former

 

Pradeep Gutta, postdoc

before us: grad student at Cornell with Roald Hoffmann

in the group: October, 2003 to August, 2007

project(s): terpene biosynthesis, pericyclic reactions

 

Greg Ho, undergrad

in the group: April, 2004 to July, 2007

project(s): carbocation cascades in biology

Greg's fantasy: click here

 
Brandon Leen, undergrad

in the group: January, 2006 to July, 2007

project(s): biological cyclopropanation reactions

went off to: the business world

 
Patty Nguyen, undergrad

in the group: September, 2005 to July, 2006

project(s): benanomicin conformations

went off to: pursue a Ph.D. in Chemistry at Penn State

 

Rachael Nhan, grad student, MS 2005

in the group: December, 2003 to December, 2005

project(s): epoxides and epoxonium ions

thesis title: Structural Trends of Epoxides and Other Heterocyclic Compounds: Application to Polyepoxide Polycyclization Mechanism Modeled After Hemibrevitoxin B - A Computational Approach

went off to: pursue chemistry on the east coast

 

Ying Li, undergrad

in the group: July, 2004 to August, 200

5project(s): ping-pong rearrangements

went off to: pursue a Pharm.D

.

 

Mihaela Bojin, postdoc

before us: grad student at Cornell with Roald Hoffmann

in the group: October, 2003 to June, 2005

project(s): nonclassical cations as C–H hydrogen bond donors

went off to: postdoc at NYU with Tamar Schlick; now a patent agent

 

Dustin Nouri, grad student, PhD 2007

in the group: December, 2003 to December, 2007

project(s): lipid biosynthesis and hiscotropic reactions

dissertation title: A Theoretical Mechanistic Study of [3] and [5] Ladderane Lipids, and the Origin of the Hiscotropic Rearrangement

went off to: teach chemistry at American River College; now at Allan Hancock Collegepersonal site: http://www.chemshop.info/

 
Melissa Lin, undergrad

in the group: October, 2006 to December, 2007

project(s): biological pericyclic reactions

went off to: pharmacy school

 
Selina Wang, grad student, PhD 2008

in the group: December, 2003 to September, 2008

project(s): almost everything

dissertation title: Theoretical Studies on Synthetically Relevant Reactions in Organic Chemistry

went off to: revolutionize the world of food chemistry

personal site: http://selinawang.com

 

Sophie, honorary member

in the group: 2004 to 2008

project(s): chirality demonstration

Sophie's friends: click here

 

Dan Willenbring, grad student, PhD 2008

in the group: January, 2005 to September, 2008

project(s): oxonium ions, drug design

dissertation title: Computational Organic Chemistry: Improving Synthetic Reactions, Studying Biosynthetic Mechanisms, and Designing Drugs

went off to: postdoc at Pitt Medical School with Pei Tang

personal site: http://omitted.net/

 

Christine Cheng, undergrad

in the group: August, 2007 to September, 2008

project(s): carbocation rearrangements

went off to: the real world

 

Patrick Rogers, summer visitor

in the group: July, 2008 to September, 2008

project(s): carbocation rearrangements

went off to: study nucleic acid chemistry

 

Victor Lui, undergrad

in the group: May, 2007 to June, 2009

project(s): synthetic organic chemistry

went off to: work in the biotech industry

 
Matt Siebert, grad student, PhD 2009

in the group: July, 2004 (undergrad); January, 2006 (grad) to December, 2009

project(s): a variety of molecular rearrangements

dissertation title: Potential Energy Surfaces and Their Peculiarities in Organic and Organometallic Chemistry

went off to: postdoc at Texas Tech with Bill Hase

personal site: http://www.matthewrsiebert.net

 

Handeep Kaur, grad student

in the group: January, 2009 to January, 2010

project(s): heterocycle rearrangements

went off to: pursue synthetic chemistry

 

Morgan Kelley, undergrad

in the group: January, 2009 to June 2010

project(s): pericyclic reactions

went off to: other scientific endeavors

 
Chelsea Cates, undergrad

in the group: October, 2009 to August, 2010

project(s): aza-analogs of carbocations

went off to: get her hands dirty

 

Rebecca Davis, grad student, PhD 2011

in the group: January, 2007 to June, 2011

project(s): pericyclic reactions in synthesis

dissertation title: Mechanistic Studies on the Dyotropic Rearrangement and the Nazarov Cyclization

went off to: postdoc in Denmark with Karl-Anker Jorgensen

 

Vicky Sio, undergrad

in the group: April, 2009 to June, 2011, September 2011 to June 2012

project(s): unexpected organic reactions

went off to: create art!

