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Thesis Defenses

Graduate Student Nicholas Niemuth Defends Thesis

Nicholas Niemuth defended his doctoral thesis on April 23, 2021. He was part of the Klaper group at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His thesis is titled “Investigating Mechanisms of Nanotoxicity of a Next-generation Lithium Cobalt Oxide Nanomaterial.” Congratulations, Dr. Niemuth! 

Graduate Student Natalie Hudson-Smith Defends Thesis

Natalie Hudson-Smith (Haynes group, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities) successfully defended her thesis, titled “Nanoparticle Transformations and Toxicity: Impact of Complex Metal Oxide Nanoparticles, Experimental Tools, and Methods for Communicating Nanotechnology to the Public.” Natalie is now a postdoc at Stonybrook University as part of the IRACDA-NY teaching/research program, performing research with Prof. Liz Boon. Congratulations, Dr. Hudson-Smith!

Graduate Student Ricky Brown Defends Thesis

Richard Brown (Rosenzweig group, University of Maryland-Baltimore County) defended his doctoral dissertation, entitled “Synthesis, Stability and Dynamic Surface Chemistry of InP-based Core/Shell Quantum Dots” on July 27. Congratulations, Dr. Brown!

Denise Williams-Harris Defends Thesis

Denise Williams-Harris (Rosenzweig group, University of Maryland-Baltimore County) successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, entitled “Molecular Interactions between Luminescent Quantum Dots and Bacteria” on July 16, 2020. She accepted a position with AmbioPharm in Georgia, and is also tutoring at Paine College. Congratulations, Dr. Williams-Harris!

Graduate Student Ben Frank Defends Thesis

Ben Frank (Fairbrother group, Johns Hopkins University) defended his doctoral dissertation, entitled “Environmental Transformations of Next-Generation Carbon Nanomaterials” on May 29. Congratulations, Dr. Frank!

Graduate Student Liz Laudadio Defends Thesis

Liz Laudadio (Hamers group, University of Wisconsin-Madison) defended her doctoral dissertation, entitled “Chemical Transformations of Lithium Cobalt Oxide Nanoparticles in Model Environmental Systems” on May 11.  Her doctoral thesis includes a chapter written to communicate her work to non-scientists, as part of the Wisconsin Initiative for Science Literacy (WISL) Award for Communicating Ph.D. Research to the Public. Liz will soon be joining Argonne National Laboratory as a postdoctoral researcher. Congratulations, Dr. Laudadio!

Graduate Student Cassie Zhang Defends Thesis

Cassie Zhang (Murphy group, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) defended her doctoral dissertation, entitled “Quantification of molecular-level events at nanoparticle-biological interfaces,” on April 8. Congratulations Dr. Zhang!

Graduate Student Meng Wu Defends Thesis

Meng Wu (Murphy lab, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) defended his doctoral dissertation, entitled “Hard and Soft Coatings on Gold Nanoparticles at the Nano-Bio Interface” on April 3. Congratulations, Dr. Wu!

Graduate Student Kelly Zhang Defends Thesis

Kelly Zhang (Hamers group, University of Wisconsin-Madison) defended her doctoral dissertation, entitled “Functionalization and characterization of carbon nanomaterials: Understanding mechanistic molecular interactions in biological systems,” on April 2. Kelly will be joining Merck as a Senior Scientist this summer. Congratulations Dr. Zhang!