Group

PI: Katherine A. Mirica, Ph.D.
Katherine.A.Mirica@dartmouth.edu

Education
Ph.D. in Chemistry, Harvard University (2011)
B.S. in Chemistry, Boston College (2004)

Professional Appointments
Associate Professor of Chemistry, Dartmouth College (2021-present)
Associate Editor of ACS Sensors (2022-present)
Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Dartmouth College (2015-2021)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2011-2015)

Selected Honors, Awards, and Fellowships
Karen E. Wetterhahn Memorial Award for Distinguished Creative or Scholarly Achievement, Dartmouth College, 2021
Gordon Russell 1955 Fellowship, Dartmouth College, 2021
NIH Maximizing Investigators' Research Award, 2020
Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, 2020
NSF CAREER Award, 2020
Cottrell Scholar Award, 2019
Sloan Research Fellowship, 2018
3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award, 2018
American Chemical Society PMSE Young Investigator Award, 2018
Thieme Chemistry Journals Award, 2018
Army Research Office Young Investigator Program Award, 2017
Walter and Constance Burke Research Initiation Award, Dartmouth College, 2015
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award, MIT, 2012-2015
School of Science Spot Appreciation Award, MIT, 2014
Eli Lilly Predoctoral Fellowship, Harvard University, 2005-2006
Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, Harvard University, 2004-2005
Matthew Copithorne Scholarship, Boston College, 2004
Scholar of the College Award, Boston College, 2004

Katherine was born and raised in Ukraine, and moved with her family to the state of Rhode Island during her freshman year in high school. She attended Boston College, where she developed a passion for Materials Chemistry, working in the laboratory of Lawrence T. Scott. She graduated with high honors in 2004, and later that year moved across the river to pursue graduate studies at Harvard University. In 2011, Katherine earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University under the guidance of George M. Whitesides. Her doctoral dissertation focused on the development and characterization of a simple and portable method that used magnetic levitation for density-based chemical analysis. She also contributed to several other research efforts in the areas of paper-based diagnostics and protein biophysics. Katherine then joined the laboratory of Timothy M. Swager at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an NIH postdoctoral fellow to pursue the development of portable electronic carbon-based chemical sensors for the detection of hazardous gases and vapors. At MIT, she developed a solvent-free approach, operationally analogous to drawing with pencil on paper, for the fabrication of sensitive and selective sensors from carbon nanomaterials. Katherine began her independent scientific career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Dartmouth College in July 2015 and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2021. Her research interests span the topics of self-assembly, design and synthesis of multifunctional framework materials, electroanalysis, energy, catalysis, and adhesion science.

Current Group Members

Natalia Vereshchuk
Postdoctoral Scholar (2021-present)

Natalia is originally from Ternopil, a city in Ukraine. She obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University of Ukraine. During that time, she did a research stay at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. She earned her Ph.D. degree in 2021 from the Institute of the Chemical Research of Catalonia (Spain) under the supervision of Prof. Antoni Llobet. Her Ph.D. thesis is entitled “Rational design of the molecular Ru-based Water Oxidation Catalysts”. She likes to practice yoga and go hiking, and she is looking forward to exploring the beautiful area around the campus.

Aileen Eagleton
Graduate Student (G5)

Aileen Eagleton was born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in Poughkeepsie, NY. She received her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with Chemical Biology emphasis from SUNY Albany. She is happy to be a part of the Dartmouth Community; she looks forward to skiing and the hiking opportunities around and near campus.

Emma Ambrogi
Graduate Student (G4)

Emma grew up in Manchester, NH and completed her undergraduate degree at Wellesley College in Wellesley, MA. After graduating, she worked as a research chemist at the US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) in Hanover, NH. At CRREL, she was a member of the Advanced Materials Research Team and worked on a variety of projects including design of photocatalytic materials and bioinspired anti-icing materials. She joined the Mirica group in Fall 2019, and currently studies electrochemical detection of nitric oxide with framework materials. In her spare time, she enjoys skiing and singing with the Handel Society of Dartmouth College.

