Principal Investigator
Honors & Awards:
2020 ISU Achievement in Intellectual Property Award
2018 Bailey Research Award
2018 Trapp Innovation Award
2015 Liberal Arts and Sciences Early Achievement in Research Award
2015 Chemical Communications Emerging Investigator
2014 ACS Organic Young Investigator Award
2014 Thieme Chemistry Journal Award
2013 Cottrell Scholar Award
2013 ISU Early Achievement in Teaching Award
2013 Cassling Family Faculty Early Achievement in Teaching Award
2012 Wilkinson Undergraduate Teaching Award
2010 Carlyle Caldwell Endowed Chair in Chemistry
James Stewart Excellence in Teaching Award
University of Maryland Excellence in Teaching Award
William-Bailey Fellow
Ronald E. McNair Scholar
Graduate Students
Komadhie Dissanayake
B.Pharm. – University of Sri Jayewardenepura
M.S. – Eastern Illinois University
komadhie<at>iastate.edu
Atreyee Mukhopadhyay
B.S. – Presidency University
M.S. – Presidency University
atreyee<at>iastate.edu
Amaya Jayaweera
BSc – University of Peradeniya
amayatj<at>iastate.edu
Lakshan Yamudith
BSc – University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
yamudith<at>iastate.edu
Qasim Kashif
B.S. – University of Education (UE), Lahore
MS – Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore.
qasim<at>iastate.edu
Madelyn Austin
B.S. – University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire
austinmi<at>iastate.edu
Visiting Scholars
Elena Contreras
PhD Candidate at the University of La Rioja
Antoine Juneau
PhD Candidate at the Université du Québec à Montréal
Postdoctoral Researchers
Dr. Upasana Banerjee
Ph.D. – University of Cincinnati
M.S. – Vellore Institute of Technology
upasanab<at>iastate.edu
Graduated PhD Students
Elizabeth J. Gehrmann (Liz)
Occupation Post Graduation: Synthetic Chemist at Samsara Eco
Ding Yuan
Occupation Post Graduation: Scientist at Element BioSciences
Rui Zhang
Occupation Post Graduation: Postdoc, University of Illinois Champagne-Urbana (Mentor: Dr. Ying Diao/Dr. Jeff Moore)
Pradeep Shrestha
Occupation Post Graduation: Postdoc, National Cancer Institute (Mentor: Dr. Martin Schnermann)
Logan Fischer
Occupation Post Graduation: Laboratory Professor at
Middlebury College
Julie Peterson
Occupation Post Graduation: Elings Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Santa Barbara (Mentor: Prof. Read de Alaniz)
Josh Peterson
Occupation Post Graduation: Research Assistant III for the New Jersey Department of Health
Yunfan Qiu (Frank)
Occupation Post Graduation: Postdoc, Northwestern University (Mentor: Prof. Wasielewski).
Rita Geraskina
Occupation Post Graduation: Assistant Professor at College of St. Benedict’s St. John’s University
Mark J. Juetten
Occupation Post Graduation: Associate Commercialization Manager at Iowa State University
Toshia Zessin
Occupation Post Graduation: Dow-Midland
Pratik Goswami
Occupation Post Graduation: Postdoc, University of Minnesota
Alex Buck
Occupation Post Graduation: Industrial Innovation Manager, Iowa Corn Board
Katie Mahoney
Occupation Post Graduation: Assistant Professor at University of Wisconsin Marathon County
Christie Beck
Occupation Post Graduation: Medical Technologist, Region One Health
Pat Hanway
Occupation Post Graduation: Postdoc, University of Minnesota
Undergraduate Researchers – past & present
High School Students
Group Photos
Winter Laboratory 