 
Lois Hurr, undergrad

in the group: June, 2010 to June, 2011

project(s): docking of small molecules to proteins

went off to: pharmacy school

 

Liansuo Zu, postdoc

before us: postdoc at UCLA with Neil Garg

in the group: August, 2011 to February, 2012

project(s):synthesis of terpene-related molecules

went off to: be a Professor

 

bonnieBonnie Wong, undergrad

in the group: September, 2009 to June 2012

project(s): biological pericyclic reactions

 

 

Kenneth Horng, undergrad

in the group: January, 2012 to June, 2012 (through Quarter Abroad Taiwan)

project(s): olive oil chemistry

went off to: pharmacy school

 
Osvaldo Gutierrez, graduate student, PhD 2012

in the group: January, 2010 to September, 2012

project(s): metal-promoted pericyclic reactions and everything else

dissertation title: Computational Studies on the Selectivity and Reactivity of Organic and Organometallic Reactions

went off to: Postdoc at Penn with Marisa Kozlowski

 

dianaDiana Ly, undergrad

in the group: January, 2011 (through Quarter Abroad Taiwan) to June 2012

project(s): automated docking with RNA

 

 

yvonneYvonne Zheng, undergrad

in the group: January, 2011 (through Quarter Abroad Taiwan) to July 2012

project(s): automated docking with RNA

 

 

Vincent Liu, undergrad

project(s): olive oil chemistry, electrocyclizations

in the group: January, 2012 (through Quarter Abroad Taiwan) to July 2012

 

 

Irene Liin, young scholar (co-supervised by Selina Wang)

in the group: June, 2012 to August 2012

project(s): olive pesticide design

 

 

stephanieStephanie Mac, undergrad

in the group: January, 2011 (through Quarter Abroad Taiwan) to August, 2012

project(s): automated docking with RNA

 

 
Sanford Wong, undergrad

in the group: January, 2012 (through Quarter Abroad Taiwan) to August 2012

project(s): olive oil chemistry

 

 

Sharlene Chin, graduate student, MS 2013

in the group: January, 2011 to January 2013

project(s): terpene biosynthesis

thesis title: Mechanistic Studies of Dehydrogenative Diels-Alder Reactions and of the Biosynthesis of Terebinthene

went off to: learn proteomics

 
Don Wenz, visiting scientist (graduate student from the Read de Alaniz group at UCSB)

in the group: February, 2013

project(s): the Piancatelli rearrangement

went off to: finish his degree at UCSB

 

Michael Lodewyk, postdoc (previously: PhD 2010)

in the group: January, 2006 (grad); July, 2010 (postdoc) to July 2013

project(s): terpene biosynthesis, organic reaction mechanisms, computational NMR, catalyst design

dissertation title: Theoretical and Experimental Mechanistic Studies on Sesquiterpene Biosynthesis, Oxyanion-Accelerated Pericyclic Reactions, and More

went off to: teach at Butte College and Chico State

 

Sean Liew, visiting scientist (graduate student from the Yudin group at U. Toronto)

in the group: July, 2013

project(s): peptide catalysis

went off to: finish his degree at U. Toronto

 

Emma Mack, summer REU student from U. Cincinnati

in the group: July, 2013 to August 2013

project(s): sulfur---lone pair interactions

went off to: finish her degree at U. Cincinnati

 

Walter Lam, undergrad

in the group: September, 2011 to June, 2013

project(s): automated docking with RNA

 

 
Jason Harrison, grad student, PhD 2013

in the group: January, 2009 to September 2013

project(s): pericyclic and organometallic rearrangements, RNA design, accessibility

dissertation title: Theoretical and Experimental Mechanistic Studies onSesquiterpene Biosynthesis, Oxyanion-Accelerated Pericyclic Reactions, and More

went off to: teach at Sonoma State University and work at Intel

 

gayleGayle Dumm, visiting scientist (undergrad at Sacramento City College)

in the group: January, 2012 to October, 2013

project(s): sulfur as a lone pair acceptor

 

