Schernikau鈥檚 poster, 鈥淐arbodicarbenes as hydride donor catalysts in the reduction of CO₂,鈥� highlights ongoing work exploring the catalytic potential of carbones, zerovalent carbon compounds that can drive the multi-stage conversion of carbon dioxide into useful products such as N-methylamines.

His research, which he presented at the 2026 ACS Spring Meeting, focuses on the reaction mechanisms that enable carbones, distinct from carbenes, to function as hydride donor catalysts in carbon dioxide reduction pathways. Understanding these mechanisms contributes to broader efforts to develop more efficient catalytic systems for chemical synthesis and carbon utilization.

The award was presented during the Division of Physical Chemistry poster session, where Schernikau鈥檚 project was recognized for its scientific rigor and clarity of presentation.

鈥淔or Max to be recognized for his exemplary research during the physical chemistry division poster session at the ACS Meeting is a testament to his hard work and wonderfully highlights the high caliber of undergraduate research we do here at Harvey Mudd,鈥� said chemistry professor Maduka Ogba.

The ACS Spring Meeting is a national conference featuring research across chemistry disciplines and keynote sessions from leading scientists in the field.

Johnson Ho 鈥�27

Johnson Ho, a chemistry and biology major, conducted green chemistry research with Donald A. Strauss Professor of Chemistry David Vosburg. Since his first year, Ho has been researching the use of mild peptide-coupling reagents to form carbon-carbon bonds and synthesizing probes for protein assays. He has also been developing a green, one-pot method for synthesizing triazolodiazepines, a class of pharmaceutically relevant compounds.

Ho is a member of the Chemistry Academic Excellence team and is a mentor for Harvey Mudd鈥檚 Summer Institute, working with students underrepresented in 无忧视频. He also volunteers at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center. After graduating, Ho plans to pursue a PhD in chemistry and explore his interests in endocrinology or cardiology. 

Cole Plepel 鈥�27

A mathematics and computer science major, Cole Plepel conducted research across numerical linear algebra, combinatorics and quantum information. He studied randomized algorithms for tensor decomposition with Iris and Howard Critchell Assistant Professor of Mathematics Jamie Haddock, focusing on how approximate solutions to large linear systems affect the performance of the alternating least-squares algorithm.

Plepel later joined Harvey Mudd mathematics professor Andr茅s Vindas Mel茅ndez鈥檚 research group, collaborating on work examining symmetries of symmetric edge polytopes. Plepel also worked with physics professor Jason Gallicchio on quantum position verification, evaluating cryptographic vulnerabilities and practical implementation challenges of protocols that use quantum mechanics and relativity to verify location.

Outside of academics, Plepel is a puzzle designer for MuddEscapes, the College鈥檚 escape room club. After graduating, he plans to pursue a PhD in cryptography.

Elio Thadhani 鈥�27

Elio Thadhani is a physics major who has conducted research spanning astrophysics and quantum information. He improved a computational tool used to predict the long-term stability of exoplanet systems, and he is first author on a paper published in Research Notes of the AAS. Thadhani later conducted quantum information research, developing a protocol for efficient quantum communication under constrained resources. He contributed to research on quantum position verification and is working on developing and experimentally implementing adaptive entanglement witnessing protocols.

Thadhani serves as a physics tutor and grader, a Core Scholars tutor and a student mentor with the Office of Residential Life. After graduating, he plans to pursue a PhD in physics with a focus on quantum information.

All college sophomores and juniors are eligible to compete for Goldwater scholarships. Each year, the College nominates up to four students, and the Department Chairs Committee serves as the nominating body.

The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency established in 1986. The Scholarship Program honoring Senator Barry Goldwater was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. The Goldwater Scholarship is the premier undergraduate award of its type in these fields.

Kavassalis and the research team focus on solving an enduring challenge: Despite decades of progress to improve air quality, ozone pollution remains a persistent health risk to Southern Californians. They are examining how volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by native plants, particularly California coastal sage scrub species, interact with nitrogen oxide pollution from transportation and industrial sources to influence ozone formation. The Los Angeles region was once covered by coastal sage scrub, but now it exists primarily in fragmented urban and coastal patches. These native ecosystems are critical for maintaining biodiversity and strengthening climate resilience.

