Recent Graduate Spotlight: Congratulations to Dr. Alex Milder! Next stop > University of Liverpool (Post Doc @ Rosseinsky Lab)!
I graduated from Haverford College in 2018 with a B.S. in Chemistry. Throughout my undergraduate career, I studied organically templated inorganic materials and worked on the Dark Reactions Project, a machine learning approach to materials discovery, with Dr. Alex Norquist. Since joining the Woodward group in 2019, I have been researching new data-driven approaches to the discovery of novel ferroelectric perovskites.
Email: milder.3(at)osu.edu
ORCID: 0000-0002-3143-1482
Congratulations to Dr. Becky Haight! Next stop > Honeywell!
Becky Haight
I graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2019 with a B.S. in Chemistry. My undergraduate research under Dr. Thomas Rauchfuss involved synthesizing iron- and ruthenium-based active sites of hydrogenase compounds. After developing an interest in solid-state materials, I came to The Ohio State University to work under Dr. Woodward in 2019. I currently work on manipulating ground state magnetism in thin-film perovskite materials through epitaxial strain.
Haight.22(at)osu.edu
ORCID: 0000-0002-3971-2967
Emma Pollock
Hi, I’m Emma! I came to Ohio State in August of 2020 after graduating from Westminster College (PA) with a B.S in Chemistry. While there, I worked with Dr. Pete Smith on a variety of projects including rare earth element extractions from deep eutectic solvents and synthesis of 1D coordination polymer catalysts. I also spent some time at the Idaho National Lab, where I worked under Dr. Mary Case on chemical-mediated rare earth metallization. I joined the Woodward lab in December of 2020 and am excited to be working with perovskite oxides.
Email: pollock.339(at)osu.edu
ORCID: 0000-0001-9840-7631
Graduate Students:
Cierra Foster
I graduated from Oklahoma City University in 2021 with a B.S. in Chemistry and Mathematics. During my undergraduate, I worked on the mechanical buckling of elastomers for improved adaptive materials. I joined the Woodward lab in December 2021 and I am happy to be working with hexagonal perovskite oxides.
Email: foster.1400(at)osu.edu
David Liu
Hi, I am David Liu. I graduated from the Ohio State University with a B.S. in Biochemistry in 2020. Throughout my undergrad, I worked with Dr. Patrick Woodward on the photoluminescence of halide perovskites. In the Fall of 2021, I decided to continue my academic pursuits in the Woodward Lab. My research is driven by the desire for a more environmentally conscious and sustainable future. As a result, I am also a member of the NSF EmPOWERment program at Ohio State under the mentorship of Dr. Anne Co: to supplement my research with energy field related policies.
Email: liu.6002(at)osu.edu
Ye Wang
I graduated from the Ohio State University with a B.S. degree in Chemistry. During my undergraduate studies, I worked in Dr. Woodward’s group on double perovskites and photoluminescence of the hydrated phase derivatives of perovskites. I continued my study in this group in 2022 as a graduate student and I am currently focusing on metal oxyfluorides and RP phase perovskites.
Email: wang.11573(at)osu.edu
Kelsey Blechen
I graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 2025 with a B.S. in Chemistry. While at my undergrad, I studied the photochemistry of dithiocarboxylates. I also did research at the Army Research Lab at the Adelphi Lab Center under the Energy Sciences Division. I joined the Woodward group in December 2025 and I’m excited to be working with halide perovskites.
Email: Blechen.1(at)osu.edu
Undergraduate(s)
Brendan Beck
