Our Team
Team Leader
Chen, Eugene Y.-X.
University Distinguished Professor
John K. Stille Endowed Chair in Chemistry
Millennial Professor of Polymer Science and Sustainability
BS/MS, Shangrao Normal University/Nankai University
Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Postdoctoral fellow, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Sr. Research Chemist/Project Leader, Dow Chemical Company
Contact Information:
Department of Chemistry
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1872
Voice: (970) 491-5609
E-mail: eugene.chen [at] colostate.edu
Shipping address:
Chemistry Research Building
301 West Pitkin St.
0997 Campus Delivery
200 West Lake Street, Central Receiving
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523-0997
Administrative assistant:
Elizabeth McCoy
Classic Chemistry Building, C200
Voice: (970) 491-7602
E-mail: Elizabeth.McCoy [at] colostate.edu
Current Members
Senior Researchers
Gowda, Ravikumar R.
Research scientist III. Group manager.
Ph.D. Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Circular bioplastics: chemically recyclable bio-based plastics; catalytic biomass conversion to sustainable monomers & polymers; metal-catalyzed coordination polymerization
Ch., Eswara Rao
Postdoctoral fellow.
Ph.D. Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Bio-based and circular polymers: new architectures and synthetic approaches; stereocomplexed crystalline bioplastics; chemically recyclable acrylic bioplastics
Zhang, Zhen
Postdoctoral fellow.
Ph.D. University of New Mexico
Biodegradable Polymers: designer high-performance PHAs; unnatural PHAs; bio-based monomer synthesis and polymerization catalysis
Barange, Deepak, K.
Research Scientist II.
Ph.D. National Taiwan Normal University
Chemically recyclable bioplastics: synthetic methodologies for monomers, polymers, ligands, and catalysts
Zhou, Li
Postdoctoral Fellow.
Ph.D. Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry
Polymer synthesis and polymerization catalysis.
Tian, Junjie
Postdoctoral fellow.
Ph.D. Nankai University
Lewis pair polymerization for stereoregular polymers
Diment, Wilf
Postdoctoral fellow.
Ph.D. University of Oxford
Design of earth-abundant catalysts for selective de/polymerization
Li, Ruirui
Postdoctoral fellow.
Ph.D. Nankai University
Functionalized PHAs for multidrug co-delivery
Nam, Jiyun
Postdoctoral fellow.
Ph.D. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
Cyclic multiblock copolymers by Lewis Pair Polymerization of one-pot comonomer mixtures
Tu, Hang-Fei
Postdoctoral fellow.
Ph.D. Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, CAS
Biomass-based renewable, chemically circular, and biodegradable polymers
Zhu, Min
Postdoctoral fellow.
Ph.D. Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, CAS
Chemocatalytic route to biodegradable polymers
Gao, Yunpeng
Postdoctoral fellow.
Ph.D. Peking University, Beijing.
Closed-loop upcycling of mixed plastics.
Graduate Students
Eckstrom, Francesca
B.S. University of Iowa
Lewis pair polymerization for sustainable polymers
Gace, Maëlle
B.S. Cardinal Stritch University
Chemocatalytic route to biodegradable PHAs
Gilsdorf, Reid
B.A. University of Colorado, Boulder
Circular polymers: chemical recycling of conventional acrylics; recyclable-by-design circular acrylic bioplastics
Noonan, Anderson
B.S. Appalachian State University
Bio-derived renewable polymers
Parker, Celine
B.S. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Biodegradable polymers: designer high-performance PHAs; PHAs with new functions, topologies, and morphologies
Poppen, Ethan
B.S. Augsburg College
Redesigned Synthetic PHAs
Quinn, Ethan
B.S. Seton Hill University
Biodegradable polymers: designer high-performance PHAs; PHAs with new functions, topologies, and morphologies
Reilly, Liam
B.S. Rochester Institute of Technology
New polymerization methodologies: Lewis pair polymerization; stereo-sequenced PHAs; stereo-controlled high-performance circular plastics
Stubbs, Chris
B.S. University of Wisconsin, Madison
Polymer Modeling and Development: Machine learning and density functional theory; explainable and experimentally-verified AI; modeling of sustainable polymers.
Wang, Lili
B.S. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Circular and biodegradable polymers
Westworth, Xavier
B.S. University of California, Irvine
Vitrimers for compatibilizing plastics mixtures
Alumni
Bolig, Andy
Ph.D. (co-advised by Prof. L. Hegedus)
Assistant Professor, SFSU
Chakraborty, Debashis
Postdoc
Professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Chen, Jiawei
Postdoc
Gelest
Chen, Xia
Visiting scholar/postdoc
Professor, Shanxi University
Clarke, Ryan
Ph.D.
Postdoc, NREL
Cui, Dongmei
Visiting professor
Professor, CIAC, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Cywar, Robin
Ph.D.
TDA Research
Do, Jung Yun
Visiting scholar
Associate Professor, Pusan National University
Dunn, Eric
M.S.
Ph.D. student, UNC Chapel Hill
Escudé, Nicole
M.S.
Tolmar Inc.
Feng, Kelvin
M.S.
China
Franklin, Kevin
M.S.
Guo, Lihua
Visiting scholar/professor
Associate Professor, Qufu Normal University
Gustafson, Laura
M.S.
He, Jianghua
Postdoc
Research scientist, Jilin University
Hong, Miao
Postdoc/research scientist
Professor, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Hu, Yangjian
Postdoc
Associate Professor, Huaihua University
Jin, Jizu
Postdoc
ACS
Liu, Dajiang (DJ)
Ph.D. (co-advised by Prof. Sue. James)
Business Intelligence Analyst, Indeed
Mariott, Wes
Ph.D.
Dow Chemical Company
McGraw, Michael
Ph.D.
Postdoc, NREL
Miyake, Garret
Ph.D.
Professor, Colorado State University
Mo, Zehuai
Postdoc
Assistant Professor, Ningbo University
Nicki, Matthew
M.S.
Senior Process Development Chemist, BASF
Ning, Yalan
Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Huston-Tillostson University
Peksenar, Yaman
M.S.
Sustainable Chemicals, LLC
Rodriguez, Antonio
Postdoc
Associate Professor, CSIC, Spain
Sangroniz, Ainara
Marie Curie MSCA Postdoctoral Fellow
Assistant Professor, POLYMAT, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Spain
Schmitt, Megan
M.S.
Scoti, Miriam
Visiting scholar.
Università di Napoli Federico II
Shi, Changxia
Postdoc
University of Hong Kong
Tang, Jing
Ph.D.
Wiley, Shanghai
Tang, Xiaoyan
Postdoc/research scientist
Assistant Professor, Peking University
Tsai, Chia-Hua
Postdoc
DuPont, Taiwan
Vidal-Penã, Fer
Ph.D.
Postdoc, Oxford University
Wang, Lu
Postdoc
Research chemist, Houston Methodist
Wang, Yang
Visiting scholar
Associate Professor, China Medical University
Watson, Eli
M.S.
Tolmar Inc.
Westlie, Andrea
Ph.D.
Postdoc, Cornell
White, Brian
M.S. (co-advised by Prof. M. Elliott)
Wilson, Jed
Ph.D.
Senior Process Chemist, Corden Pharma Colorado
Xu, Tieqi
Visiting scholar/postdoc
Professor, Dalian University of Technology
Yang, Ji
Postdoctoral Fellow
Zang, Hongjun
Visiting scholar
Associate Professor, Tianjin Polytech University
Zhang, Jianxin
Visiting scholar
Associate Professor, Tianjin Polytech University
Zhang, Yuetao
Postdoc/research scientist
Professor, Jilin University
Zhu, Hongping
Postdoc
Professor, Xiamen University
Zhu, Jian-Bo
Postdoc
Professor, Sichuan University
Undergraduate Students
Mariott, Wesley
Newton, Stacie
Ozvat, Tyler
Perlinger, Sarah
Roina, Amanda
Schaab, Jakob
Sterling, Robby
Swanson, Jeremy
Troyer, Lyndsay
Cooney, Megan
Dunbar, Matthew
Garner, Logan
Gustafson, Laura
Hayden, Lauren
Horvath, Ana
John, Mallory
Johnson, Karley
Krebs, Andrew