Our group is composed of students and postdocs from all backgrounds. We are convinced that diversity is essential to scientific excellence. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment and a group culture that is welcoming and respectful of the voices and perspectives of all members.
PI
 | Carlos R. BaizAssociate Professor of Chemistry Postdoc | Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (2011-2013) Ph.D. | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (2006-2011) B.S. | Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI (2002-2005) Outside the lab: Carlos is interested in enhancing student diversity in the physical sciences. He is a member of the CNS Diversity and Inclusion Committee as well as a member of the Chemistry Graduate Admissions Committee. |
Postdoctoral Fellows
 | Xiaobing ChenPostdoctoral Scholar PhD | Louisiana State University (2021) Main Project: Currently working on building a new 2D IR setup with the BOXCARS geometry Hobbies: Xiaobing loves listening to music, watching movies/TV series, and playing mobile games. |
 | Laura EstergreenPostdoctoral Scholar Ph.D. | University of Southern California (2020) Main Project: Ultrafast infrared microscopy
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 | Sunayana MitraPostdoctoral Scholar Ph.D. | University of Pittsburgh (2021) Main Project: Ion-Binding to protein and calcium signalling. Experiment and simulations. Outside the lab: Interested in developing effective methods to help undergraduates understand, learn and synthesize from scientific literature. Hobbies: Gardening; Hiking; Music; Exploring new places; Nature, art, and tea enthusiast. |
 | Kelly WilsonPostdoctoral Scholar Ph.D. | University of Oregon (2020) Main Project: Ultrafast visible microscopy |
Graduate Students
 | Eman AlasadiGraduate Student B.S. | University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington TX (2020) Main Project: Lanthanide ion coordination and modeling of vibrational spectroscopy
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| Reena Al-MualemGraduate Student B.S. | University of Washington, Seattle, WA (2018) Main Project: interactions of transmembrane peptides in lipid membranes Outside the lab: Reena is the Secretary of the Council of Graduate Chemists at UT. She has completed a teaching preparation series through UT’s Faculty Innovation Center. Hobbies: Reena enjoys bicycling, gardening, playing musical instruments, and going to rock concerts. |
 | Paul GarrettGraduate Student B.S. | Saint Mary’s University, San Antonio, TX (2019) Main Project: Dynamics of acrylamide polymerization in reverse micelles |
 | Keegan Lorenz-OchoaGraduate Student B.S. | Chemistry – Texas State University, San Marcos (2021) Main Project: Molecular crowding and liquid-liquid phase separation Hobbies: I like to read, play the guitar, hike/sight-see and play video games (Halo and The Elder Scrolls Series are my favorites)! |
 | Joseph ShirleyGraduate Student B.S. | New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM (2017) Main Project: Crowding Outside the lab: Jo is a member of the Council of Graduate Chemists; the Chemistry Student Safety Organization; the Inclusivity, Diversity, and Equity (IDEA) Task Force; and is the department representative to the Dean’s Office Graduate Council. Through these organizations, Jo participates in social and safety outreach and advocates for changes within the department and college. Hobbies: Jo likes cooking and baking with his wife. They also enjoy figuring out how to grow new plants. Their current project is growing Pascal the pineapPAL. |
 | Cong XuGraduate Student B.S. | Nanjing University, Nanjing, China (2018) Main Project: Dynamics at the membrane lipid-water interface |
Undergraduate Students
 | SpikeInfrared Spectrometer Born: Ettlingen, Germany (2015) Main Project: Spike is involved in all projects. Outside the lab: Spike has never been outside the lab. |
 | Dylan SmithUndergraduate Student University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX (2019-2023) Main Project: Macromolecular Crowding Outside the lab: Dylan is a miracle maker for Texas Thon, a year-long fundraiser for local children’s hospitals, find out more here–https://events.dancemarathon.com/participant/DylanSmith. Hobbies: In his free time, Dylan likes to practice guitar and ukulele, play video games with friends, and fence at the UT Fencing Club. |
Alumni
Name | Degree | After UT |
| Sean Edington | Postdoc | Postdoc in the Johnson Lab at Yale |
| Kwang-Im Oh | Postdoc | Research Associate, Gyeongsang National University, Korea |
| Ravi Venkatraman | Postdoc | Research Associate, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom |
| Euihyun Lee | Postdoc | Research Engineer, LG Display, Korea |
| Xiao You | Postdoc | Postdoctoral Scholar, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University |
| Ji-Yeon Kim | Graduate Student | Process Engineer, Lam Research, Fremont, CA |
| Jenny Flanagan | Graduate Student | Postdoc in the Veatch Lab at the University of Michigan |
| Mason Valentine | Graduate Student | Postdoc in the Xiong Lab at the University of California San Diego |
| Christopher Baryiames | Graduate Student | Postdoc in the Columbus Lab at the University of Virginia |
| Stephanie Liu | Graduate Student | Associate Scientist II at WuXi AppTec, Plainsboro, New Jersey |
| Emily Ma | Undergrad | Graduate student in the Geiger Lab at Northwestern University |
| Morgan Teel | Undergrad | UT Austin ’21 |
| Kavya Rajesh | Undergrad | Medical Student, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons |
| Niki Iranpour | Undergrad | Medical Student, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX |
| Maya Waterland | Undergrad | Data Scientist, Mercury Data Science, Houston, TX |
| Jennifer Sormberger | Undergrad | Graduate Student, Chemistry Department, University of Colorado, Boulder |
| Kelly Risch | Undergrad | Graduate Student, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University |
