2020 News

9 December 2020 – Emma Cosner has been named a recipient of a KU Undergraduate Research Award. Emma will use the support to continue her work on organometallic rhodium hydride complexes as model intermediates in storage of renewable energy in clean hydrogen fuel. Congratulations, Emma!

9 November 2020 – Congratulations to Emma Cosner, who has been featured in a Student Spotlight for November 2020 by the KU Center for Undergraduate Research. Emma is working on preparation and characterization of a new rhodium hydride complex in our group, and will be preparing her first manuscript for publication later this year. Way to go!

5 November 2020 – James delivered invited virtual seminars this week at the University of Windsor (in Windsor, Canada) and Emporia State University (in Emporia, Kansas). At Windsor, James shared our group's latest collaborative work, in progress with Brookhaven National Laboratory, on the mechanism of H2 fuel generation by half-sandwich [Cp*Rh] complexes; at Emporia, he shared our work on heterobimetallic uranium chemistry. Thanks to Profs. Marcus Drover and Jason Applegate for invitations to present our group's work!

26 October 2020 – James presents an invited virtual seminar at Yale University on our group's research into use of Lewis acidic redox-inactive metals to control the redox chemistry of the uranyl ion. Thanks to Gary Brudvig for the invitation to come back and speak, and to all the faculty for their warm reception and great discussions of chemistry over the day. James received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 2012, so it was great to be back!

14 October 2020 – James presents a "deep dive" talk at the Fall 2020 Industry Advisory Board meeting of the Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis on our collaborative research on electrochemical CO2 conversion with the Leonard and Subramaniam Groups. Great to see everyone from the Center online and talk sustainability science!

10 July 2020 – Congratulations to Dr. Yun Peng on passing her Ph.D. Dissertation Defense! Yun joined the group in our first cohort of graduate students in 2015, and examined the mechanism of H2 evolution by [Cp*Rh] complexes in her dissertation research, titled On the Nature of Hydrogen Evolution by Half-Sandwich Rhodium Complexes. Congratulations, Yun!

18 June 2020 – Congratulations to Emma Cosner, who has been named a recipient of an Undergraduate Research Award for summer 2020! Emma is a rising junior at KU, and is studying molecular catalysis in our group with her co-mentor Julie Hopkins. Well done!

16 June 2020 – Congratulations to Jonah Stiel, who has been named a recipient of the prestigious Astronaut Scholarship! The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation was founded in 1984 by the six surviving members of the seven astronauts who were part of the Mercury program as a means to encourage students to pursue scientific endeavors. Way to go, Jonah!

11 June 2020 – Congratulations to Dr. David Sconyers, who has been named a recipient of a 2020 KU Sustainability Leadership Award! David was selected following a nomination and review process by the KU Center for Sustainability, on the basis of his outstanding Ph.D. dissertation, which described applications of the EQCM to study new details of molecular catalysis and use of high pressures to intensify electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 into more useful chemicals. Congrats, David!

28 May 2020 – James has been officially awarded tenure and promotion to Associate Professor, effective with the start of the upcoming academic year. Looking forward to more good chemistry in the years ahead!

26 May 2020 – The Blakemore Laboratory ramps up to resume experimental work in ISB following a hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic. We send our warmest greetings to colleagues returning to their labs elsewhere, and wish everyone a safe and healthy return to work!

15 May 2020 – Our collaborative research in electrochemical CO2 conversion with Profs. Subramaniam and Leonard has been featured in Lawrence Business Magazine. Our work, funded through the US National Science Foundation, is exploring new organic-based media for enhancing the rate and selectivity of CO2 conversion. Article is also available online.

15 April 2020 – Congratulations to Dr. David Sconyers on passing his Dissertation Defense with Honors! David, who joined the group in the first cohort of graduate students in 2015, is the first member of our group to complete the Ph.D. degree. Way to go, David!

24 March 2020 – James is awarded tenure and promotion to the rank of Associate Professor. Chancellor Doug Girod and Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer provided their official notification on this day, confirming that James's appointment as Associate Professor will be effective at the start of the 2020-2021 academic year. Thanks to our department and the nation-wide chemistry community for their support over the past four years at KU! Looking forward to more good chemistry in the years ahead!

19 March 2020 –The Blakemore Lab has adapted operations to keep our group and our community safe during the coronavirus pandemic. Work continues with accommodations for social distancing protocols, safety, and security. We send greetings to our many friends, colleagues, and collaborators around the world, and wish our communities health and safety. Take care, everyone, and get in touch if we can be of help!

9 March 2020 – James visits Caltech to deliver an invited seminar on our heterobimetallic actinide chemistry as part of the Inorganic-Electrochemistry Seminar (IES) series. Thanks to Prof. Harry Gray and the other faculty for a fantastic time back on campus, and lots of inspirational discussions!

5 March 2020 – Congratulations to our group member Jonah Stiel who has been nominated for a Goldwater Scholarship, among the most prestigious awards for undergraduates studying the STEM fields in the United States. Congrats, Jonah!

9 January 2020 – The Blakemore Group welcomes our newest graduate students: Shaun Kelsey, Emily Mikeska, and Christian Nilles!