group members

Principal investigator

Shiyu Zhang

Postdoc 2015-2017: MIT (Christopher C. Cummins)
Ph.D. 2015: Georgetown University (Timothy H. Warren)
B.S. 2010: Jilin University

2024 Harry Gray Award in Inorganic Chemistry, ACS

2023 Ed Stiefel Award, Metals in Biology, GRC

2018 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award

2016 DIC Young Investigator Awards, ACS

Shiyu was born and raised in Jilin, a small town in Northeast China. After graduating from Jilin University with a double major in Chemistry (B.S.) and Biology (B.S.), Shiyu traveled west to attend Georgetown University, where he worked in the group of Prof. Timothy Warren. From 2015 to 2017, Shiyu conducted postdoctoral research under the joint supervision of Prof. Christopher Cummins at MIT and Prof. Daniel Nocera at Harvard. When not working in the lab, Shiyu enjoys playing video games, tennis, pickleball, and hanging out with his wife Grace and their dogs, Pancake and Professor.

Members

Dr. Rahul Giri

Rahul completed his M.S. at IISER Bhopal, India with Prof. Alakesh Bisai. He earned his Ph.D. in 2025 at the University of Bern, Switzerland, working with Prof. Dmitry Katayev on reagent development and photo-/electrochemical methods. Currently, he is exploring the concept of batteries in synthetic organic chemistry during his postdoc in the Zhang lab. In his free time, he enjoys exploring Columbus with his wife and friends.

Dr. Yuri Lee

Yuri was born in Seoul, South Korea. She earned her Ph.D. in 2024 at UNIST under the supervision of Jaeheung Cho, where she studied bioinorganic reaction mechanisms involving reactive metal-oxygen species, oxidative catalysis, and C–H bond activation. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Zhang lab, investigating topics in bioinorganic chemistry. Outside the lab, she enjoys traveling, photography, and exploring local spots.

Josh Queener

Josh was born in Cardington, OH. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, OH with a B.S. in Chemistry. He spent a year and a half working as an intern for Airable research lab developing soy based products. During the summer of 2019, he conducted research at The Ohio State University focusing on metal metal cooperativity for small molecule activation. His hobbies include running, lifting and playing video games.

Margaret Ball

Margaret is from Bethesda, Maryland. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. As an undergraduate, her research focused on synthetic and computational investigations of late-metal silylene complexes. Outside of lab, Margaret enjoys reading, spending time her with friends and family, and horseback riding.

Saikat Mondal

Saikat was born in Kolkata, India. He received his B.Sc. in Chemistry at University of Calcutta and M.Sc. from IIT Bombay. His previous research was on probing Non-Innocence and Intermetallic Coupling Process in Symmetric Diruthenium Frameworks, under the guidance of Prof. G.K.Lahiri . In his free time, he enjoys playing chess, table tennis and spend time with his friends.

Emily Doss

Emily is from West Bloomfield, Michigan. She earned her B.S. in chemistry at Michigan State University where she conducted research with Dr. Selvan Demir. Her research focused on f-element organometallic chemistry for applications in data information storage. In her free time, she enjoys crocheting, running, and spending time with her cats Moe and Koi.

Andrew Lorig

Andrew was born and raised in Lena, Illinois. After graduating Pearl City High School as an Illinois State Scholar, Andrew attended Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. During his time at MMU, Andrew conducted supramolecular chemistry research at the University of Oregon under the direction of Professor Darren W. Johnson. Along with his B.S. in Chemistry, Andrew obtained the President’s Award and the Outstanding Natural Science Student Award. In his free time, Andrew enjoys playing music, exercising, and doing the Columbus Coffee Trail.

Abbi Houser

Abbi is from North Liberty, Indiana and received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry and mathematics from Saint Mary’s College. As an undergraduate, she worked on synthesizing inorganic compounds for redox flow batteries under Dr. Michael J. Drummond. While away from the lab, she enjoys baking, sewing, reading, thrifting, and anything outdoors.

