Liat Kugelmass
B.A. Vassar College – 2018 – Chemistry
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Liat attended Vassar College, a small liberal arts school in the scenic Hudson Valley, where she dipped her toes into computational and experimental chemistry research in a variety of subfields including biochemistry, physical chemistry, and organometallics. Now at Cornell University, Liat is excited to be completing her PhD in the Stache group as a newly minted polymer chemist, hoping to make a large impact in sustainability. When not in the lab, you can find Liat walking her cat in the Botanic Gardens, tending to her ever-growing plant collection, and daydreaming on a trapeze about running away to join the circus.
Sewon Oh
B.S. Boston College – 2020 – Chemistry
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Sewon grew up in South Korea before coming to the US. He attended a middle school and high school in Washington State. He, then, moved to the East Coast to attend Boston College as a Chemistry major and Math minor. During the college career, he went back to Korea in order to serve the military service for two years. There, he taught Army and Marine private soldiers how to operate an anti-aircraft artillery. Upon discharging from military, he finished his college and came to Cornell University for his PhD program. Outside of the lab, he likes playing basketball and soccer, cooking, and eye shopping.
Lejla Camdzic
B.S. Southern Methodist University – 2020 – Chemistry
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Lejla obtained her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at SMU in Dallas, Texas where she performed research on hypervalent iodine species in the Tsarevsky lab. She is very excited about living in New York and is ready for the snow. She thinks it should snow all the time. She also likes the outdoors, socks, and chemistry. In her spare time, she tracks down wolves in the wild and adopts them. Here she is pictured with a wolf that she tamed and took into her home. His name is Benji and he is very cute.
Cristina Preston-Herrera
B.S. Ball State University – 2018 – Chemistry
M.A. Ball State University – 2021 – Chemistry
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Cristina attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana for her bachelor’s and master’s degree. During her undergrad she conducted research on adhesive polysulfides synthesized from garlic extract components. For her masters she helped develop an assay system for the detection of metabolites produced from Rieske dioxygenase variants made from a directed evolution platform. Cristina is very excited to get back into polymer synthesis in the Stache lab. When she’s not working in the lab, you can find her traveling to new places with her husband, hiking with her two dogs, or checking out the wineries around Ithaca!
Hanning Jiang
B.S. Purdue University – 2021 – Chemistry
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Hanning comes from Beijing, China. She attended Purdue University and enjoys living in small villages afterwards. Upon graduation, she joined Cornell since she was obsessed with corns interested in polymer chemistry. Her career dream is to degrade plastic water bottles within… some years. A fun fact: her original goal before college is to learn Chinese literature and teach Chinese. Now she’s considering teaching chemistry since she will be reading chemistry literatures. In her free time, Hanning loves baking, crocheting, and making artworks.
Megan Matter
B.S. University of Florida – 2021 – Chemistry
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Megan attended the University of Florida where she focused her research on the C–H bond functionalization of amines. Since coming to Cornell, she has pivoted to polymer chemistry. Outside of the lab, her hobbies include baking as a way to procrastinate, chasing her cat Chloe around, and missing warm weather.
Cassandra Haynes
B.S. Lycoming College – 2018 – Chemistry
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Cassandra obtained her bachelor’s degree from Lycoming College in Williamsport, PA. There she did research on the synthesis of medium-ring heterocycles and had a summer internship where she cyclized unsaturated halides with SmI2/TEU-. After graduation, Cassandra started her career in industrial research at Corning Incorporated. Now, she is looking forward to performing polymer synthesis research in the Stache lab. Cassandra enjoys spending her free time on house projects, lots of outdoor activities, and with her dog, Nittany.
Clotilde Tagnon
B.S. UT-Austin – 2021 – Chemistry
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Clotilde obtained their bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin, working in the Page lab on novel monomer synthesis and advances in light-based 3D printing. They are stoked to come to Cornell and work on novel polymer degradation strategies. Outside of lab, they love playing video games, doing art, hanging out with their cats, and exploring the beautiful Ithaca scenery.
Jacob Darien
B.S. Wisconsin – 2022 – Chemistry
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