Principle Investigator
Sean T. Roberts
Fellow of the William H. Wade Endowed Professorship in Chemistry
Associate Professor of Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Southern California, 2010-2013
(with Prof. Stephen E. Bradforth & Alexander V. Benderskii)

PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010
(with Prof. Andrei Tokmakoff)

BS, University of California Los Angeles, 2003
(with Prof. Benjamin J. Schwartz)

Sean's CV
Contact Information

Office: Welch Hall 3.120B (map)
Phone: (512) 475-9450 
Email: roberts@cm.utexas.edu

Mailing Address:
105 E. 24th St. Stop A5300
Austin, TX 78712-1224
Postdoctoral Scholars
Max Verkamp
Email: mverkamp@utexas.edu | Max's CV

PhD, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2019 (with Josh Vura-Weis)
BS, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, 2013

Max grew up in Southern Indiana and received BS degrees in Physics and Chemistry from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He then continued his education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, getting his PhD in Chemical Physics under Prof. Josh Vura-Weis. While in the Vura-Weis lab, he helped build a transient extreme ultraviolet spectrometer and used it to probe hot carrier behavior in hybrid organic-inorganic lead halide perovskites for photovoltaic applications. Max joined the Roberts Group in September 2019 to examine singlet fission in perylenediimide (PDI) and its derivatives to augment silicon solar cells. Outside of work, Max enjoys music (writing, playing, and listening to) and tabletop gaming.
Laura Estergreen (Joint with Baiz Group)
Email: lkestergr@utexas.edu

PhD, University of Southern California, 2020 (with Stephen Bradforth)
BS, University of Washington, 2014 (with Munira Khalil)

Laura grew up in Seattle Washington and received her BS in Chemistry from the University of Washington. She did her undergraduate research with Munira Khalil in collaboration with Brandi Cossairt, where she synthesized organometallic complexes for the study of proton-coupled electron transfer. After graduating from the University of Washington, she pursued higher education at the University of Southern California, getting a PhD under the advisement of Stephen Bradforth. While working in the Bradforth group, she primarily worked on studying electronic excited state processes of organic systems in either a film or in solution. This work included using techniques such as transient absorption spectroscopy and time resolved photoluminescence. Laura has a joint appointment with Sean Roberts and Carlos Baiz where her project focuses on building a high resolution microscope for both transient absorption microscopy and high spectral resolution imaging. Outside of the lab Laura enjoys playing the guitar/violin, hiking and sketching. 
Kelly Wilson (Joint with Baiz Group)
Email: kelmaxx@utexas.edu

PhD, University of Oregon, 2020 (with Cathy Wong)
BS, Brigham Young University - Idaho, 2014

Kelly was raised in American Fork, Utah. He earned his BS degree in chemistry and taught a Python for Chemists course at Brigham Young University – Idaho. Working with Prof. Cathy Wong at the University of Oregon, Kelly designed and built a single-shot transient absorption spectrometer to measure the excited state dynamics of chemical systems during processes such as nanocrystal growth and molecular aggregation. Kelly began working with Sean Roberts and Carlos Baiz in 2021 to build a time-resolved, super resolution microscope which will be integrated into the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at UT Austin. Kelly spends the rest of his time reading and adventuring with his wife and kids.
Jacob Strain (Joint with Rose Group)
Email: jacob.strain@utexas.edu | Jacob's CV | Website: jacobstrain.com

PhD, University of Louisville, 2020 (with Joshua Spurgeon)
BS, Western Kentucky University, 2012

Jacob grew up in Bowling Green, KY and received his BS in Chemistry and Biotechnology from WKU in 2012. He then worked at the Institute for Environmental Health in Scottsville, KY testing food products for microbial pathogens. In 2014 he decided to get back into research by joining Dr. Hemali Rathnayake's group at WKU to synthesize new organic solar cell materials and fabricate organic photovoltaics. In 2015 he began his graduate career at University of Louisville where he mainly worked on the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide. Jacob joined the groups of Dr. Rose and Dr. Roberts at the University of Texas at Austin in November 2020. He is working on the electrochemical and spectroscopic analysis of functionalized Si substrates. Outside of science, Jacob enjoys playing guitar, running, and reading history.
Graduate Students
Daniel Cotton
Email: decotton@utexas.edu

BS, Washington University, St. Louis, 2016

Daniel (Danny) Cotton was raised up and down the California coast. While studying at Washington University, St. Louis, he worked under Dr. Julio D’Arcy developing processing methods for conductive organics for use in electrochemical capacitors. Danny joined the Roberts group in 2016, and is working understanding the electronic structure of thin film organic chromophores via sum frequency generation and related spectroscopies. When not in lab, Danny enjoys camping, reading, music, and trying new things with friends.
Brittany Pollok (Joint with Rose Group)
Email: brpollok@utexas.edu

BS, Texas Lutheran University, 2018

Brittany is from Seguin, Texas. She received a BS degree in chemistry from Texas Lutheran University. Brittany joined the Roberts group in the fall of 2018. Outside of lab she enjoys hiking and swimming.
Honghao Wang
Email: hhwang@utexas.edu

BS, University of Arizona, 2018

Honghao was born and raised in Shenyang, China. He received a BS in chemistry from the University of Arizona, where he studied Fourier-transform microwave spectroscopy with Dr. Stephen Kukolich. He joined the Roberts lab in fall 2018. In his spare time, he enjoys road trips, watching Sci-Fi movies and eSports games.
Danielle Cadena
Email: dcadena@utexas.edu