 

changsengChangsheng Yao, visiting scientist (professor at Jiangsu Normal University)

in the group: November, 2012 to October, 2013

project(s): carbene catalysis

 

 

Jaren Soo, visiting scientist (grad student from the Braddock & Rzepa groups at Imperial College)

in the group: June, 2014 to August, 2014

project(s): allene bromination

 

 

Shirley Wong, undergrad

in the group: January, 2012 to December, 2014

project(s): computational NMR

 

 

Tiana Truong, undergrad

in the group: January, 2012 to December, 2014

project(s): computational NMR

 

 
Daniela Ortega Ulluo, visiting scientist (graduate student from the Toro-Labbe group at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile)

in the group: January, 2015 to March, 2015

project(s): reaction electronic flux for carbocation rearrangements

 

 

Ryan Pemberton, graduate student, PhD 2015

in the group: January, 2012 to May, 2015

project(s): dynamics in terpene biosynthesis

dissertation title: Computational Methods for Organic Mechanistic Discovery, Catalyst Design, and the Direct Dynamics of Terpene Biosynthesis

went off to: postdoc at UCSF

 

Troy Vaden, graduate student, MS 2015

in the group: January, 2014 to May, 2015

project(s): halonium ions, computational NMR

thesis title: Theoretical and Mechanistic Studies of Halonium Ions, Cyclic Peptide NMR, and Cyclic Peptide Catalysis

 
Lisa Sibley, graduate student, MS 2015

in the group: January, 2011 to May, 2015

project(s): peptide catalyst design

thesis title: Probing the Energetics of pi-pi Stacking Interaction in Aromatic Heterodimers and a Nucleophile Addition Reaction between an Acylated Imidazolium and Methanol

krystinaKrystina Ho, undergrad

in the group: September, 2012 to May, 2015

project(s): biological pericyclic reactions

 

 

kateKate Gibson, undergrad

in the group: October, 2013 to June, 2015

project(s): computational NMR

 

 

lizElizabeth Nguyen, undergrad

in the group: September, 2014 to June, 2015

project(s): automated docking

 

 

Brett Ambler, visiting scientist (graduate student at University of Kansas)

in the group: May, 2015 to June, 2015

project(s): Pd-promoted reactions

 

 

Phil Painter, graduate student, PhD 2015 (previously: undergraduate)

in the group: June, 2008 (undergrad); September, 2009 (grad) to June 2015

project(s): pharmaceutical chemistry, pericyclic reactions

dissertation title: Disruption of Protein-Protein Interfaces and Computational Mechanistic Studies

 
jennaJenna Zhang, visiting scientist (working under Selina Wang)

in the group: July, 2011 to ??? (never officially left!)

project(s): predicting 31P NMR chemical shifts

 

 

sarahSarah Cohen, honorary group member

in the group: June, 2009 to ??? (never officially left!)

project(s): methods for increasing accessibility of computational chemistry for blind chemists

 

 

Shih-Che (Louis) Lin, visiting scientist (from Academia Sinica Taipei, Taiwan)

in the group: January, 2015 to March 2015

project(s): stereoselective cycloadditions, reaction mechanisms

 

Jessica Farnham, undergrad

in the group: December, 2014 to June 2016

project(s): biological pericyclic reactions

 

 

Brandi Hudson, graduate student, PhD 2016

in the group: January, 2013 to June 2016

project(s): biosynthesis, sulfur-lone pair interactions, organometallics

dissertation title: Non-covalent Interactions and Complex Reaction Mechanisms of Organic Molecules

went off to: a postdoc a UCSF (Jamie Fraser)

 
Nicholas Jentsch, visiting scientist (from University of Southern Mississippi)

in the group: May, 2016 to July 2016

project(s): pericyclic reactions

 

 

Teresa Palazzo, graduate student (joint with Kurth), PhD 2016

in the group: January, 2012 to July 2016

project(s): heterocycle formation

dissertation title: Synthesis and Quantum Mechanics Working in Tandem: Heterocyclic Methodology and Applications

went off to: a postdoc in Denmark (Karl Anker Jorgensen)

