Staff List

Bio

Devan Watt joined the Micron School of Materials Science & Engineering at Boise State University in
November 2021 as a Research Associate working in the Nanoscale Materials and Device Group as a part
of the Quantum DNA (qDNA) research group under Professor Bill Knowlton and Dr. Bernard Yurke. As
part of qDNA, Devan is a member of the Dye Synthesis Team working with Dr. Olya Mass. Prior to joining
the qDNA group, he worked as a laboratory instructor at Montana State University, Northwest Nazarene
University, and College of Western Idaho, teaching general chemistry and organic chemistry laboratory
courses. He received his M.S. in Organic Chemistry from Montana State University in 2016, under the
supervision of Dr. Trevor Rainey. His graduate work included development of a novel methodology for
enantioselective ring synthesis, as well as efforts toward a partial synthesis of Diazonamide A. At Boise
State, Devan’s research will be focused on developing routes to synthetic analogues of chlorophylls to
create novel chlorophyll-DNA nanomaterials.

Education

• M.S. Chemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT (2016)
• B.S. Chemistry, Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, ID (2012)
• B.A. Music Theory, Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, ID (2012)

Honors, Awards, and Professional Activities

• University Meritorious Fellowship, Montana State University 2013
• E. W. Mares Award, Montana State University 2016