Faculty Members

AMSEC Director

Amanda Murphy wearing glasses, necklace, and blue sweater

Amanda MurphyProfessor of Materials & Organic Chemistry

Faculty Membership

AMSEC's faculty associates include nationally recognized experts in a wide range of disciplines and research areas.

Faculty members are nominated and selected for four-year terms.


Current Membership

Ying Bao

Ying Bao in a black shirt
Associate Professor of Analytical Chemistry
Research Area: Synthesis and surface modification of nanoparticles.

Robert Berger

Rob Berger in button-down shirt
Associate Professor of Computational Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry
Research Area: Using computation to design and understand the structural and electronic properties of novel metal oxide materials.

Asmaa Boujibar

Asmaa Boujibar
Assistant Professor of Planetary Science
Research Area: The formation of terrestrial planets in our Solar System and beyond.

Mark Bussell

Mark Bussell in a blue gingham shirt
Professor of Physical & Materials Chemistry
Research Area: Surface and materials chemistry, with an emphasis on the development of new heterogeneous catalysts for the production of clean fuels.

Susan DeBari

Susan DeBari wearing a hard hat and bright orange jacket
Professor of Geology
Research Area: Use of crystal chemistry and growth zoning patterns to interpret magma origins, storage conditions, and eruption processes.

Steven Emory

Steven Emory in a white shirt, tie, and red sweater
Professor of Analytical Chemistry & Director of Scientific Technical Services
Research Area: Characterization and use of novel metal and semiconductor nanomaterials in the development of new ultrasensitive chemical methods of detection and identification.

Milton From

Milton From in a light blue, button-down shirt
Associate Professor of Physics
Research Area: Magnetic and optical properties of thin films.

Peng Gao

Photo of Peng Gao wearing sunglasses and headphones with body of water in background.
Assistant Professor of Engineering and Design
Research Area: Performances of bio-based polymer materials; Innovation in Injection Molding Processes and Control Methods; Morphology and Crystallization of Polymer Materials; Upcycling of Plastic Secondary Feedstocks; Manufacturing of Micro- and Nano-scale Surface Features; Performance Enhancements for 3D Printed Products

John Gilbertson

John Gilbertson in black rimmed glasses wearing argyle sweater
Professor of Inorganic Chemistry
Research Area: Scientific problems dealing with global climate change and CO2 utilization.

Deborah Glosser

Deborah Glosser
Assistant Professor of Engineering
Research Area: Thermodynamics of materials, heat transfer, sustainable cement

Nipun Goel

Nipun Goel wearing light blue button-down shirt
Assistant Professor of Energy Studies
Research Area: Energy management and efficiency

Nicole Hoekstra

Nicole Hoekstra in glasses wearing blue polo
Professor of Polymer Materials Engineering
Research Area: Polymer product design and manufacturing, polymer analysis.

Bernie Housen

Bernie Housen at a computer wearing hat and t-shirt with face mask around neck
Professor of Geology
Research Area: Magnetic minerals

Alia Khan

Photo of Alia Khan wearing sunglasses and winter gear with snowy terrain in background.
Associate Professor of Environmental Science
Research Area: Biogeochemistry; hydrochemistry; black carbon and light absorbing aerosols; snow algae; snow/ice albedo; spectral geophysics; carbon cycling in polar and alpine environments; snow and glacial hydrology; climate impacts

Tim Kowalczyk

Tim Kowalczyk wearing a gray shirt and khaki jacket
Associate Professor of Physical and Computational Chemistry
Research Area: Organic materials that combine light-absorbing and electrically conducting components in a single package.

Mike Larsen

Mike Larsen in a pale blue button-down shirt
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Research Area: Molecular structure of polymers to enable new applications.

Nicole Larson

Nicole Larson wearing grey cowl neck sweater
Professor of Polymer Materials Engineering
Research Area: New product development and testing.

Janelle Leger

Janelle Leger Headshot
Dean, College of Science & Engineering and Professor of Physics
Research Area: Organic and hybrid materials for electronic and optoelectronic devices including light-emitting diodes, solar cells, memory cells, and transistors.

Stephen McDowall

Stephen McDowall wearing sunglasses
Professor of Mathematics
Research Area: Inverse problems in partial differential equations.

G McGrew

G McGrew in a gray beret and red collared shirt
Instructor of Organic and Inorganic Chemistry, Materials Science
Research Area: Organometallic chemistry; catalysis; behavior of asymmetric organolithium compounds; chemistry education

John Misasi

John Misasi wearing dark jacket
Associate Professor of Polymer Materials Engineering
Research Area: Scalable synthesis of recyclable thermosetting polymers for composite matrices, with a focus on understanding network material properties and degradation pathways and products.

Manuel Montaño

Manuel Montaño wearing a dark blue, striped, button-down shirt
Assistant Professor of Environmental Science
Research Area: Nanogeochemical processes

Sean Mulcahy

Sean Mulcahy wearing red plaid shirt and hat with sunglasses on bill
Associate Professor of Geology
Research Area: Mineral chemistry and geochronology to understand how plate boundaries and mountain belts form and evolve.

Amanda Murphy

Amanda Murphy wearing glasses, necklace, and blue sweater
Director, Professor of Materials & Organic Chemistry
Research Area: Broadly interested in tailoring the molecular structure of conjugated organic polymers in order to control the fundamental properties of the bulk materials.

Gregory O'Neil

Photo of Gregory O'Neil in blue open-collar shirt and dark V-neck sweater.
Professor of Organic Chemistry
Research Area: Enantioselective synthesis of biologically and environmentally compelling natural products that includes development and target-oriented synthesis projects; algal biofuel-related research.

David Patrick

David Patrick wearing dark suit jacket, light shirt, and tie
Vice Provost for Research and Dean of the Graduate School & Professor of Chemistry
Research Area: Surface and materials chemistry, ordered molecular systems, and organic thin films.

Mark Peyron

Mark Peyron sitting on a rock, snow in background, wearing blue hat, red jacket, dark olive pants and hiking boots
Associate Professor of Polymer Materials Engineering
Research Area: Potentially biodegradable polymers and identifying methods for assessing the extent of degradation (based upon changes in mechanical properties, polymer chain length and composition, etc.) as well as developing new polymers capable of more readily decaying in soil, composting, and marine environments.

Armin Rahmani

Armin Rahmani in a white sweater and pale blue shirt
Associate Professor of Physics
Research Area: Theoretical quantum condensed matter physics and quantum information processing.

Melissa Rice

Melissa Rice in a khaki colored jacket
Associate Professor of Geology & Physics
Research Area: Planetary geology, remote sensing, robotic space exploration.

David Rider

David Rider in a gingham shirt and black jacket
Professor of Materials Chemistry and Engineering & Design
Research Area: The design, synthesis and self-assembly of organic and inorganic semiconductors for applications in nanotechnology and materials science.

Andreas Riemann

Andreas Riemann wearing wire rimmed glasses and a collard shirt
Professor of Physics
Research Area: Fabrication and characterization of nanostructures and ultrathin films on surfaces.

Mai Sas

Mai Sas wearing a red jacket with yellow zippers
Geochemistry Research Associate
Research Area: Volcanic rock microanalysis to decipher magma origins. LA-ICP-MS specialist.

Margaret Scheuermann

Photo of Margaret Scheuermann wearing glasses and black round-neck sweater.
Associate Professor of Inorganic and Organic Chemistry
Research Area: Organometallic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, synthesis, characterization, reactivity, mechanism, catalysis.

Takele Seda

Takele Seda wearing green shirt with light colored sweater
Professor of Physics
Research Area: Magnetic and electronic properties of iron bearing materials and minerals.

Peter M.A. Sherwood

Peter Sherwood in a light blue collared shirt and black tie
Affiliate Professor of Chemistry & Physics
Research Area: Surface analysis (especially X ray photoelectron spectroscopy) of materials with a particular interest in electrode surfaces, corrosion systems, and carbon fiber and composite surfaces.

Ruth Sofield

Ruth Sofield wearing glasses, scarf and dark colored jacket
Professor of Environmental Sciences
Research Area: Bioavailability, freshwater and marine ecotoxicity, and chemistry of environmental contaminants, including metals, PAHs, and Contaminants of Emerging Concern.

James Vyvyan

James Vyvyan in a medium blue collared shirt and tie
Professor of Organic Chemistry
Research Area: The broad field of synthetic chemistry with detailed analysis of NMR spectra to characterize new compounds and assign relative stereochemistry.

Kristina Walowski

Kristina Walowski wearing a blue jackt
Assistant Professor of Geology
Research Area: Magmatic processes from magma reservoir evolution and eruption dynamics, to mantle melting and the chemical evolution of Earth's interior.