Ashleigh Sherman

Ashleigh was born in Virginia and raised in Adena, Ohio. She obtained her B.S. in Biochemistry with honors from Florida International University in 2024. While at FIU, Ashleigh studied vanadium-alkylidnes for olefin metathesis under Dr. Konstantin Bukhryakov. In her free time, she enjoys watching football, spending time with friends, and playing with her dogs, Dr. Pepper and Coca-Cola.

Jackson Shuman

Jackson is from Troy, Ohio. He graduated from Troy High School in 2020 before obtaining his B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Dayton in 2024. While at UD, Jackson got involved in the research of Dr. Jeremy Erb working on asymmetric organophosphonate synthesis and completed an honors thesis on this topic his senior year. His free time consists of playing piano and spending time with friends and family.

Will Allan

Will was born and raised in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Denison University in 2025. While at Denison, he conducted research on the 3D printing of donor-acceptor columnar liquid crystals under the direction of Dr. Joe Recheck. In his free time, you can find Will running, climbing, or yo-yoing.

Abbey Strohmeyer

Abbey was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio. She graduated from Youngstown State University with both her B.S. and M.S. in Chemistry in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Her M.S. research on recycling lithium from Li ion batteries using MOFs through cation π-interactions with the organic linker was carried out under the guidance of Dr. Doug Genna. In her free time, Abbey likes to read, go to the movie theater, bake, and hang out with her bearded dragon, Regina George.

Delaney Collier

Delaney is from Martinsville, Indiana. She graduated from DePauw University with her Bachelor of Arts in Biochemistry. While at DePauw, she studied reverse micelles and sugars in nanoconfinement under the guidance of Dr. Gourley. In her free time, Delaney likes to hang out with friends, watch movies, and volunteer at women’s shelters.

Carly Kern

Carly was born and raised in Mars, PA. She attended Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, OH where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with a minor in Mathematics. At BW, she conducted research in intramolecular cyclization utilizing cyclocarbonylation under the guidance of Dr. Raymond Shively. Outside of the lab, she was the 3-time captain and 2024 OAC Defensive Player of the Year for BW’s women’s lacrosse team. In her free time, Carly likes to spend time with her friends, weight lift, and meditate.

Professor and Pancake

Professor (Mini schnauzer) and Pancake (Pug) are good boys.

Preston Myers

Preston was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with a minor in Computer and Information Systems. Outside of the lab, he enjoys hiking, climbing, playing tennis, and spending time with his cat, Tim.

Niyati Patel

Niyati was born and raised in Princeton, New Jersey. She is currently pursuing a bachelor of science in neuroscience in the Honors Program at The Ohio State University. Outside of the lab, Niyati is also a part of Campus EMS at The Ohio State University and College Mentors for kids.

Group Alumni

Jeffrey Klinger
M.S. 2025

Dr. Jay Park
Postdoc 2025
Gyeongsang National University

Maxwell Reese
Ph.D. 2025

Christopher Walter
Ph.D. 2024
The Ohio State University

Anna Poptic
Ph.D. 2023
Dow Chemical

Jamey Bower
Ph.D. 2022
Dow Chemical

Madison Tuttle
Ph.D. 2022
Dow Chemical

Weiyao Zhang
Ph.D. 2022
Honeywell/UOP

Sam Carter
M.S. 2021
Intel

Oaikena Esezobar
Postdoc 2024

Xin Yang
Postdoc 2018
JUUL Labs

Wenjie Tao
Postdoc 2017
Assistant Professor at Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology

Sophie Taylor
M.S. 2024
United States Patent and Trademark Office

Atri Maharaj
M.S. 2024

Shelby Davis
M.S. 2024
Novartis

Nadia Asous
M.S. 2018
Exxon Mobil

Mitchell Bonanno
B.S. 2024

Mark Yaseen
B.S. 2024

Lina Zarnitsa
B.S. 2022
Graduate Student at UCLA

Emma Brackman
B.S. 2022
Battelle

Alexei Vallo
B.S. 2021
Graduate Student at OSU

Andrew Cypcar
B.S. 2019
Graduate Student at University of California, Irvine

Michael Seo
B.S. 2017
Graduate Student at Notre Dame