naresh20@msu.edu

I have 15+ years of experience in investigating the behavior of organic and inorganic contaminants at the interfaces of various materials relevant to various applications. I completed my BSc in Applied Sciences (PSG) and MSc in Applied Chemistry (NIT) in India. I worked as a summer fellow and as a research intern in Indian Institute of Science before moving to France for my doctoral studies. I received my PhD from Aix-Marseille University working on removing uremic toxins from the human body using 3D materials. My postdoctoral research at Laboratoire SUBATECH was focused on modeling silicate minerals relevant to the safe contaminants of radioactive waste. I moved to MSU as a research associate and have been working on geological carbon sequestration and enhanced oil/gas recovery. I am currently working as a senior research associate with a major focus on understanding the fate and transport of organic and inorganic species in geologically relevant interfaces using different molecular modeling techniques.

welchbr2@msu.edu

Bradley graduated from Missouri University of Science and Technology (MST) with a PhD in Computational Chemistry. He was advised by Dr. Richard Dawes and worked on automating thermochemical protocols as well as accurate thermochemistry for the alkyl peroxy family of molecules. He obtained an SCGSR Fellowship in 2018 and worked at Argonne National Laboratories under Dr's Branko Ruscic and David Bross furthering the automated protocols for thermochemistry. He joined the Wilson group in June 2019. He presently is working on highly accurate thermochemistry for d-block and lanthanide species as well as modifying previous thermochemical scripts to handle the challenges of transition metal and lanthanide electronic structure.

weidma10@msu.edu

Jared received his B.S. in Biochemistry from Calvin University, where he did research with Roger DeKock on the electronic structure of atoms. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Georgia in 2020. Working in the lab of Henry F. Schaefer, his doctoral research was primarily on the application of high-accuracy quantum chemical methods to map out the energetics and mechanisms of reactions relevant to combustion and atmospheric chemistry. He joined the Wilson group in 2020, where his research is in the area of quantum electron dynamics. In particular, he develops real-time electronic structure methods to simulate the interactions of molecules with electric fields. In 2023, he became the Managing Director of the MSU Center for Quantum Computing, Science, and Engineering (MSU-Q).

peytonbe@msu.edu

Ben received his PhD. from Virginia Tech in 2022 in the group of Prof. T. Daniel Crawford.There he specialized in the prediction of field-dependent molecular properties in the frequency and time domains utilizing fragmentation schemes, machine-learning, and real-time electronic structure theory. He has also contributed to the Psi4 open-source quantum chemistry package, as well as to the Psi4Education project. In the Wilson group, his research is focused on implementation and applications of novel time-dependent configuration interaction techniques for transition metal complexes.

claveau1@msu.edu

Emily completed her Bachelor’s of Science in Chemistry and Chinese Language & Culture at Florida State University in 2014. In 2018 she joined Auburn University to work on her PhD in the group of Evangelos Miliordos. She graduated with her PhD in Computational Chemistry focused on catalyst design for methane to methanol transformation via CH bond activation using transition metal dications in 2023. In August of 2023 she joined the Wilson group as a Research Associate to work on PFAS complexes, heavy metals, and writing grants.

stewa668@msu.edu

Zach has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Physics and a Minor in Computation for Math, Science, Engineering from Michigan State University. He began working with the Wilson group as an undergraduate and has chosen to continue his work as a graduate student with the group as well. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in Chemical Physics. The focus of his work is primarily related to the development and application of quantum electron dynamics methodologies for molecular systems.

schummch@msu.edu

Christina (Chrissy) Schumm went to Michigan State University for her undergraduate degree, receiving a B.A. in Chemistry and minor in Mathematics. Chrissy spent much of her undergraduate career as an undergraduate TA, working in high schools and middle schools in the area and volunteering for Spartan Young Astronomers Club. She joined Wilson lab in Spring 2021 and has spent her time as a graduate student using Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations to model the interactions of different Per- and Polyfluoro Alkyl Substances (PFAS) with various soil components. Chrissy has experience teaching general lab and lecture courses, helping to run the MSU Chemistry Department's social media platforms and is the current Vice President for the Chemistry Graduate Student Organization (CGSO).

jamesdee@msu.edu

I am from Kerala India. I have completed my bachelor’s degree in chemistry from St. Thomas College, Kerala, India and subsequently pursued my masters degree in chemistry from the central university of Punjab, India. Now, I am a Third Year PhD student, research focuses on the effects of PFAS in biological systems.

massoudr@msu.edu

Rana graduated from Beirut Arab University in Lebanon, 2017 with a BS in Chemistry. She obtained her MS degree in Organic Chemistry in 2022 from the same university. For her MS research studies, working with Prof. Mohammad El-Dakdouki, she experimentally studied the chemical composition and biological (anti-cancer, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant) activities of essential oils from different origins. Rana started her PhD at Michigan State University in the fall of 2022, then joined the Wilson group in the spring of 2023, and is currently studying the interactions of PFAS with different proteins through molecular dynamics simulations and computation. She is also a part of several drug discovery and design projects.

