December 2021
Jeff grew up in Hualien, Taiwan. He completed his B.S. and M.S. from National Tsing Hua University in 2017 and 2019. While at NTHU, Jeff worked under the direction of Prof. Chien-Hong Cheng on the transition metal-catalyzed organic reactions as well as OLED synthesis. After that, he then moved to Dr. Yu-Wen Huang’s group at NTHU to explore total synthesis of complex natural products as a research associate. Jeff joined the Brown Group in 2021 and is currently working on photochemical strain-release cycloaddition. In his free time, he likes playing badminton and traveling.
December 2021
Prashansa is from Sri Lanka. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, where she majored in Botany. In Spring 2017, she entered Eastern Illinois University to pursue her MS under the supervision of Dr. Rebecca Peebles. Prashansa joined the chemistry Ph.D. program at the University of Texas at Dallas in 2019 and joined Dr. Eric Welin’s lab where she mainly worked on a photocatalysis project. After a year and a half, her PI Dr. Welin decided to switch into the industry from academia and upon her PI’s decision, she decided to continue her Ph.D. journey in the chemistry department at Indiana University. She enjoys cooking, watching movies, and listing to music in her free time.
“Everything happens for a reason” – Aristotle
December 2021
Jarett grew up in Shelbyville, Indiana. He completed his B.S. at Indiana State University, where he was a part of Professor Dr. Ryan Van Hoveln’s laboratory. While there, Jarett focused on organic synthesis methodology. Jarett now is at IU and is a member of the Brown group. Jarett is continuing to develop his methodology background, but now is interested in [2+2] cycloadditions as well as other areas of photochemistry. In Jarett’s free time he enjoys going for runs with his wife as well as playing badminton every Sunday with fellow chemistry graduate students.
“No, try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.” -Master Yoda