 
Renan Borsoi Campos, visiting scientist (from Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil)

in the group: September, 2015 to August 2016

project(s): nucleophilic organocatalysis, bifurcations

went off to: finish his PhD in Brazil

 
Marta Castineira, visiting graduate student (from Universidad de Vigo)

in the group: September, 2016 to November 2016

project(s): carbocation dynamics, computational NMR, pericyclic reactions

 

 

Hoby Wedler, graduate student (previously: undergrad), PhD 2016

in the group: June, 2009 (undergrad); January, 2012 (grad) to December, 2016

project(s): predicting hydration propensities, terpenes

dissertation title: Nobody Can See Atoms: A Comprehensive Discussion of Computational Chemical Results and Making Chemistry Accessible to All

went off to: start his own business!

 
Nhu Nguyen, graduate student (previously: undergrad), PhD 2017

in the group: July, 2011 (undergrad); January, 2013 (grad) to June, 2017

project(s): docking, terpene biosynthesis, NMR, etc. etc.

dissertation title: Quantum Mechanical Calculations in Collaborations with Experimental Chemistry: the Theoretical Organic Chemistry Perspective

went off to: postdoc at Oxford

Some thoughts from Nhu

Hajime Sato, visiting scientist

project(s): terpene synthases

in the group: June, 2017-September, 2017; June, 2018-August, 2018

went off to: back to Japan

 
Sadie Dutton, undergrad (REU student from Middlebury College)

project(s): Au-promoted hydride transfers

in the group: June, 2017-September, 2017

 

 

Marina Sanita, visiting graduate student (from the Gagosz group at U Ottawa)

project(s): organic reaction mechanisms

in the group: October, 2017

 

 

Amauri Alves Souza, visiting graduate student (from Sao Paulo State University, Araraquara)

project(s): MS simulations

in the group: September, 2017-December, 2017

 

 

Zhengwei (Jerry) Yang, undergrad (Global Study student from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

project(s): polyene biosynthesis

in the group: September, 2017-December, 2017

 

 

.Terrence O'Brien, graduate student (joint with Siegel), PhD 2018

project(s): biosynthesis, TerDockin

in the group: January, 2013-June, 2018

went off to: industry in the Bay Area

 

.Stephanie Hare, graduate student, PhD 2018

project(s): dynamics

in the group: January, 2014-June, 2018

went off to: postdoc with Barry Carpenter

 

Arturo León Sandoval, undergrad

project(s): structures of oleuropein tautomer

sin the group: June, 2017-June, 2018

went off to: UConn for grad school

 
Bronwyn/Alaska Harrod, graduate student, PhD 2018

project(s): mechanisms, computational NMR

in the group: August, 2014-August, 2018

 

 

Uma Gaffney, visiting undergrad (from Smith)

project(s): catalysis

in the group: May, 2018-August, 2018

 

 

Esra Soysal, visiting undergrad (from Turkey)

project(s): natural product biosynthesis

in the group: June, 2018-August, 2018

 

 
sYoung Hong, Assistant Project Scientist (previously: PhD 2008, postdoc)

current project(s): terpene biosynthesis, Au catalysis

in the group: September, 2005 (grad); June, 2009 (postdoc); July 2011 (Assistant Project Scientist)...sometime in 2019

dissertation title: Mechanistic Studies on Carbocation Cascades in the Biosynthesis of Terpene Natural Products

s
 
Hsiao-Han (Grace) Chuang, visiting graduate student (from Academia Sinica Taipei)

project(s): post-transition state bifurcations

in the group: May, 2018-May, 2019

 

 
nChristina McCully, graduate student, PhD 2019

current project(s): sigmatropic shifts and other rearrangements

in the group: January, 2015-June, 2019

 
cCarla Saunders, graduate student, PhD 2019

current project(s): NMR computations, rearrangement mechanisms

joined the group: September, 2016-August, 2019

 

 
Alex Staat, undergrad

project(s): structures of oleuropein tautomers, 31P NMR shifts

in the group: June, 2017-July, 2019

 

 

Emily Crull, visiting graduate student (from Southern Mississippi)

project(s): natural products NMR

in the group: June-August, 2019

 

 

Joshua Fong, visiting high school student (from Lynbrook High)

project(s): natural products NMR

in the group: May-August, 2019

 

