Present Members of the Morse Group:
Graduate Students:
Dakota Merriles – Dakota obtained his B.S. degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2017, and began his graduate studies at the University of Utah in August of that year. He joined the Morse group in January, 2018 and has since successfully measured and published the bond dissociation energies for FeB, CoB, NiB, RuB, RhB, OsB, IrB, and PtB. His results on the bond dissociation energies of ScB, TiB, VB, YB, ZrB, NbB, LaB, HfB, TaB, and WB are currently being written up for publication. He has also worked on the first ever resonant three photon ionization spectroscopy experiment measuring the bond dissociation energy of VO. He is currently working on spectroscopic experiments on early transition metal and lanthanide diborides.
Kimberly Tomchak - Kim obtained her B.S. degree from Saint Louis University in 2019 and began her graduate studies at the University of Utah the following August. She joined the Morse group in December 2019 and has since assisted in the measurement of the early transition metal diatomic sulfides including ScS, YS, TiS, ZrS, HfS, NbS, and TaS. She is currently assisting with the early transistion metal and lanthanide diboride experiments. Future work will include furthering resonant three photon ionization experiments and measuring the bond dissociation energies of transition metal halides.
Joshua Ewigleben - Joshua obtained his B.S. degree from Indiana University Bloomington. He began his graduate career at University of Utah the summer of 2019. Joshua joined the Morse Group in December 2019 and has been primarily working on the cryogenically-cooled ion photodissociation spectrometer. In addition, he has assisted in the measurements of bond dissociation energies for the transition metal oxides CrO and MoO. Future work will include measuring the bond dissociation energies of cationic transition metal containing species.
Undergraduate Students:
Yexalen Barrera Casas - undergraduate student, summer of 2022- present. Yexalen has contributed significantly to the measurement of the bond dissociation energies and ionization energies of MoN, RuN, RhN, HfN, OsN, and IrN, and the ionization energies of RuC, RhC, OsC, IrC, and PtC. She will use these data to write up her Honors thesis during the Fall semester, 2022.
Saoirse Kerr - undergraduate student, spring 2022-present. Saoirse has contributed to the laboratory efforts to construct an ion photodissociation spectrometer by helping to build radio frequency power supplies for ion guides and traps in the new instrument and is writing code to enable a dye laser to be interfaced to the instrument.
Former Students in the Morse Group:
Dr. Scott Taylor – graduate student, February 1985 – September 5, 1989 (Ph.D. #1). Currently a Staff Scientist at Conoco-Phillips, Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
In this recent photo, Dr. Taylor is in Alaska on the shore of the Arctic Ocean, on the job for Conoco-Phillips.
Dr. George W. Lemire – graduate student, August 1985 – November 14, 1989 (Ph.D. #2). Currently employed at the Dugway Proving Ground, Dugway, Utah.
Dr. Yoon Mi Hamrick – graduate student, May 1985 – January 11, 1990 (Ph.D. #3). Currently a squadron director at Hill Air Force base, Ogden, Utah.
Dr. Zhenwen Fu – graduate student, May 1985 – July 18, 1990 (Ph.D. #4). Currently a Principal Research Scientist at the Dow Chemical Company.
In this recent photo, Dr. Fu is receiving the 2014 American Coatings Conference Roon Award for his work with Dow Chemical.
Dr. Gregory A. Bishea – graduate student, January 1988 – July 31, 1991 (Ph.D. #5). Currently the Chief of the WMD Countermeasures Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Dr. Scott A. Heidecke – graduate student, March 1987 – September 18, 1991 (Ph.D. #6). Currently an Instructor at Montana Tech, in Butte, Montana.
In this photo, Dr. Heidecke was visiting the Thai Royal Palace while he was working for Mitsubishi Microelectronics. At the time, he was living in Singapore.
Dr. Eileen M. Spain – graduate student, March 1988 – March 20, 1992 (Ph.D. #7).. Currently the Carl F. Braun Professor of Chemistry and Associate Dean at Occidental College, Los Angeles, California.
This photo was taken at the reception following Dr. Spain’s wedding.
Dr. Michelle B. Paustenbaugh – graduate student May 1992 – September 1993. Now graduated with a Ph.D. from the Armentrout group, Dr. Paustenbaugh is a full professor teaching at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.
Dr. Jane M. Behm Arrington – graduate student, May 1990 – April 27, 1994 (Ph.D. #8). Currently a business process analyst at Greenville Water, Greenville, South Carolina.
Photo was taken in Arches National Park.
Dr. Caleb A. Arrington – graduate student, April 1990 – November 2, 1994 (Ph.D. #9). Currently a Professor of Chemistry at Wofford College, Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Dr. Larry M. Russon – graduate student, June 1990 – June 15, 1995 (Ph.D. #10). Currently a Project Scientist at the Dugway Proving Ground, Dugway, Utah.
Dr. Jacqueline C. Pinegar Fabbi – graduate student, March 1989 – July 26, 1995 (Ph.D. #11). Currently a Software Engineer at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Eugene, Oregon.
Dr. Dale J. Brugh – graduate student, January 1993 – November 5, 1997 (Ph.D. #12). Currently Professor of Chemistry and Associate Dean for Innovation at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio.
