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Spring/Summer Student Recap

We’re a few weeks into the Fall semester, but we wanted to take a look back at some of the amazing things our students here in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry have accomplished.

→ This year’s Physical Chemistry poster session was held in the Stein Luminary. The research posters that the students created were displayed on the interactive touch screens in stunning color and clarity. It was a great way to wrap up what is always a stressful time for our chemistry majors!

Photo of Carl Agren and Kelso Hinrichs explaining their PChem poster to Jenee Cyran

Photo of Lindsey Jenkins, Erykah Foss and Luca Manning explaining their PChem poster to Konrad MeisterPhoto of Matthew Lindley standing in front of a group of students talking to their instructor about their PChem poster

Photo of Sebastian Bones and NIcolas Buhler explaining their PChem poster to Brian McClain
Photo of Igor Autin and Ajay Atkinson standing in front of their PChem poster

Photo of Saul Garcia and Tycen Reche explaining their PChem poster to Oliviero Andreussi Photo of Angela Komma and Jasmine Baclig standing in front of their PChem posterPhoto of Tauras Rimkus and another student in front of a PChem poster

→ In Spring 2024, our department congratulated 25 students that graduated with the Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at our annual Wizard Hat Ceremony. The graduates were given their wizard hats and enjoyed the much anticipated Senior Video while indulging in some ice cream. We also handed out awards for the top students in each of our course series, celebrated with our Chemistry Masters graduates, recognized our 2024 Chem Club officers, and applauded several students that were awarded fellowships.

Group photo of the Spring 2024 Chemistry graduates
Photo collage of the top students in each of the chemistry courses

 

Group photo of the Masters students graduating in Spring 2024
Group photo of the chem club officers for 2024
Photo collage of the summer fellowship winners

 

→ Two of our chemistry majors, and one chemistry minor, that graduated in Spring 2024 were named a Boise State Top Ten Scholar! Congratulations to Sevio Stanton (Chem major with a Biochemistry emphasis), Jocelyn Stephens (Chem major with a Biochemistry emphasis), and Cat Merrill (Biology major with a minor in chemistry). Of the 10 nominees from the College of Arts & Sciences this year, 6 of them were chemistry majors! The other nominees from our department were Zachary Camargo, Gracie Garringer, Seamus Jude, and Sarah Knowlton.

Group photo of the nominees from the College of Arts and Sciences for the 2024 Top Ten Scholar award
The 2024 College of Arts and Sciences Top Ten Scholars nominees

 

→ One of those Top Ten Scholars, Sevio Stanton, earned that distinction not only from his coursework in chemistry, but also in biology and physics. Sevio completed his undergraduate career with Bachelor’s degrees in all three subjects. He is now pursuing his doctorate in physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, supported by the prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship and Department of Energy’s Computational Science Graduate Fellowship programs.

Portrait Photo of Sevio Stanton
Sevio Stanton

 

→ Chemistry graduate student Kylie Johnson, who works in Owen McDougal’s lab, spent the summer working as an intern at the Idaho National Laboratory. At the end of each summer, the INL hosts an intern poster session as an opportunity for interns to share their research and show how students are contributing to INL’s critical clean energy and national security missions. Kylie presented along with over 500 other interns, and earned a 1st place award for Best Technical Presentation. Way to go Kylie!

Photo of Kylie Johnson holding an award certificate for 1st place in Best Technical Presentation from the INL

Photo of Kylie Johnson standing in front of her blue ribbon winning poster at the INL, smiling and giving a thumbs up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

→ Several chemistry students were awarded funding through highly competitive programs in both Summer and Fall.

Two of our majors were awarded NASA-Idaho Space Grant Consortium (ISGC) internships this summer: Christina Fischer from Dr. Don Warner’s lab, and Luca Manning from Dr. Jenée Cyran’s lab. One of Dr. Ken Cornell’s research students, biology major and CHEM101 lab adjunct, Asher Chivvis, was also awarded a NASA-ISGC summer internship.

Two of our majors were also awardees of the Fall 2024 Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (URCA) Scholarships given out by the Institute for Inclusive and Transformation Scholarship (IFITS). Hassan Mohammed from the Cornell lab, and Erykah Foss from the Cyran lab, will each receive a $3,000, 12-week stipend to conduct research with their faculty mentors.

Congratulations to these students, and their mentors, for earning these opportunities!

 

Photo of Erykah Foss holding her URCA scholarship award certificate
Erykah Foss
Photo of Hassan Mohamed holding two award certificates
Hassan Mohamed

 

 

 

 

 

 

→ At the end of August, Denis Mulumba, a computing Ph.D. student working with Dr. Oliviero Andreussi, presented at the “Accelerating Catalytic Advancements Through the Precision of High-Throughput Experiments & Calculations symposium during the ACS Fall 2024 Conference in Denver. He won a best oral presentation prize!

Photo of Denis Mulumba holding his Best Oral Presentation award certificate

We’d like to extend our congratulations to all of our hard working students here in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry!