & HIV
\nAbout: <\/strong>Maahi is a current Senior and future Medical student interested in Biochemistry who has been in the CatLab for two years. Her research involves monitoring changes in the fluorescence of tryptophan residues to understand how CaM binding alters MA\u2019s conformation and binding sites.<\/div>\n

\n

Ashton Smith<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
\nMinor: <\/strong>Psychology
\nProject: <\/strong>Photochemistry
\nAbout: <\/strong>My goal is to be a child and adolescent psychiatrist because I know the challenges that can face younger people in and out of school, and I want to help them as much as I can. As I’ve progressed through science courses for my undergraduate program, I’ve completely fallen for the beauty of the craft, and I strive to perform at the highest level achievable in a laboratory setting, as well as learn as much of the industry as possible. I won’t say biochemistry or psychology come easily to me, but they make a lot of sense and I feel very grateful to be a part of such a high-performing group.<\/div>\n

\n

Ben Smith<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Chemistry
\nMinor: <\/strong>Mathematics
\nProject: <\/strong>Methanol Decomposition
\nAbout: <\/strong>Ben is an aspiring Physical Chemistry Ph. D. student who has been a part of the CatLab since sophomore year. In the Methanol Decomposition group, he focuses on studying the kinetics of the methanol decomposition on platinum (111) in surface chemistry, collecting data with Temperature-Programed Desorption.<\/div>\n

\n

Kevin Tejeda<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Chemistry
\nMinor: <\/strong>Spanish
\nProject: <\/strong>Photochemistry
\nAbout: <\/strong>Kevin is a current Senior planning on working in industry in the Atmospheric Chemistry field who has been a part of the CatLab for two years. He focuses on characterizing bimetallic gold core nanoparticles for photocatalysis with varied shell thicknesses using SEM, EDX, TEM, and Mass Spectrometry.<\/div>\n

\n

Rylie Widmer<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Chemistry
\nMinor: <\/strong>Honors
\nProject: <\/strong>Methanol Decomposition
\nAbout: <\/strong>Rylie is a Chemistry student planning to get a career in the future working in a Chemistry lab who has been in the CatLab since Fall 2025. In the Methanol Decomposition group, she focuses on analyzing the decomposition of methanol on a platinum catalyst using Temperature-Programed Desorption (TPD).<\/div>\n

\n

James Zoumas<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Major: <\/strong>Biochemistry
\nMinor: <\/strong>Music
\nProject: <\/strong>Calmodulin (CaM) & HIV
\nAbout: <\/strong>James is a current Senior and future Medical student interested in Medicinal Chemistry who has been in the CatLab for eight months. In the Calmodulin (CaM) & HIV group, he uses fluorescence spectroscopy to determine the binding interaction between the HIV matrix protein and Calmodulin.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Principal 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 Curriculum Vitae Chapman Faculty Profile Google Scholar Profile LinkedIn   Undergraduate Students D’Angelo Alvarez Major: Chemistry Minor: Business Project: Photochemistry About: D’Angelo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1337","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/catlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/catlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/catlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/catlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/catlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/catlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1337\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/catlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}