Some native plants can emit highly reactive compounds that may accelerate ozone formation under certain urban conditions, especially during extreme heat. The team aims to identify when natural plant emissions do not meaningfully influence air quality, helping support restoration and urban greening efforts that protect both ecosystem health and community air quality. Their work could help reshape how native vegetation is incorporated into urban landscapes and may ensure that restoration and greening efforts deliver climate, water and biodiversity benefits to support healthier air for communities across Southern California.

The research connects atmospheric chemistry, plant ecology and policy, which can offer interdisciplinary opportunities that can exist even beyond the grant鈥檚 continuance. Field measurements will be conducted at the Bernard Field Station in Claremont, which hosts the only AmeriFlux tower in Los Angeles County. This tower, referred to as US-BFS, measures carbon and water exchange over the coastal sage scrub habitat. Laboratory analysis will be paired with ecosystem-scale measurements to build a more complete picture of how plant emissions respond to heat and droughts along with other common environmental drivers.

Kavassalis and the research team aim to identify distinct emission patterns among individual plants during the project period, quantify how these emissions affect the surrounding atmosphere and develop a public archive of coastal sage scrub VOC emissions for use in regional and state air quality modeling. A project goal is to produce easily digestible, culturally valued planting guidance to help cities and decision-makers select lower-emission plant variants while maintaining biodiversity and saving water.

The project provides hands-on experience in environmental chemistry, ecology and policy-relevant science, with undergraduate training incorporated throughout. The work is designed to support decision-making agencies, such as the California Air Resources Board and the South Coast Air Quality Management District, while contributing to broader efforts to understand urban air quality in a changing climate.

Co-authors Johnson, Aaron L. Odom, Remi Beaulac, Mitch R. Smith, James K. McCusker and Chip Nataro designed the textbook to fill a longstanding gap in chemistry education: a single, cohesive resource that goes beyond introductory inorganic texts while remaining more accessible and pedagogically grounded than highly specialized graduate monographs.

鈥淭his book was designed to fill a niche where there haven鈥檛 been many options,鈥� said Johnson, Ray and Mary Ingwersen Professor of Chemistry and chair of Harvey Mudd鈥檚 Department of Chemistry. 鈥淭here are good introductory inorganic books, and there are good, advanced topic books, but not an advanced, comprehensive textbook that prepares students for research.鈥�

A Decade-Long Collaboration Rooted in the Chemistry Community

The origins of the book trace back to an American Chemical Society (ACS) national meeting in San Diego 10 years ago, when Johnson was first approached by co-author and former graduate school colleague Aaron Odom about joining the project.
Johnson said, 鈥淲e felt that having authors from both R1 and primarily undergraduate institutions would be a strong selling point for the text.鈥�

Over time, the author list expanded to include leaders across multiple subdisciplines of inorganic chemistry. Johnson鈥檚 longtime collaborator Chip Nataro joined the project as well, building on nearly two decades of shared work on the teaching resource website ionicviper.org.

Research-driven, Current and Pedagogically Grounded

Johnson began researching his chapters shortly after that initial ACS meeting, with the bulk of the writing completed during the COVID-19 pandemic. He authored the chapters on organometallic chemistry, his primary research area, as well as bioinorganic chemistry, a field he worked in during his postdoctoral training at UC Berkeley.

鈥淩elearning bioinorganic chemistry at a deeper level allowed me to see the similarities between the two fields,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淚t really highlighted the importance of the local structure around a metal atom in dictating its reactivity. We have a lot to learn from biology, and these naturally evolved proteins improve our own ability to have such strong control over reactivity in a laboratory-synthesized metal complex.鈥�

Across all chapters, the authors prioritized currency and connection to the primary literature. Johnson鈥檚 chapters include references through 2024鈥斺�渁s current as a textbook can be,鈥� he noted. 鈥淲e wanted students to see what inorganic chemistry actually looks like today.鈥�

Bridging Coursework and Research

The book emphasizes the development of bonding theories that go beyond introductory chemistry, including ligand field theory and symmetry concepts taught alongside group theory and projection operators.