Georganna Benedetto
Graduate Student (G4)

Georganna is from Ridgefield, CT and attended Colby College in Maine where she double majored in Chemistry and Spanish. At Colby she performed green nano catalysis research in the Katz lab, swam freestyle on the Swim and Dive team, and hiked. Now at Dartmouth she is interested in sensing and catalysis and continuing hiking!

Priyanshu Chandra
Graduate Student (G4)

Priyanshu is from India, where he completed his BS-MS dual degree course from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune with chemistry as his Major. He got enthused about MOFs and COFs after working in the group of Dr. S.K Ghosh (IISER Pune) and Prof. Christian Serre (ENS Paris). He is a fan of F.R.I.E.N.D.S, loves to write poems, cooking and taking a walk along the brook.

Evan Cline
Graduate Student (G3)

Evan hails from the town of Freeland, Michigan. He completed his B.A. in Chemistry at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. While at Lawrence, Evan worked both with Dr. Graham Sazama on the synthesis of stable, organic luminescent radicals and with Dr. Allison Fleshman on applying the Compensated Arrhenius Formalism (CAF) to ionic conductivity within room temperature ionic liquids. Outside of the lab, Evan was a member of the Lawrence University hockey team. His hobbies include hockey, basketball, and reading.

Lori-Ann Williams
Graduate Student (G3)

Lori-Ann Williams is from Clarendon, Jamaica. She completed her B.A. in Chemistry at Kalamazoo College in Michigan. While at K College, she worked with Professor Thomas Smith on the electrochemical properties of transition metal ligands. After graduating, Lori-Ann worked as a Team Coordinator and Chemist at Jamalco in Jamaica. Her hobbies include reading, singing, and listening to music.

Hana Yarbrough
Graduate Student (G3)

Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Hana received a B.S. in Chemistry at St. Mary's College of Maryland. She worked with Dr. Daniel Chase to synthesize and develop functionalization methods for fluorescent aza-BODIPY dyes. In her spare time, Hana likes to meet dogs, try new outdoor activities, and get excited about temporary adhesives.

Huilin Qing
Graduate Student (G3)

Huilin was born in the Hunan Province of China. She completed her undergraduate degree at Fudan University with Macromolecular Science and Engineering as her major. She was interested in MOFs and electrochemistry after working on MOF-derivatives for electrochemical application in Prof. Wu’s lab. She loves anime and spicy food. She is also looking forward to different outdoor activities with friends in her spare time.

Audrey Herrald '23
Undergraduate Researcher (2020-present)
Sophomore Scholar, Presidential Scholar

Audrey grew up in Thornton, Colorado. She plans to major in neuroscience and minor in chemistry. On campus, she enjoys writing and editing for the undergraduate science journal, co-leading the Student Mental Health Union, and training with the club running team.

Alumni and Former Group Members

Postdoctoral Scholars

Yuxin Li, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar (2022)
M.S.: in Chemical Engineering from Miami University
Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Cincinnati (with Prof. Ashley Ross)
After Dartmouth: R&D Scientist at Entegris, Inc. (Billerica, MA)

Zheng Meng, Ph.D.
Postoctoral Scholar at Dartmouth College (2016-2021)
Ph.D. in Chemistry from Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science (with Prof. Chuan-feng Chen).
B.S. in Chemistry from University of Science & Technology Beijing, Beijing, China
After Dartmouth: Research Scientist at University of Science and Technology of China

Lukasz Mendecki, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar at Dartmouth College (2017-2018)
Ph.D. in Chemistry from Keele University (with Dr. Aleksandar Radu)
M.Sc. in Forensic Science from King's College London
After Dartmouth: Chief Technology Officer, Allergy Amulet, Inc. (Lowell, MA)

Merry Smith, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar at Dartmouth College (2015-2017)
Ph.D. in Chemistry from Wesleyan University, CT (with Prof. Brian Northrop)
B.S. in Chemistry from Trinity College, CT
After Dartmouth: Product Manager and Marketing Communications Manager at C2Sense, Inc. (Watertown, MA)

