Our Team

Brian Sun

Fifth Year graduate student
bsun3_at_uw_dot_edu

Brian was originally from Harbin, China and later moved to Eugene, Oregon. In Oregon, he worked on synthesizing cycloparaphenylene derivatives with Prof. Ramesh Jasti and obtained his bachelor’s degree in chemistry at University of Oregon. In the meantime, Brian took leadership roles in various student groups, most notably as the President of U R AWESOME Club. He worked to advocate for international students in the university while serving as the representative of physical science students in the student government. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Chemistry in the Golder Lab. When not doing chemistry, Brian likes to cook, road trip and make people laugh.

Mercie Hodges

Fifth Year graduate student
mercieh_at_uw_dot_EDU
CEI Graduate Fellow 2022-23

Mercie grew up in Montana, and went to college at George Fox University near Portland, Oregon. During her time there she studied Biochemistry and conducted synthetic research with Dr. R. Carlisle Chambers, creating functionalized perylene ligands to use in luminescent solar concentrators. During a gap year, she worked at Clean Water Services in Oregon as part of a natural water treatment research team, focusing on removing heavy metals from water through organics and developing a method for tracking nitrification inhibition in wastewater samples. This time helped her discover a passion for sustainability research, and provided her with motivation to go back to school. When she is not teaching or in lab, Mercie spends time reading, hiking, exploring the PNW, and rewatching Gilmore Girls.

Matt Elardo

Fourth Year Graduate Student
melardo_at_uw_dot_EDU
NSF GRFP FELLOW 2023

Matt was born and raised in Morehead City, NC. He attended the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, earning a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in chemistry. His undergraduate research, under the guidance of Professor Markus Etzkorn, targeted the synthesis of a library of functionalized isoindenones and their respective dimers, with potential applications in magnetic materials. Outside of the lab, Matt enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and watching the Buffalo Bills!

Morgan Skala

Fourth Year Graduate Student
mskala_at_uw_dot_EDU
CEI Graduate FELLOW 2023-24

Morgan grew up in Jacksonville, FL before moving to Tallahassee, FL for school. At Florida State University she earned her B.S. in chemistry and conducted research with the Alabugin group on the synthesis of novel graphene nanoribbons through double peri-annulations. She spent her gap year in Golden, CO at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory working on upcycling plastic waste and recycling of plastics through photoredox catalysis. Her time at NREL led her to pursue polymer chemistry with a focus in sustainability for her PhD. In her free time, Morgan likes to go to concerts, discover new coffee shops, and hike the PNW.

Lucy Miller

Second Year Graduate Student
lpmiller_at_uw_dot_EDU
CEI Graduate FELLOW 2024-25

Lucy was born in Port Townsend, Washington and grew up in Portland, Oregon. She moved to the Philadelphia area for her undergraduate degree at Bryn Mawr College where she majored in chemistry. While at Bryn Mawr, she worked in Dr. Patrick Melvin’s laboratory studying the deoxyfluorination of phosphinic acids. She also spent a summer as a process chemistry intern at Seagen where she worked on developing high throughput screening methods. Her interest in organic chemistry research led her to attend UW for her PhD! Outside of chemistry, Lucy loves hiking and backpacking in the Washington mountains, taking dance classes, and reading.

Nick Serck

Second Year Graduate Student
npserck_at_uw_dot_EDU

Nick grew up in Norwalk, Iowa, a small town just outside of Des Moines. He attended Iowa State University where he majored in Chemistry with a minor in Animal Ecology. Nick did undergraduate research under Dr. Junqi Li where he worked on synthesizing substrates for the enantioselective synthesis of planar chiral macrocycles. He also served as a leader within the Chemistry Learning Community, Iowa State’s Chemistry outreach club (SCUM), and the Iowa State Honors Program. When not in the lab, Nick enjoys being outdoors, playing board games, and traveling.

Danica Ye

SEcond Year Graduate Student
qyye_at_uw_dot_EDU

Danica was born and raised in Beijing, China, and later moved to north California for her bachelor’s degree at UC Davis majoring in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and a minor study in statistics. During her undergrad study, she joined Professor Annaliese Franz’s group working on remote research and drug design. Outside of chemistry, she was an active member of UC Davis fencing team. She’s also a big fan of skiing, skateboarding, snowboarding, badminton, and baking. In addition to English and Chinese, Japanese is her third language. Now she’s pursuing her PhD degree in organic chemistry.

Adelle Koenig

first Year Graduate Student
koeniga4_at_uw_dot_EDU

jason kaff

first Year Graduate Student
jkaff_at_uw_dot_EDU

Jason was born and raised in Bel Air, MD, half an hour east of Baltimore. He attended the University of Maryland, College Park where he earned a B.S. in chemistry and a B.S. in microbiology. He conducted his undergraduate research under the supervision of Dr. Mercedes Taylor, where he synthesized polymerizable metal–organic cages for the capture of rare earth metals. Jason is a big fan of the Baltimore Ravens and Washington Wizards, and patiently awaits the NBA’s return to Seattle. He also enjoys attending concerts, thrifting, playing the piano, and collecting trinkets.

Katie Polich

undergraduate (uw ’25)
KPOLICH_at_uw_dot_edu

Katie is an undergraduate student from Southern California pursuing a B.S. in Biochemistry with aspirations for a PhD in chemistry. She joined the Golder Lab due to an interest in both synthesis and polymers, and is excited to see where it leads her. Outside of lab, Katie enjoys reading, spending time with her cats, and exploring Washington with friends.

Gerrit Tipping

undergraduate (uw ’25)
gpt334_at_uw_dot_edu

Gerrit is a non-traditional undergraduate student who grew up near Austin, Texas. Gerrit decided to go back to school full-time so they could pursue their goal of becoming a PhD researcher specializing in pharmaceuticals or material sciences. Before starting their BS in Chemistry, Gerrit pursued a degree in both Nuclear Physics and Norwegian. Prior to starting research with the Golder lab, Gerrit taught supplemental math courses at a community college in their hometown for two years, did research in chemotherapy adjacent aromatic nitrogen-based macrocyclic ligands compounds at the University of Texas at Austin with the Sessler group for a year and a half, and did a semester of research with the Amorde/Roberts group on synthesis of singlet fission capable fluorinated aromatic thin films with an emphasis on applications for solar panel efficiency. Outside of academia, Gerrit enjoys taking on silly engineering projects, learning languages, sci-fi, creative writing, cooking, playing video games with friends, and attempting to befriend every “friend-shaped” animal that does not immediately try to attack.

RALF

POST-DOG

Ralf is an Australian Labradoodle who came to Seattle by way of Boston. He has virtually no chemistry experience whatsoever and currently enjoys chewing on nearly everything, making it difficult for him to get any lab work done. Ralf has indicated that if given the opportunity, he would like to work on epawxide (is that how you spell it?) polymerizations. For now, he enjoys going on walks, rolling in the grass, and finding good sticks.