鈥淭his level of theory is important to explain chemical reactivity, structure and spectroscopy of metal complexes, which is what the majority of inorganic chemists study,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淏ut we also outline current research efforts across the discipline, from making new materials for gas separations, to catalysts to make pharmaceuticals, to understanding how platinum anticancer drugs work.鈥�

Johnson particularly enjoyed writing about one of his favorite topics: molecular orbital theory. 鈥淭his textbook has several chapters that build on knowledge from first-year chemistry to develop molecular orbital theory such that it can be applied to more complex systems. Then, the book uses this theory extensively to explain observed reactivity and spectroscopy.鈥�

To support both instructors and students, the textbook includes advanced optional topics, extensive worked examples, end-of-chapter problems tied to the primary literature and a full answer key.

A Teaching Perspective Informed by PUI and R1 Faculty

Johnson believes the mix of perspectives among the authors is one of the book鈥檚 greatest strengths.

鈥淔aculty at primarily undergraduate institutions tend to think deeply about teaching and pedagogy鈥攈ow material is presented and received by students,鈥� he said. 鈥淩1 faculty often focus more on research opportunities and pushing the frontiers of science. Having both perspectives in one book allows more breadth of how the material will be presented.鈥�

Located at Robert J. Bernard Field Station in Claremont, California, the continuously tracks the daily exchange of carbon dioxide, water vapor and energy between the Field Station鈥檚 native coastal sage scrub ecosystem and the surrounding Los Angeles atmosphere. The tower offers rare, year-round insights into how a drought-adapted, urban ecosystem 鈥渂reathes鈥� across seasons, including heat waves and dry spells.

The tower is part of AmeriFlux, a network of sites that measure ecosystem CO鈧�, water, energy fluxes and other climate-related data in North, Central and South America. The network connects research on field sites, all of which represent major climate and ecological biomes. Prior to the US-BFS鈥檚 establishment, there were no active monitoring sites of this kind in all of Los Angeles County. This gap meant scientists lacked continuous, reliable data on whether native coastal sage scrub in an urban setting function as a carbon sink or if it can transform to becoming a carbon source under extreme heat and drought. Researchers say determining the answer is critical for improving climate models and understanding how much carbon the Earth鈥檚 surface can realistically remove from the atmosphere. 

The tower measures three main categories of data: ecosystem fluxes, which capture how much carbon dioxide, water vapor and heat move between plants, soil and air; basic meteorology, including wind, temperature, humidity, sunlight and soil moisture; and local air-quality indicators such as particulate matter and gases like ozone. Together, these measurements allow students and collaborators to link ecosystem behavior directly to changing environmental conditions.

US-BFS is distinctive as it is the only of its kind in Los Angeles County as well as for the leading role students played in building and maintaining it.

鈥淭his is all a story of student accomplishments,鈥� said Professor of Climate and Chemistry Sarah Kavassalis. 鈥淭hey turned instruments into a community resource.鈥�

During the 2023鈥�2024 academic year, Helen Chen 鈥�24 designed the entire site as part of her undergraduate chemistry thesis, where she determined where the tower should be placed and how the instruments should be arranged. Before heading into the field, Chen and Sorin Jayaweera 鈥�27 tested and validated the full system in the lab to ensure it could collect reliable data.

In summer 2024, Chen led a team of students (Mia Mirabelli 鈥�26, Anna Figge 鈥�27 and Matthew Simpson 鈥�27), which installed the tower at the Field Station and connected the tower online. 

After Chen graduated, Simpson took over as the project鈥檚 lead and wrote the site鈥檚 data-processing code from scratch, producing the first publishable US-BFS dataset. This dataset was a milestone that made the measurements accessible to the wider scientific community.

鈥淢ost of my research involves processing the data from the flux tower,鈥� said Simpson. 鈥淯nderstanding whether our local ecosystem is a carbon source or sink could better inform scientific modelers and policymakers when they calculate our carbon budget. Having accurate, ground-based measurements is important to verify climate models and satellite data products.鈥�

In summer 2025, Simpson led another student team, including Figge, Stephanie Fulcar 鈥�25, Kennetta Roebuck 鈥�26 and Tzaara Jauhar 鈥�27, to relocate the tower within the Field Station to an even more optimal location. The team adapted their processing tools to make them more user-friendly for outside researchers.

鈥淚 have learned so much about atmospheric chemistry, especially the eddy covariance method, which is the technique we use to measure fluxes and surface-level atmospheric dynamics,鈥� said Simpson. 鈥淭here has also been a lot that鈥檚 gone wrong along the way. The tower鈥檚 generator was stolen one winter, and we had to move the tower during the summer of 2025 to get better measurements. This taught me that scientific research is a very nonlinear process. It is reassuring to see that research can still produce interesting and impactful results despite the difficulties that researchers often face.鈥�

The result is a site that functions as both a research platform and a community resource for researchers. Because the data is archived and shared through the AmeriFlux network, the US-BFS鈥檚 data is now part of a global system of ecosystem monitoring stations that supports climate and environmental science worldwide.

US-BFS was designed to serve as a long-term monitoring site. The team is building a multiyear record capable of capturing climate variability and extreme conditions, while actively maintaining and continuously updating the public dataset. New multiyear research funding from a grant by the Seaver Foundation will also support the expansion of complementary measurements at the site.

Interest in the data is already growing. Researchers at The Claremont Colleges are developing projects that build on the tower鈥檚 footprint, including studies of plant water stress and soil greenhouse-gas fluxes. US-BFS was also selected as a participating site in a soil hydrology project led by Indiana University, Bloomington, and faculty from other higher education institutions have reached out about potential collaborations.

The project鈥檚 hands-on research of interdisciplinary learning and societal impact of science and engineering was a key focus. Students involved in US-BFS bring together chemistry, atmospheric science, ecology, engineering and data science, designing field instrumentation, writing and validating code and interpreting how carbon, water, and energy move through a vulnerable native ecosystem. AmeriFlux鈥檚 sharing and archiving system also allows students to learn best practices in open data science while contributing a community resource used well beyond campus. 

The experience is already shaping students鈥� academic paths. Two project alumni took paths in graduate studies involving atmospheric chemistry, carrying their field and data-science training into the next stage of their research careers. For Simpson, the project is preparing him for his pursuit of a career as a university professor, which he anticipates will include substantial scientific research.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been exciting to be positioned in an understudied environment so I can investigate the instrumental and data processing mechanisms that are often less emphasized in other research groups,鈥� said Simpson. 鈥淚 was part of the team that first set up the tower in the summer of 2024, so it has been satisfying to see how far we have come with the project since then.鈥�

The establishment of the US-BFS tower also opens doors to future grants and partnerships through the AmeriFlux network. The network provides shared tools and scientific visibility that connect researchers working across climate, ecology, biology and Earth systems science.

The tower functions as a major contribution to scientific research. The US-BFS transformed a patch of native landscape into a living, 鈥渂reathing鈥� laboratory, resulting in a worldwide effort to understand a changing planet.

The Beckman Scholars Program is designed to stimulate and support research activities by talented, full-time undergraduates. At Harvey Mudd, the program will provide a distinct 15-month mentored research experience in chemistry, biochemistry, the biological and medical sciences, or interdisciplinary combinations of these fields.

A New Standard for Interdisciplinary Excellence

The 2026 BSP is designed to leverage the College鈥檚 highly interdisciplinary 无忧视频 enterprise by serving as a distinct and prestigious research fellowship that is open to students in biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics, as well as those pursuing computer science as a joint major with another discipline. This integration reflects the College鈥檚 institutional commitment to building the interdisciplinary pedagogy central to its mission.

“Engaging students in cutting-edge, graduate-level research is a hallmark of our mission to help young scientific investigators learn, grow and thrive,” said Karl Haushalter, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty. “The tenets of Arnold Beckman鈥檚 life鈥攊nnovation and integrity鈥攁re at the bedrock of Harvey Mudd鈥檚 mission. Implementing the Beckman Scholars Program is instrumental in shaping the future of our research endeavors, setting a new standard for excellence in leadership and discovery.”