Xiaoping Zhang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar at Dartmouth College (2015-2017)
Ph.D. in Chemistry from University of Wyoming (with Prof. Edward Clennan)
B.S. in Chemistry from Jilin University, China
After Dartmouth: Assistant Professor at Zhejiang Normal University (Jinhua, China)

Graduate Students

Robert M. Stolz, PhD.
Postdoctoral Scholar (2021-2022)
Ph.D. in Chemistry from Dartmouth College, 2021
Ph.D. Thesis: "The role of Surface Chemistry in Electroanalysis with Conductive Two Dimensional Framework Materials"
B.A. and M.A. in Chemistry, Wesleyan University (with Brian Northrop)
After Dartmouth: Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford University, (Stanford, CA)

Nicholas Blelloch, Ph.D.
Ph.D. in Chemistry from Dartmouth College, 2021
Ph.D. Thesis: "Molecular Design and Structure-Property Relationships of Stimuli-Responsive Crystalline Materials for Temporary Adhesion"
B.A. in Chemistry, Middlebury College, Vermont
After Dartmouth: Staff Scientist in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Washington, DC)

Aylin Aykanat, Ph.D.
Ph.D. in Chemistry from Dartmouth College, 2021
Ph.D. Thesis: "Design, Synthesis, and Characterization of Conductive Framework Materials for Chemiresistive Gas Sensing"
M.S. in Organic Chemistry, Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey
B.S. in Chemistry and Biology, SUNY New Paltz
After Dartmouth: Senior Scientist at Rapiscan, Inc. (Andover, MA)

Michael Ko, Ph.D.
Ph.D. in Chemistry from Dartmouth College, 2020
Ph.D. Thesis: "Electrically-Transduced Chemical Sensors Based on 2D Metal–Organic Frameworks"
B.S. in Biochemistry, California State University, Fullerton
After Dartmouth: Senior Scientist at LabSphere, Inc. (North Sutton, NH)

Haydn Mitchell, M.S.
Research Scientist and M.S. Student (2015-2018)
M.S. Thesis: "Molecular Solids as Sublimable Adhesives"
After Dartmouth: Production Engineer, Castle Freke Distillery (Clonakilty, Ireland)

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Researchers

Sophia Miller ‘22
Undergraduate Researcher (2020-2022)
Undergraduate Thesis "Towards Arrays of Metal–Organic Frameworks for the Detection of Ovarian Cancer from Exhaled Air"
After Dartmouth: Fulbright Scholar, Jordan

Anna Kolln '22
Undergraduate Researcher (2019-2022)
Undergraduate Thesis: "An Electrochemical Assessment of Conductive Metal–Organic Frameworks as
Electrode Materials for the Detection of Neurochemicals"
After Dartmouth: Associate Materials Engineer at Accion Systems (Boston, MA)

Colin Morrell '21
Undergraduate Researcher (2018-2021)
Honors Thesis: "Chemiresistive Sensing Arrays Based on Conductive Two-Dimensional Framework Materials for the Detection of Small Reactive Gases"
After Dartmouth: PhD Student in Chemistry at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

Brittany Cleary '21
Undergraduate Researcher (2020-2021)
Honors Thesis: "The Design, Synthesis, and Characterization of Novel Lanthanide Metallophthalocyanine Reticular Materials"
After Dartmouth: Consultant at Oliver Wyman, New York, NY

Claudia Durbin '21
Undergraduate Researcher (2017-2021)
Honors Thesis: "Smart Sutures and Bandages for Thread-Based Non-Enzymatic Continuous Glucose Monitoring"
After Dartmouth: Clinical Research Coordinator in the Metabolism Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA

Louisa Greenburg '20
Undergraduate Researcher (2016-2020)
Honors Thesis: "The Design, Synthesis, and Application of Electrically Conductive Metal–Organic Frameworks in Lithium-ion Batteries"
After Dartmouth: PhD Student in Materials Science at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA

Carly Tymm '20
Undergraduate Researcher (2016-2020)
Honors Thesis: "Molecular and Crystal Engineering of Molecular Solids as Sublimable Adhesives: How do bulk and interfacial interactions influence mechanical properties?"
After Dartmouth: MD/PhD Student at Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY