Graduate Students
Steven Zhao
Ph.D., Caltech, 2024 B.S., Peking University, 2019 Steven was born and grew up in Changchun, a city in Northeast China. Later he moved to Beijing and earned his B.S. in Chemical Biology at Peking University, where he conducted research on metabolic labeling of non-natural sugars in Professor Xing Chen’s group. Despite living in the cold north since his birth, he decided to make a change and come to sun-soaked SoCal. He loves going to the beach, hiking, and having authentic Chinese food in LA. |
Josh Signore
B.A., Wesleyan University, 2019 M.A., Wesleyan University, 2021 Josh was born in Guatemala and raised in Bristol, CT. He earned a B.A. and M.A. in chemistry from Wesleyan University and studied small exotic molecules via microwave spectroscopy under the supervision of Stewart E. Novick. He left Connecticut to escape the humidity and bask in sunny Southern California. Outside of the lab, he enjoys running, hiking, and playing the piano, especially Chopin. |
Conner Wells
B.A., Pitzer College, 2021 Conner was born and raised in Santa Cruz, California. He earned a B.A. in Chemistry at Pitzer college where he conducted research under Professor Anna Wenzel. As an undergrad he also spent time at the University of California Santa Cruz conducting research there under Professor Glenn Millhauser. A Californian through and through he moved the 40 minutes from Claremont to Pasadena to study at Caltech where he now works in the Nelson lab. Outside of lab he likes to ride or work on his bikes and spend time with his friends and family. |
Krista Dong
B.A., Wellesley College, 2020 Krista was born and raised in the great state of New Jersey. In search of more snow and more fun accents, she attended Wellesley College in Wellesley, MA and earned her B.A. in Chemistry in 2020. During her time there, she worked with Prof. Alison E. Wendlandt (MIT) on the arylation of unprotected sugars. After graduating, Krista spent two years in Cambridge, MA working for Amgen’s late-stage process development group. In her free time she enjoys backpacking, playing soccer, watching the Ocean’s Eleven movies on repeat, and sending people pictures of her cat, Wormy Pete. |
Jocelyn Zhang
B.S., Columbia University, 2022 Jocelyn was born in China. She earned her B.S. in Chemistry at Columbia University, where she studied singlet fission in organic molecules and CO2 capture into value-added polymers under the tutelage of Professor Luis Campos. Outside the lab, she enjoys petting strangers’ dogs and looking for the best NY style pizza in LA. |
Dr. Jessica Burch
Ph.D., UCLA, 2021 B.S., UT San Antonio, 2015 Application scientist at Rigaku Jessica completed her B.S. at The University of Texas at San Antonio and performed research in the laboratory of Dr. Oleg Larionov. In the summer of '17, Jessica left the great land of Tex-Mex cuisine behind and began graduate school at UCLA. She avoids LA traffic by commuting via horse and uses "y'all" unironically. |
Woojin Lee
Ph.D., UCLA, 2023 B.S., UC Berkeley, 2016 Postdoc at Katritch Lab at USC Woojin was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. After he finished his mandatory military service, he started studying abroad in the United States. He attended a community college in Kansas and transferred to UC Berkeley, where he obtained a B.S degree in chemistry and also worked on the deoxydehydration/hydrogenation of sugar acids under the guidance of Professor F. Dean Toste. Outside of lab, he likes to learn stock trading, watch Youtube videos, and ride a bike on Santa Monica beach. |
Sepand Nistanaki
Ph.D., Caltech, 2023 B.S., UC Berkeley, 2016 Postdoc at Jacobsen Group at Harvard University Sepand was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland and raised in Irvine, California. He earned his B.S. in Chemistry at UC Berkeley, where he conducted research under Professor Christopher Chang. In 2017 he moved back down to Southern California to attend UCLA and begin working in the Nelson lab. Some of Sepand's hobbies include coffee brewing and tasting, advocating for Peaky Blinders as the best show ever, recommending yogurt soda to his lab mates, and calling his mother. |
Chloe Williams
Ph.D., Caltech, 2023 B.S., DePaul University, 2018 Scientist at Bristol Myers Squibb Chloe was born and raised in Valparaiso, Indiana. She graduated from DePaul University in 2018 where she conducted research with Professor Paul Vadola working on gold(I)-mediated cyclization reactions. Despite her love for Chicago, she decided to leave the Midwest winters behind and come to California. Chloe enjoys going to the beach, eating great food, and hanging out with her cat. |
Postdocs
Dr. Matthew Asay
PhD, UC Riverside / Universite Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III Postdoc, Humboldt Fellow TU Berlin, JSPS Fellow University of Tsukuba Senior Research Scientist at Universal Display Corporation Matt was born in SLC, Utah but generally claims the ambiguous ‘SoCal’ because he hasn’t lived in Utah in a long time. He received his PhD from UC, Riverside in the Lab of Prof. Guy Bertrand making carbene related ligands. During his PhD he spent a year in Toulouse, France also making carbene related ligands in the LHFA. Upon completion of his doctoral degree he began a world tour with postdoctoral research stays in Germany and Japan where he learned many of the intricacies of fundamental silicon chemistry. After a return to UCR to work with Prof. Vince Lavallo on carborane cluster chemistry Matt began an independent research career at UNAM in Mexico City. He now finds himself again on American soil using carborane anions. He enjoys American Football, French Rugby, German Football, Japanese Karaoke, and Mexican cochinita pibil. |
Visiting Scholars
Melody Tang
Melody was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. In the Nelson lab, she spent 2 summers working with David learning how to leverage microED for natural product discovery. She’s currently a second year majoring in Chemistry and Biological Chemistry at the University of Chicago where she studies Ni catalysis in Prof. Guangbin Dong’s lab during the school year. Outside of chemistry, Melody enjoys advocating that SoCal is better than NorCal, pushing Gen Z slang, and playing with her dog. |
Nils Rendel
M.S., Westfälische Wilhelms Universität Münster B.S., Westfälische Wilhelms Universität Münster, 2021 Nils was born and raised in Grevenbroich, a city near Cologne in Germany. He moved to Münster and earned his B.S. in Chemistry, where he conducted research on photocatalysis in Professor Frank Glorius group. Outside of lab, Nils enjoys hiking, sports, and photography. |