BS, University of California Los Angeles, 2019

Danielle was born and raised on California's Central Coast. She received her BS in Chemistry and Materials Science with an organic concentration from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her undergraduate research sought to understand photodegradation processes in molecular aggregates of cyanine dyes. She joined the Roberts group in the fall of 2019. Outside of lab, she enjoys cooking, reading, and hiking.
Boxi (Cam) Li
Email: bli0611@utexas.edu

BA, Franklin & Marshal College, 2019

Cam was born and raised in Beijing, China. She received her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and German from Franklin and Marshall College, where she worked with Dr. Kate Plass on tuning cation exchange rates using various chemical dopants. Cam joined the Roberts group in fall 2019. She likes playing African drum, reading and eating cookies in her free time.
Undergraduate Students
Filippos Kallivokas

Filippos was born in Pittsburgh, PA, but his family moved to Texas when he was two months old and he grew up in Austin, TX. He is a chemical engineering student at the University of Texas at Austin, and he joined the Roberts group in the spring of 2019. In his free time, he enjoys playing and watching sports, as well as traveling within the U.S. and abroad.
Eden Chen

Eden was born in Dallas, Texas. He is currently pursuing a BS in physics at the University of Texas at Austin. He joined Robert's group in the Spring of 2021. Some of his pastimes are playing "Go", listening to classical music, and learning about Eastern Philosophy including Asian Traditional Medicine and Martial Arts.
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Jessica Tanner Boette

Jess is from Belton, TX. She is currently pursuing a B.S. in chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin, and joined the Roberts group in the spring of 2021. In her free time, she loves baking, distance running, hiking, sewing, and is an avid gardener.

Kelly Biv (CDCM REU Student)

Kelly was born in Paris but currently lives in Lynn, MA. She is currently pursuing a B.S. in Chemistry with a Biochemistry concentration and a minor in French at Salem State University. She works with the Roberts group through the 2021 Summer MRSEC REU Program. In her free time, she enjoys working out, cooking, and hanging out with friends!
Alex Friestman (CDCM REU Student)

Alex is from San Antonio, Texas. She is currently pursuing a B.S. in Material Science and Engineering at Texas A&M. She is happy to be participating in the 2021 Summer MRSEC REU. In her free time, she enjoys crochet, reading, watching Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV and playing simulation games.
Group Alumni - Postdoctoral Scholars
Ravindra Pandey, PhD (Fall 2014 - Spring 2017)
Email: rpandey.fcy@iitr.ac.in
Currently an Assistant Professor at IIT Roorkee
Group Alumni - Graduate Students
Emily Raulerson, PhD (Fall 2016 - Spring 2021)
Email: Emily.Raulerson@nrel.gov
Currnetly a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Beard Group at NREL

Jon Bender, PhD (Fall 2014 - Fall 2020)
Email: jonbender@utexas.edu
Currently a Scientist at Nulixir Inc.

Michelle Blemker, PhD (Fall 2015 - Summer 2020)
Email: mblemker@utexas.edu
Currently a Senior Scientist at Synexis, LLC

Michael Azzaro, PhD (Spring 2014 - Spring 2019)
Email: azzaro.m@utexas.edu
Currently an Engineer at Intel

Aaron Moon, PhD (Spring 2014 - Spring 2019)
Email: apmoon@utexas.edu
Currently an Engineer at TowerJazz

Aaron Le, PhD (Spring 2014 - Summer 2019)
Email: aaron.k.le@utexas.edu
Currently an Engineer at TowerJazz

Atlantis Frost (Fall 2016 - Fall 2017)
Group Alumni - Undergraduates
Mark Babin (Spring 2014 - Summer 2016)
Email: markcbabin@berkeley.edu
Currently Pursuing a PhD in Chemistry at UC Berkeley

Mirna Gonzalez (Fall 2015 - Fall 2016)
High School Science Teacher, Pasadena, CA

John Gao (Spring 2016 - Fall 2016)

Jacob Anderson (Fall 2016)
MD Candidate, Harvard Medical School

Zachary Tobin (Fall 2016)
Currently Pursuing a PhD in Chemistry at Texas A&M

Diana Zhang (Fall 2016 - Spring 2017)
Currently Pursuing a PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Minnesota

Brooks Clingman (Fall 2016 - Spring 2017)
Currently Pursuing a PhD in Chemical Engineering at MIT

Benny Renard (Fall 2015 - Fall 2017)

Jim Hall (April 2018 - August 2018)

Cole Hoffman (September 2018 - May 2019)

Annie Zhang (January 2018 - May 2019)
Currently Attending Graduate School in Communications at the University of Michigan

Inki Lee (January 2018 - May 2019)
Currently Pursing a PhD in Chemistry at Columbia University

Mitchell Haecker (GREAT: Summer 2017)
Currently Attending Texas A&M

Adam Peasley (GREAT: Summer 2018)
Currently Attending UT Dallas

Kira Daniel (GREAT: Summer 2019)
Group Alumni - Welch Summer Scholars
Kelby Erickson (Summer 2015)
Currently pursing a BS degree at UT Austin

Lauren Dossett (Summer 2016)
Currently pursuing a BS degree at MIT

Abhilash Potluri (Summer 2017)
Currently pursing a BS degree at UT Austin

Benjamin Li (Summer 2018)
Currently pursuing a BS degree at UT Austin