 

Kevin Deng, visiting high school student (from Lynbrook High)

project(s): natural products NMR

in the group: May-August, 2019

 

 

Misa Sayama, visiting graduate student (from University of Tokyo)

project(s): drug metabolism, molecular dynamics

in the group: October-November, 2019

 

 

Nico Havenner, undergraduate student

project(s): radical reactions

in the group: October, 2019-March, 2020

 

 
.Mengna (Nana) Bai, visiting graduate student (from Chongqing University)

project(s): carbocation rearrangements

in the group: October, 2018-May, 2020

 
 
.Yang-yang Xing, visiting graduate student (from Shandong Normal University)

project(s): electrostatic drag

in the group: June, 2019-June, 2020

 

 
 
.Shu-sen (Frederic) Chen, visiting graduate student (from University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei)

project(s): cation, radical and cation radical rearrangements

in the group: September, 2018-August 2020

 

 

.Qing Sun, visiting graduate student (from Xiamen University)

project(s): electrostatioc drag

in the group: September, 2019-September, 2020

 

 
Anthony Ho, undergraduate student

project(s): natural product-forming reactions

in the group: October, 2019-summer 2020

 

 

Michelle Luo, undergraduate student

project(s): dynamics for textbook reactions

in the group: January, 2020... (no one knows if she really left, but she did go off to grad school)

 

 

Xinyue Liu, graduate student

project(s): avoiding deep minima

in the group: September, 2020-April, 2021 (went off to pursue computer science!)

 
 
.Elaine Lu, undergraduate student

project(s): radical and pericyclic reactions

in the group: October, 2019-June, 2021

 

 

Amy Cheung, undergraduate student

project(s): radical reactions

in the group: October, 2019-summer, 2021 (while really working with Kurth & Olson, ha)

 

 
.Innes Tsui, graduate student

project(s): bifurcations, fragmentations, theozymes

in the group: January, 2017-August, 2021

 

 
Amy Bellinghiere/Merrill, graduate student, PhD 2021

project(s): NMR prediction, mechanisms

in the group: June, 2018-August, 2021

 

 
.Yaxian Liao, visiting undergrad (from University of Science and Technology of China)

project(s): borylene insertion reactions

in the group: May, 2020-August, 2021

 

 

.Jessica Wu, visiting high school student

project(s): carbocations

in the group: May, 2021-August, 2021

 

 
.Cole Dickson, undergraduate student

project(s): pericyclic reactions

in the group: April, 2021-August, 2021

 

 

.Tiffy Zhang, graduate student (joint with Siegel), PhD 2021

project(s): terpene synthases, bifurcations, DDT

in the group: January, 201-December, 2021

 

 

Tyler Rho, undergraduate student

project(s): strange organic reactions

in the group: April, 2019-June 2021

 

 

Kacey Su, undergraduate student

project(s): organic reaction mechanisms

in the group: February, 2021-June, 2022

 

 

Supreeth Prasad, graduate student

project(s): organometallic reactions, weird aromatics

in the group: January, 2021-July, 2022

 

 
Nathan Finch, undergraduate student

project(s): biological Diels-Alder reactions

in the group: June, 2021-July, 2022

 

 

Croix Laconsay, graduate student, PhD 2022

project(s): carbenes, bifurcations, fragmentations

in the group: January, 2018-August, 2022

 

 

 

Teresa Ortega, graduate student

project(s): enzyme design

in the group: January, 2020-September, 2022

 

 

Yoshimitsu Hashimoto, visiting scientist (from Showa Pharmaceutical University)

project(s): organic reactivity

in the group: September, 2021-September, 2022

 

 

Shunyang Wang, graduate student (joint with Fiehn)

project(s): MS prediction, mechanisms

in the group: January, 2019-December 2022

 

 

Philip Gingrich, graduate student

project(s): metabolism prediction

in the group: January, 2019-Februrary 2023

 

 

Nipun Dour, high school student

project(s): molecular orbital visualization

in the group: September, 2022-June 2023

 

 

Volga Kojasoy, graduate student

project(s): onions, dynamics, organometallics

in the group: January, 2019-September 2023

 

 

Josiah Sanchez, postbac

project(s): organometallics

in the group: April, 2023-September 2023