Lian Shao – graduate student, May 1996 – March, 1998. Finished with an M.S. degree, now working in industry near Boston.
Dr. Robert F. Gunion – postdoctoral research associate. Currently employed as a Software Engineer and Leader of Accelerator Controls Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Dr. Jon D. Langenberg – graduate student, May 1992 – July 28, 1999 (Ph.D. #13).
Dr. Gretchen K. Rothschopf – graduate student, April 1994 – August 3, 1999 (Ph.D. #14). Now living in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Dr. Ryan S. DaBell- graduate student, February 1996 – June 1, 2000 (Ph.D. #15). Currently a faculty member at Brigham Young University in Rexburg, ID.
Dr. Shane M. Sickafoose - graduate student, May 1997 – November 27, 2000 (Ph.D. #16). Currently employed at Sandia National Laboratory, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Marc B. Airola – graduate student, June 1998 – November 29, 2000. Finished with an M.S. degree, now an Associate Professional Engineer at the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
Dr. Adam Smith – undergraduate in the group, January 2000 – August 2002. Completed his Ph.D. at MIT, then a postdoc at UC Berkeley before becoming an Associate Professor at the University of Akron, Akron, Ohio.
Linnea Ober – Graduate Student May 2003 to December 2003, completing a M.S. degree. Now teaching at Sinclair Community College, Dayton, Ohio.
Jason Schaller – Graduate student January 2002 – November 2004. Jason completed a M.S. degree.
Dr. Ned Lindholm – Graduate student May 1998 – June 2007 (Ph.D. #17). Photo taken immediately after Ned successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation.
Dr. Ramya Nagarajan, graduate student January 2001 – June 2007 (Ph.D. #18). Now living in Chennai, India.
Dr. Olha M. Krechkivska, graduate student January 2005 – May, 2012 (Ph.D. #19). Now an accomplished painter living in Sydney, Australia.
Dr. Alonzo Martinez, graduate student January 2002 – August 2012 (Ph.D. #20). Currently a staff scientist at the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Dr. Maria Garcia, graduate student January 2004 – May 2013 (Ph.D. #21). Currently a research analyst in the Biology Department at the University of Utah.
Dr. Sergei Aksyonov, postdoctoral researcher January 2009 – September, 2015. A superb mass spectrometrist and engineer, Dr. Aksyonov passed away on September 15, 2015. He is missed by all who knew him.
Thomas Persinger – Thomas was a summer participant in our NSF-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates program in the summer of 2016. He was a co-author on two papers, in which we reported the bond dissociation energies of TiSi, ZrSi, HfSi, VSi, NbSi, TaSi, TiSe, ZrSe, HfSe, VSe, NbSe, and TaSe. He is now a graduate student in Michael Heaven’s group at Emory University.
Jordan Franchina – Jordan worked in the Morse group over the summer of 2016, and wrote an honors thesis based on his experimental work measuring the bond dissociation energies of the group IV and V transition metal silicides and selenides. He is now in medical school at the University of Utah.
Dr. Eric L. Johnson – graduate student, January 2011 – August 1, 2016 (Ph.D. #22). Currently a lecturer at Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia.
Dr. Daniel Matthew – graduate student, January 2010 – December 2016 (Ph.D. #23). Currently a physical chemistry lecturer at Northern University in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Dr. Andrew Sevy - graduate student, August 2015 - October 2019 (Ph.D. #24). Currently an officer in the U.S. Navy working on nuclear reactors on submarines.
Dr. Jason J. Sorensen - graduate student, January 2016 – September 23, 2020 (Ph.D. #25). Currently a postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Peter Bernath at Old Dominion University.
Christopher Nielson - undergraduate student, January 2018 – August 2021. After co-authoring 4 papers in the Morse group, Chris has moved on to graduate school in Chemistry at Emory University.
Erick Tieu - undergraduate student, January 2016 – August 2021. After co-authoring 9 papers in the Morse group, Erick has moved on to graduate school in Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington.
Tommy Kawagoe - undergraduate student, summer of 2021. After successfully contributing to the measurement of the bond dissociation energies of ReC, ReN, ReO, and ReC2, Tommy returned to finish up his senior year at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, AZ.
Keith Clark - undergraduate student, summer of 2021. After making many contributions to the design and construction of a cryo-cooled ion photodissociation spectrometer, Keith returned to finish up his senior year at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA.
Jordan Derbidge - Jordan graduated with his B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Utah in Spring 2022. He joined the Morse Group in June 2021. Jordan worked with my graduate student Kim Tomchak, trying to measure the bond dissociation energies of transition metal chlorides (YCl, NbCl, TaCl), and the rhenium molecules ReC, ReB, and Re2. He also helped with designing machine parts throughout his time in the lab.
Annie Knapp - undergraduate student, summer of 2022. After successfully contributing to the measurement of the bond dissociation energies and ionization energies of MoN, RuN, RhN, HfN, OsN, and IrN, Annie also worked to calculate the ground electronic states and bond dissociation energies of these species and to write the first draft of the paper describing these results. At the end of the summer, Annie returned to finish up her senior year at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY.