I’m a postdoctoral scientist in computational and theoretical chemistry studying the electronic structure problem. I have a nearly decade of computational research experience with an emphasis on constructing and analyzing chemical data sets, the development of predictive machine learning models, and algorithm design. I love working with great people, turning data into insight, and developing algorithms to do things that weren’t possible before. I received my Ph.D. for developing 1) tools to construct reliable ML-based density functional approximations, 2) datasets to train them, and 3) algorithms to make them fast for very large systems.

Education

  • Ph.D. Theoretical/Computational Chemistry — Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (May 2023)
  • M.S. Theoretical/Computational Chemistry — Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (Dec. 2019)
  • B.A. Mathematics, B.A. Chemistry — St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN (May 2017)

Experience

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (May 2023 - Present)

  • Machine learning for the design and recycling of high-density polyethylene (HDPE)
  • Algorithms for training robust and transferable machine-learned density functional approximations
  • Black-box linear-scaling exact exchange with controllable accuracy for large-scale finite-gap condensed-phase systems
  • Quantum chemical database construction and analysis

Graduate Research Assistant

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (Aug. 2017 - May 2023)

  • Design of physically constrained empirical/machine-learned density functional approximations
  • Black-box linear-scaling exact exchange with controllable accuracy for large-scale finite-gap condensed-phase systems
  • Quantum chemical database construction and analysis

Undergraduate Researcher

St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN (Aug. 2015 - Aug. 2017)

  • Developed efficient hybrid classical/ML algorithm algorithm for high-resolution image analysis of high-speed gas flows
  • Synthesized and characterized organometallic molybdenum and tungsten compounds

Department of Energy Summer Undergraduate Laboratory Internship Fellow

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA (June 2016 - Aug. 2016)

  • Fabricated, characterized, and assessed hybrid photovoltaic electrochemical energy storage devices
  • Authored internal research report on the fabrication and optimization of novel integrated photoelectrochemical cells using ion soft-landing techniques

Visiting Undergraduate Research Assistant

MIT, Cambridge, MA (June 2015 - Aug. 2015)

  • Reconstructed historical Saharan dust transport by analyzing deep-sea sediment samples and modeling carbon-14 deposition rates using Gaussian Process regression