telbebti@msu.edu

In process. . .

gokselca@msu.edu

Nazli received her B.Sc. in Chemistry from Boğaziçi University, where she was awarded scholarships from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), including the 2205 Undergraduate Fellowship and the 2248 Scientist Support Project. During her undergraduate studies, she worked in both synthetic and computational chemistry laboratories, where she focused on the modeling of atroposelective enolate, Diels–Alder and catalytic cyclic reactions. She joined the Ph.D. program in Chemistry at Michigan State University in 2023 and received the Chemistry Recruitment Fellowship. She is currently working on drug design projects.

georg288@msu.edu

Jaxon received an Honors B.S. degree in chemistry with manga cum laude distinction from Utah Tech University in 2023. Jaxon was awarded the Research Scholar, Booth Honors Scholar, and Alumni Choice Awards for his capstone project on the electronic structure and nuclear motion of amino borane complexes for hydrogen storage applications. During his undergraduate studies, he worked with Dr. Diana Reese using wave function methods, density functional theory, and ab inito molecular dynamics to evaluate the potential energy landscape for these molecules and determine motions that possibly foster dissociation of H2. He then joined the Department of Chemistry at Michigan State University in 2023 and received the Graduate Recruiting Fellowship. He is currently working on predicting accurate thermochemistry for the 5d transition metal and lanthanide-containing molecules using the relativistic pseudopotential correlation-consistent composite approach (rp-ccCA) and DFT.

stemenau@msu.edu

Audrey received a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of West Florida with minors in math, music, and physics. During her undergrad, she engaged in multiple research opportunities in organic and inorganic chemistry, but ultimately discovered a deeper interest in theoretical/computational chemistry. She subsequently joined the Wilson group in Spring 2025 as a first-year PhD student at Michigan State University. Audrey plans to use molecular dynamics simulations to study protein-ligand interactions with applications in environmental studies and drug discovery.

carpabar@msu.edu

Baransel is a researcher specializing in polymer science, materials chemistry, and environmental applications. He graduated as valedictorian from Boğaziçi University and received nationally competitive fellowships during both his undergraduate and master's studies. His undergraduate research focused on cytochrome P450 BM3 enzyme engineering, metal-organic framework (MOF) synthesis for photocatalytic degradation, and polymer-aided drug delivery. During his master's, he worked with CFN Kimya and MIMTEK Makina on large-scale optimization of polystyrene and polyethylene production and contributed to the development of bio-based adhesives. In 2024, he joined the Wilson Research Group, where he is currently working on computational polymer science and environmental chemistry.

mcmonig2@msu.edu

Lara attended Fordham University in the Bronx for her undergraduate degree. She graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry and a minor in English in 2024. During her time in undergrad, Lara worked in Professor Jon Friedrich's lab studying elemental compositions of chondrites. She spent summer 2023 in San Jose at the Nuclear and Radiochemistry Summer School, which sparked her passion for heavy element chemistry. She joined MSU in fall 2024 and is focused on computing accurate thermochemistry for actinide molecules.

ozerdemz@msu.edu

Zekihan graduated from Boğaziçi University with a B.Sc. degree. He worked as an undergraduate researcher at Boğaziçi University with Prof. Dr. Viktorya Aviyente on stereoselective synthetic chemistry and environmental chemistry applications involving hetero-catalysts. He also worked as a research fellow at the National Metrology Institute as an electrochemist. Additionally, he was a guest researcher at Koç University in Prof. Dr. Seda Keskin's lab, focusing primarily on quantum chemical calculations of gas adsorption in Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs). Zekihan joined the Wilson group in 2023. His main research interests are quantum chemical calculations of solid-state structures and the development of methods for solid-state calculations.

ashbyeli@msu.edu

Libby is from Grand Rapids, MI, and is currently a junior at MSU, majoring in Geological Sciences and Chemistry. She joined the team in September 2021, and studies PFAS in soil environments using Molecular Dynamics simulations.

hagerjam@msu.edu

James is from Battle Creek, Michigan. He is a junior studying computational mathematics and data science and he joined the group last fall. James studies PFAS and clay.

mko5412@truman.edu

Mary is from Harrisonville, MO and is currently a junior at Truman State University studying chemistry. She joined the group for the NSF-funded CHemistry REU program during summer 2023 and continues her work remotely. Mary studies the interactions of PFAS with clay minerals using Molecular Dynamics simulations.

Ethan is a high school student from Alameda, California who is passionate about chemistry, engineering, and computer science. His work involves the impact of electric fields on PFAS within aqueous environments.