University of California, Davis

Kauzlarich Research Group

Current Group Members

Below are the current graduate students, postdocs, and undergraduates. Included is a picture, contact e-mail, and brief description of their research project.

Tanghong Yi

Tanghong Yi joined our group in Winter, 2008. He had his B.S. degree in Material Science and Engineering from University of Science and Technology of China (2005) and Master’s Degree in Chemistry from University of New Orleans (2007). He has worked on cathode materials for lithium ion batteries for several years, and has experiences on nano-materials synthesis and characterizations with TEM, SEM, XRD, etc.

E-mail: tyi@ucdavis.edu

Julia Wang

Julia got her B.S. in Chemistry from Nankai University, China, and M.S. in Polymer Chemistry and Physics from the Guangzhou Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. She also holds an MBA from Hong Kong University of Sciences and Technology. She worked for multinational chemical and energy companies for years before she came back to school to pursue her PhD in Chemistry. She is dedicated to the research of chemical science and technology for renewable energies. Currently her research interest is focused on novel Si-based nanostructured materials for hydrogen storage.

E-mail: jjlwang@ucdavis.edu

John (Jay) Roudebush

Jay is a second year grad student in the Kauzlarich group working on light element thermoelectics. He received his B.S. in Chemistry at the University of Vermont in 2004, after which he moved back to his native Boston to explore carrier options and apply to grad school. In his spare time he builds bikes, plays board games and coaches rollerderby for the Sac City Rollers.

E-mail: jroudebush@ucdavis.edu

Catherine Cox

Catherine did undergraduate research in the Kauzlarich lab beginning in Spring, 2003. She received her B.S. with honors in Chemistry (2006). Now she researches high temperature thermoelectric materials in order to optimize the zT of the 14-1-11 structure type and other rare earth Zintl phases by explorative doping.

E-mail: cacox@ucdavis.edu

Japheth (Japhe) Rauscher

Japheth Rauscher received his B.A. in chemistry at UC Davis in 2004. His research is in synthesis, structure, and physical properties of Zintl phase compounds. Currently he is working on developing a new synthetic route to pure single phase Zintl compounds for enhanced thermoelectric property measurements.

E-mail: jfrauscher@ucdavis.edu

Xuchu Ma

Synthesis of water or solvent-soluble silicon and germanium nanocrystals.

E-mail: xchma@ucdavis.edu

Graduate Students

Postdocs

Andrea Goforth

Andrea completed her graduate research in inorganic, solid-state and materials chemistry at the University of South Carolina (USC) under Professor Hans-Conrad zur Loye in December of 2005.  Since completion of this degree, she has been a postdoc in the laboratory of Professor Susan M. Kauzlarich.  Her research at UCD has resulted in the syntheses of numerous, new materials including:  magneto-resistive solid-state materials, redox active main group clusters, and photoluminescent semiconductor nanomaterials.  Additionally, she has recently begun a joint appointment between Dr. Kauzlarich’s group and Professor Louie’s Group.  Her present research is focused on the syntheses of transition metal doped quantum dots as bimodal imaging agents for simultaneous fluoroscopy and magnetic resonance imaging. Andrea is currently a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Careers at the Scientific Interface grant recipient, which funds the last year of her post-doc and the first four years of her future faculty appointment.

E-mail: amgoforth@ucdavis.edu

Donita Neiner

Donita graduated from University of Bucharest and came to the US for graduate school at University of New Orleans. She joined the Kauzlarich Group in August 2005. Her current research includes silicon based hydrogen storage materials. She would like to teach and continue doing research.

E-mail: dneiner@ucdavis.edu

Undergraduate Researchers

Fengyi Wu

Fengyi started her undergraduate research in Kauzlarich's group since fall 2007. She has worked on research of Germanium and Silicon nanoparticles.

E-mail: fywu@ucdavis.edu

Jason Grebenkemper

Jason is a 3rd year undergraduate chemistry major at UC Davis. He joined the Kauzlarich group in the fall of 2007. Jason is interested in alternative energy sources and is currently researching clathrate compounds for use in high temperature thermoelectrics.

E-mail: jhgrebenkemper@ucdavis.edu

Tonya Atkins

After graduating from Fresno State in 2005, Tonya worked as a part-time community college teacher for a year.  She came to UC Davis in 2007 to work towards a Ph.D, and joined the Kauzlarich group in Winter 2008. Her main research interest is synthesizing silicon nanoparticles for biological applications.

E-mail: tmatkins@ucdavis.edu