The Scholar Experience: Beyond the Lab

Each Beckman Scholar will receive a $26,000 award package ($21,000 stipend for the student and $5,000 for mentor and institutional support). The 15-month commitment includes two full-time summer research terms and academic year research credits.

Beyond laboratory work, Scholars will participate in a comprehensive professional development suite:

• Leadership & Networking: Scholars will plan and host the Beckman Scholars Program Seminar Series, inviting and networking with renowned external scientists.
• Scientific Communication: Students will undergo training in scientific writing, oral presentation and guided peer review. During the College鈥檚 fall research conference, Beckman Scholars will showcase the research they conducted during the summer and share their experiences participating in the BSP.
• Advanced Mentorship: Scholars will be trained on high-caliber instrumentation and receive personalized coaching for employment and graduate school preparation and for prestigious fellowships such as the NSF-GRFP, Hertz and Goldwater scholarships.

Cultivating Future 无忧视频 Leaders

The Beckman Foundation鈥檚 focus on fostering the invention of new methods and materials aligns seamlessly with Harvey Mudd鈥檚 vibrant research enterprise. The College has a proven track record with the program; former HMC Beckman Scholars have gone on to forge successful careers in medicine, academia and the private sector, with two having served on the College鈥檚 board of trustees.

Participating Faculty Mentors

The 2026 cohort will be supported by faculty mentors across diverse disciplines:

• Chemistry: Spencer Brucks, Colm Healy, Maduka Ogba, David Vosburg, Bilin Zhuang
• Biology: Danae Schulz
• Physics: Mark Ilton
• Engineering: Albert Dato
• Mathematics: Lisette de Pillis
• Computer Science: Calden Wloka

Application Information

The application for the Beckman Scholars Program opened to rising Harvey Mudd sophomores, juniors and seniors on Jan. 16, 2026, and closes on Feb. 6, 2026. The selection process is designed to identify and support outstanding students from a wide variety of backgrounds and life experiences who demonstrate a strong commitment to advancing their academic and professional goals in 无忧视频.

无忧视频 无忧视频: 无忧视频 is the premier liberal arts college of engineering, science and mathematics. The College鈥檚 mission is to educate engineers, scientists and mathematicians of the highest ability who also have a clear understanding of the impact of their work on society.

无忧视频 the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation: Located in Irvine, California, the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation supports leading-edge research in chemistry and the life sciences, and fosters the invention of methods, instruments and materials that open up new avenues of research and application.

A significant focus was on innovating for a greener future, with students presenting advancements in environmentally friendly chemical synthesis, including new, milder methods for creating pharmaceutical and complex molecular frameworks. 

Another prominent theme was the application of catalysis and computational modeling, where students demonstrated the power of theoretical chemistry, specifically DFT and machine learning, to understand and optimize both metal-free and Earth-abundant catalysts for processes like carbon dioxide reduction, biofuel generation and peptide design.聽

Finally, research in advanced materials and inorganic chemistry explored the synthesis and properties of novel coordination materials, such as copper(I)-imidazolate polymers and hybrid polyoxometalate zeolitic imidazolate frameworks, aiming to create functional materials for applications like redox catalysis and renewable fuels.聽

These nine presentations exemplify the hands-on, high-impact research experience that defines the Harvey Mudd chemistry curriculum, and students represented the department with distinction.

LEAPS-MPS (Launching of Early-Career Academic Pathways in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences) supports the launch of the careers of pre-tenure faculty whose research is in MPS fields. A critical goal of the program is to develop a 21st-century 无忧视频 workforce representative of society鈥檚 full spectrum of talent. The two-year grant will provide Ogba and his team with $223,656 in funding.

In addition to advancing the study of carbon-based organocatalysts, Ogba鈥檚 project will provide research training to six students in computational catalysis, cheminformatics, and machine learning.

