Bio 
I grew up in rural northeastern Pennsylvania. I knew I was most interested in the subjects of science (primarily chemistry) and math throughout high school, however, I was unsure at this time of what I wanted to focus on in college. I decided to attend NYU which lies in the heart of NYC, where there was both a great variety of majors and opportunities available to me. Based on gut instinct, I declared my major in chemistry to learn about the interactions of matter on the atomic scale. During my second year, I decided to pursue an additional degree in chemical engineering. This taught me how to better apply my fundamental understanding of chemistry to more everyday applications and further understand the significance of the processing-structure-property relationships in advanced materials. During this time I became excited by the prospect of manipulating, or engineering, different materials according to their desired use. I got involved in research and began considering continuing my education towards becoming a professor where I could one day lead my own research group. To this end I decided to pursue my Ph.D. in chemical engineering, which brings me here today, to Cornell, where I have an opportunity to connect materials discovery and development to renewable energy technologies like photoelectrochemical cells and photovoltaics. Aside from my life in the classroom and laboratory, I enjoy being outside. Most of this time is spent riding my horse, however I'll also take the occasional hike or bike ride and look forward to getting back into kayaking once the weather permits.
Recognizing that technical challenges are matched with the necessity to communicate to the general community both the obstacles and potential value of such technologies, I have made it a personal responsibility to reach out and educate beyond the university. I have been involved in outreach programs with initiatives similar to that of GK-12, both designing and leading workshops hosted at Cornell for middle and high school aged students. I feel there is great significance in inspiring students at a young age and making them aware of the possibility of a future in science and engineering, as well as working with their teachers to keep up with this enthusiasm, helping to transform the students' sometimes seemingly far-fetched dreams into a reality. As a fellow, I look forward to growing as an educator, mentor and communicator and have been awarded the privilege to pursue my scientific curiosity while sharing my excitement with the broader public through the initiatives at the heart of the GK-12 program.
Research
During the past two decades, the materials science community has witnessed revolutionary advances in the synthesis of novel nanometer scale materials with precisely controlled size, shape and composition. Our ability to control the structure and composition of these "building blocks" has enabled us to study light-matter interactions and apply it to better understanding the development of nanomaterial-enabled technologies like photoelectrochemical cells and photovoltaics that combine low cost processing routes and high efficiencies. Scientists and engineers are faced with the challenge of integrating these nanoscale materials with existing technologies at the micrometer length scale and beyond. To bridge this gap, my research in the group of Uli Wiesner (http://people.ccmr.cornell.edu/~uli/res_energy.htm) explores opportunities at the interface of ordered three-dimensional electrodes – the part of the device which functions to extract the charge in order to convert it to electricity – and semiconductor nanostructures with tunable optical and electronic properties. Wiesner's research team has pioneered techniques to transcribe self-assembling block copolymer nanostructures of soft, organic polymer materials into nanoporous metal oxide films (shown below). These can then be used as scaffolds that are ideally suited as three-dimensional electrodes. My current work focuses on exploiting these opportunities to further advance the development of next-generation energy materials, particularly those used in photoelectrochemical cells and phovoltaics. The insights and design rules established in these studies have important implications on the development of many nano-enabled technologies including high-performance light emitting diodes, batteries and thermoelectric devices.
A schematic of an ordered three-dimensional electrode including a metal (M), controlled interface (I) and semiconducting nanomaterial (S).