Jason Datsko graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry and minor in Biology from from Fresno Pacific University in Spring 2022. Under the supervision of Dr. Maria Soria, his undergraduate research focused on transformation and isolation of the d. melanogaster amyloid-like memory protein ORB2. Jason currently works in the private sector as a quality control chemist, but hopes to eventually transition to R&D after a successful thesis defense.
Kiersten Friesen graduated from Westmont College in Spring 2021 with a B.S. degree in Chemistry. Her undergraduate research focused on method development in the synthesis of iridium complexes for dendrimer coupling of nanoparticles under the supervision of Dr. Steven M. Contakes. Kiersten joined the M.S. program at Fresno State in August 2022.
Michael Stevens graduated from California State University, Bakersfield in Spring 2020 with a B.S degree in Chemistry with ACS Certification. He conducted undergraduate research, under the supervision of Dr. Danielle Solano, which focused on synthesis involving reductive amination of 4-bromo-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde. In 2021, supported by Gates Millennium Scholarship funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, he joined the MS Program at Fresno State. Michael worked on developing green chemistry approach to benzothiophene heterocycles.
Jeremy is our homegrown talent. He graduated with B.S. Chemistry degree from Fresno State in Fall 2019. His undergraduate research focused on reactions catalyzed by organometallic complexes. In January 2020 he joined the MS program at Fresno State. His thesis research focused on gold-catalyzed synthesis of benzofurans and application of quantitative NMR in methodology development. In 2022 he presented his thesis research to a room packed with spectators and observers. Then he successfully defended the work in front of the graduate faculty committee.
Karina graduated with a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Fresno State in Spring 2020. Her undergraduate research focused on synthesis of fluorine-labeled standards for our top secret NMR experiments. We could not afford losing Karina with her vast knowledge and expertise and promptly recruited her to the graduate program. Karina was in the 2020 cohort of the Bridges to Doctorate Program in partnership with UC Davis. Karina successfully defended her thesis in Spring 2022 and is currently working for Agro Plantae.
Chris graduated with a B.S. degree in chemistry from Fresno State in 2018. His undergraduate research (in HMLab) focused on development of gold(I)-catalyzed synthesis of benzo[b]thiophenes. In 2019–2021 he conducted his thesis research in our lab focusing on gold(I)-catalyzed synthesis of benzofurans. After successful defense of his theses, Chris joined the lab at USDA (Parlier). In 2022 he took a job as Environmental Scientist with California Department of Food and Agriculture and recently transition to the CA Department of Toxic Substance Control.
Quang graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry from Fresno State in 2014. His undergraduate research with Dr. Melissa Garret focused on the syntheses of macrocyclic nickel complexes as metalloprotein models. In 2016–2018 he conducted his thesis research in out lab working on the synthesis of stable sulfenic acids as potential antioxidants. After successful defense of his thesis, Quang joined the science arm of the local government working as Senior Environmental Scientist for the Department of Toxic Substances Control.