Thesis

At Pomona College, I focused my research in computational physical-organic chemistry. My thesis project involved:

1. Running molecular dynamics simulations to get quantum mechanics data
2. Developing Python code to visualize the data
3. Explaining the results using molecular orbital theory

I knew quantum mechanics and Python code would not be easy to explain, especially since my brain tended to short-circuit under severe stage fright, so I relied on making nice visuals to help my senior thesis presentation go as smoothly as possible. Below, I embedded this slide deck.

Not only was I proud that I gave a 20 minute presentation on super theoretical chemistry without passing out in the auditorium, I was also so honored to have been nominated for Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society, for my work on this project!

I also attended the American Chemical Society Spring 2018 National Meeting and presented this research to the Computers in Chemistry Division. Here is the full abstract I submitted, and below is the poster I brought with me to New Orleans. (View it in full-screen with CTRL+Shift+F.)

Finally, my thesis advisors and I published a paper on kinetic isotope effects in Tetrahedron, an organic chemistry journal. This was really exciting because this was my first publication ever, and I was happy to have contributed a little bit to the universe.