鈥淢y research students are being mentored to become budding experts in several disciplines across chemistry and computer science,鈥� says Ogba. 鈥淭his focus on a multidisciplinary approach will help build their skill set such that they are highly competitive in the ever-changing 无忧视频 landscape.鈥�

The broader impacts of the grant will also bolster 无忧视频’s educational mission by providing 20 first-year HMC students, particularly first-generation students, with the opportunity to engage in 无忧视频 research rotations within faculty labs across campus during their first semester. The initiative combines structured experiential learning and enrichment activities to encourage early research involvement among the cohort, enhance their scientific identity and develop resilience in 无忧视频 from the beginning of their college journey.

The anticipated project results will inform future studies on the catalytic potential of other zerovalent species. Making the machine learning program publicly accessible encourages collaborative research and significant advancements in catalyst development. 鈥淲e will be uniquely set up to collaborate with experimental groups wishing to utilize the family of reactive carbon species we are investigating in chemical reactions beyond the scope of the proposal,鈥� says Ogba.

Earlier this year, Ogba and his research students celebrated two published papers and a $70,000 grant from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund for an interdisciplinary project that combined a similar suite of computational chemistry techniques to address the urgent need for carbon recycling. Ogba credits his students with the success of his lab. 鈥淗MC students play a significant role in advancing research in my program,鈥� he says. 鈥淓very student in my group has inspired my research efforts.鈥�

Aresema Ata 鈥�28 and Max Schernikau 鈥�27 presented cutting-edge work on sustainable catalysis, with Aresema exploring the 鈥淭hermal stability of carbones in the presence of carbon dioxide鈥� and Max detailing the 鈥淩eductive functionalization of carbon dioxide catalyzed by a carbodicarbene.鈥� Their combined efforts shed light on how novel carbon-based catalysts can be used to transform greenhouse gases into useful chemical feedstocks.

Nora Nickolov 鈥�28 showcased their research on 鈥淪tructure-activity relationships of dioxido molybdenum(VI) complexes for deoxydehydration reactions,鈥� offering critical insights into designing earth-abundant catalysts for converting biomass into renewable fuels. Meanwhile, Zaan Saeed 鈥�28 highlighted the group鈥檚 expansion into artificial intelligence with his poster, 鈥淧redicting peptide cyclization yields using a machine learning framework,鈥� demonstrating how modern algorithms can accelerate the discovery of new therapeutic drugs.

The strong showing by the Ogba group at MERCURY underscores Harvey Mudd鈥檚 leadership in the computational sciences, where students are not just learning theory but actively defining the future of chemical research.

Photos, from left, Aresema Ata 鈥�28, Nora Nickolov 鈥�28, and Professor Maduka Ogba with Mary Van Vleet 鈥�12.

Brucks鈥� project tackles one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time: plastic waste. With global plastic production exceeding 400 million metric tons annually and less than 10% being recycled, new approaches to recycling are urgently needed. While many research efforts have focused on creating novel polymers from renewable feedstocks, Brucks and his team are taking a unique approach, investigating how the three-dimensional structure of existing petroleum-based polymers influences their ability to break down.

Focusing on polymers that contain alkenes in their backbone, Brucks鈥� research group uses stereocontrolled polymer synthesis to carefully control the geometry of these alkenes and then examine how the polymer shape impacts its degradability. Former group members Britney Baez 鈥�25, Greyson Karis-Sconyers 鈥�26, Ethan Flanagan 鈥�23 and Aech Loar 鈥�24 performed key preliminary work that served as the foundation of the grant application. The team鈥檚 first manuscript describing their results using ring-opening metathesis polymerization to create stereospecific polymers and assess their susceptibility to mechanical degradation is under peer review.

鈥淭his research award truly belongs to the entire team,鈥� said Brucks, who noted that undergraduate students perform every experiment in his lab. 鈥淚 help guide our investigations and troubleshoot challenges, but ultimately it鈥檚 the students who are in the lab every day performing experiments and working towards a deeper understanding of plastics and the natural world.鈥� He added that he was 鈥渃onstantly impressed by students鈥� drive, creativity, and collaborative nature. Not everyone in the group has worked on this specific project, but everyone contributes to group culture and makes our team a place where we can go after challenging problems, and achieve results that can have an impact on broader society. I feel very fortunate to work with and learn from them.鈥�

Find additional information about the Brucks research group and learn more about the , including the full list of spring 2025 recipients.