Member Bios

Jim grew up outside of Worcester, MA in the town of Boylston and went on to attend the University of Rochester (B.S. 2014). When not hiding from the upstate winters in the university’s underground tunnel system, he could be found in the basement of the chemistry building in the Jones lab. His undergraduate work investigated small molecule reaction kinetics with nickel sulfide complexes. His doctoral thesis, advised by Professor Nathaniel Szymczak at the University of Michigan, focused on ligand design and assessment of unconventional hydrogen bond and Lewis acid interactions to transition metal bound small molecules (N₂ and H₂). After earning his PhD in 2020, he joined the Owen lab where he will apply his appreciation for ligand design, exchange behavior, and structure/function relationships to nanocrystal synthesis. Outside of the lab, Jim enjoys skiing, pyrography (woodburning), and visiting museums.

Sungho is from Seoul, South Korea. He was first introduced to inorganic chemistry research in the lab of Prof. Liviu Mirica at Washington University, where he synthesized bench-stable Pd(III) complexes. After two years in the Korean military, he decided to come back to the U.S. for graduate school and joined Prof. John Berry's group at the University of Wisconsin. Sungho's work at Wisconsin focused on paramagnetic ruthenium compounds and their N–P and N≡N bond formation reactivity. After receiving his PhD, he has joined Prof. Jon Owen's lab at Columbia to investigate nanoscale metal-organic frameworks.

Mark is originally from Philadelphia and has been a scientist in Maine, Chicago, Seattle, and New York. He got his B.A. in Chemistry at Colby College in Maine where he discovered an interested in physical chemistry, followed by a yearlong research internship at Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago where he discovered another interest in materials science. He received his PhD in Physical Chemistry from University of Washington in Seattle in 2018, where his research involved using electro-optical and time resolved optical spectroscopy techniques to study the photophysics of organic and hybrid perovskite semiconductors in the group of Professor David Ginger. In 2018 he moved to Columbia University as a DOE EERE Postdoctoral Fellow to study the ultrafast photophysics of ferroelectric semiconductors using a variety of pump-probe laser spectroscopy and optical microscopy techniques in the group of Professor Xiaoyang Zhu. In fall 2021, he pursued a unique opportunity to work jointly as a postdoc in the groups of Professors Jonathan Owen, James Schuck (Columbia MechE), and Abhay Pasupathy (Columbia Physics) to establish a research effort at Columbia on quantum sensing with nitrogen-vacancy defect centers in diamond for imaging magnetism in two-dimensional materials. Mark is very excited to be working in all aspects of quantum with the Owen group!

Jessica grew up in Johnstown, Colorado and attended Colorado State University (B.S. 2016). At Colorado State University she was introduced to many exciting elements of inorganic chemistry, such as the photophysical properties of quantum dots (Prof. Alan Van Orden) and molecular magnetism (Prof. Matthew P. Shores). She traveled to the west coast for her doctoral work and studied under Professor Alina M. Schimpf at the University of California San Diego. Her doctoral thesis focused on the synthesis of transition metal dichalcogenide nanocrystals, where different coordination complexes of tungsten were used to influence the precursor conversion kinetics to access size-, shape-, and phase-tunability. After receiving her doctoral degree, Jessica joined Prof. Owen’s group where she hopes to apply the expertise gained from her doctoral work and the longstanding fundamental investigations of nanocrystal synthesis of the Owen lab to synthesize high-quality III-V semiconductor nanocrystals!

Bereket Zekarias was born and raised in the vibrant city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She came to the states at 16 to attend an international boarding school in Montezuma, New Mexico. After two years in beautiful Montezuma, she attended Brown university and studied biochemistry and molecular biology. After a gap year at home, she moved back to the states to pursue her masters in pharmaceutical sciences at University of Wisconsin-Madison. During her graduate studies, she synthesized analogues that were potent against Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) and worked on the rearrangement of chloroquinazolinones to twisted-cyclic guanidines or ring-fused N-acylguanidines. Finding the prospect of living in New York City irresistible, she moved to Columbia university and joined the Owen lab to study quantum dots' surface coordination chemistry. Bereket enjoys writing short stories, reading and watching movies.

Yuzuka was born in Iwakura, Japan, grew up in Memphis, TN, and went to high school in Los Angeles, CA. She wanted a change of scenery again and moved to Baltimore, MD to pursue a degree in chemistry at Johns Hopkins University. She studied under Professor Thomas Kempa, studying redox-active dimolybdenum metal organic frameworks. After graduating from Hopkins with more degrees than originally planned, she decided to move yet again and headed off to New York City to pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry at Columbia. In the Owen Lab, she is studying PbS in perovskites and spectroscopic methods. In her free time, Yuzuka likes cooking, thrift shopping, and exploring the city.

William was born and raised in Arcadia, CA outside of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area. While pursuing his undergraduate education in Chemistry at the University of California Santa Barbara (B.S. 2021) he developed a love for synthetic chemistry, having worked in the lab of Prof. Ram Seshadri under Molleigh Preefer developing functional magnetics and materials for lithium-ion batteries utilizing solid state methodologies. While not mixing chemicals, William enjoys wandering New York City’s many neighborhoods, watching Broadway shows, listening to live music, drinking coffee, and enjoying cold weather.

Daybis was born and raised in Costa Rica. He got his B.Sc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Costa Rica, same institution that years later embraced him as an Instructor. After years working in that tropical paradise in surface and interfacial chemistry of various industrial-relevant materials he decided to come to the Big Apple and join the Owen Group. Currently, Daybis works on oxygen-terminated surfaces for quantum sensing with nitrogen-vacancy defect centers in diamond. Besides chemistry and physics, Daybis loves lifting, artistic gymnastics and ballet.

Jade was born and raised in Katy, TX outside of the Houston Area. She received her B.A. in chemistry from Austin College, a small liberal arts school north of Dallas, TX. There, she had multiple research experiences, including synthetic inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry. After graduating, Jade decided to trade the humid Texas summers for brutal New York winters to pursue a PhD. in chemistry. She recently joined the Owen group and is working on nanocrystal metal-organic framework synthesis. In her free time, Jade enjoys baking, spin classes, and long walks exploring the city.

Colin is from the southern coast of North Carolina, in a beachside town called Jacksonville. To achieve a more challenging, faster-paced environment he decided to continue his education in New York City at Columbia University. He plans to major in Biochemistry on a premed track in hopes of going to medical school or graduate school. Though Colin has several different research interests, he has a keen liking for metal-organic frameworks. In his day-to-day life, Colin enjoys singing, music arranging and composing, cooking, and reading.

 

Andrew is from the suburbs of New York City, in a small town called Pelham. He worked as a researcher for the Owen Lab in high school, and to continue to pursue his work in this field he decided to attend Columbia University. He plans to major in chemistry and hopes to go to graduate school to pursue a Ph. D. in order to become a professor. Andrew has a real passion for research, but outside of the lab he loves to bake, sing, act, and play rugby.