Alumni

Postbaccalaurate, Graduate, and Postdoctoral Alumni

Wade Henke, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, January 2018 to May 2022
B.S., University of Kansas, 2017; Ph.D. in Chemistry (Honors), University of Kansas, 2022
Recipient of the KU Takeru Higuchi Doctoral Progress Award (Top Thesis & Overall Superior Achievement in Chemistry)
Current position: Postdoctoral Appointee, Solar Conversion Group, Argonne National Laboratory

Julie Hopkins Leseberg, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, January 2018 to April 2022
B.S., University of St. Mary (Leavenworth, KS) 2017; Ph.D. in Chemistry (Honors), University of Kansas, 2022
Recipient of the KU Ernest Griswold Award (Top Thesis in Inorganic Chemistry)
Current position: Research Chemist, Chevron Phillips Chemical, Kingwood, Texas

Chelsea Comadoll, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, Summer 2020 to December 2021
B.S., Appalachian State University, 2017; Ph.D. in Chemistry (Honors), University of Kansas, 2021
Current position: Visiting Assistant Professor, MidAmerica Nazarene University

Amit Kumar, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, January 2017 to June 2021
B.Sc., St. Xavier's College, Mumbai; M.Sc., Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) Mumbai; Ph.D. in Chemistry (Honors), University of Kansas, 2021
Recipient of the KU Ernest Griswold Award (Top Thesis in Inorganic Chemistry)
Current position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Eric Schelter Group, University of Pennsylvania

Yun Peng, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, January 2016 to July 2020
B.S., Missouri State University, 2015; Ph.D. in Chemistry, University of Kansas, 2020
Current position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Jier Huang Group, Marquette University

David Sconyers, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, January 2016 to June 2020
B.S., Texas Tech University, 2015; Ph.D. in Chemistry (Honors), University of Kansas, 2020
Recipient of the KU Ernest Griswold Award (Top Thesis in Inorganic Chemistry)
Current position: Staff Scientist, Benét Laboratories, Watervliet Arsenal, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command

Davide Lionetti, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, January 2016 to June 2019
B.S. in Chemistry, Notre Dame; Ph.D. in Chemistry, Caltech
Current position: Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA

Katie (Cannon) Johnson
Graduate Student, January 2017 - March 2019
Master of Science in Chemistry (Honors), University of Kansas, 2019
Current position: Assistant Professor, Tulsa Community College

Keaton Prather
2016-2018
Current position: Graduate Student, University of Notre Dame, Tsui Group

Tyler Kerr
2016-2017
Current position: Graduate Student, UC Irvine, Yang Group

Undergraduate Alumni

Gabriel Benitez
REU 2021
Colorado Mesa University, Class of 2023

Emily Boyd
2017-2019
B.S. in Chemistry with Honors, 2019
Current position: Graduate Student, California Institute of Technology, Peters Group

Will Moore
2016-2019
B.S. in Chemistry with Honors, 2019
Current position: Graduate Student, UC Irvine, Evans Group

Micah Anderson
REU 2019
Jackson State University, Mississippi, Class of 2020
Current position: Dental School Student, University of Missouri at Kansas City

Daniel King
REU 2017
St. Olaf College, Class of 2019
Current Position: Graduate Student, University of Minnesota, Gagliardi Group

Ngan Tran
2017-2018
University of Kansas, Class of 2020

Clara Stanton
2017
University of Kansas, Class of 2018

Visitors

Yash Bharadwaj
2021
Mumbai, India

Jonah Stiel
2016
Topeka High School, Topeka, Kansas


Recent News

26–30 June 2022 – James and Riddhi attend the 29th Rare Earth Research Conference (RERC29) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. James delivered an invited talk on the first morning of the meeting on the topic of "Redox Tuning of Tripodal Cerium Complexes with Secondary Metal Cations," and Riddhi was awarded a Best Poster Prize for her work on "Electrochemical Activation of the Uranyl Ion." Thanks to Prof. Eric Schelter and Dr. Marta Guron (U. Penn) for organizing such a great meeting—a truly inspirational experience!

6 June 2022 – An exciting summer of research is underway in the Blakemore Group–our seventh here at KU! Welcome to our newest group members: Fynn Cooper, an incoming graduate student; Cecilia Paranjothi, a rising sophomore at KU;  and Natalie Lind, a visiting summer REU student from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. Let the fun begin!

6 May 2022 – Emma Cosner has been named the recipient of the Class of 1913 Award. This prize, which is one of the prestigious University Awards, is granted annually to two graduating students “who, by their evidenced intelligence, devotion to their studies, and personal character, give promise of such usefulness to society.” The central criterion for this award is a stellar academic record, making Emma a very deserving recipient. Emma has been conducting research in our group for over three years, and has been co-mentored throughout that time by Dr. Julie Leseberg. Congratulations, Emma!

Funding Sources

Our work is supported by the US Department of Energy, US National Science Foundation, the Chevron Phillips Chemical, Lam Research Corp., and the Spring Creek Fund.

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