Authors
Spencer Witte is a graduate student at The Ohio State University.
Christine Rivera is a field application scientist at Agilent Technologies, known for coaching excellence and driving portfolio growth. With expertise across environmental and pharmaceutical applications, she brings strong GLP, GMP, and ICP-MS proficiency. A former Product Specialist, she thrives in complex matrix organizations and is a Kent State University graduate.
Dirk Leder is in the Lower Saxony State Office for Cultural Heritage in Hannover, Germany
Maria Papadimitraki is a PhD student at University of Southern Denmark, and she is member of the Danish Center for Hadal Research HADAL. Her work is currently focused on Arctic microphytobenthic primary production and its functional relationship to underwater spectral light quality. She has previously worked at Technical University of Denmark (DTU Aqua), focusing on dissolved organic matter optical properties in connection to Arctic Ocean circulation. Maria has worked in the past as research assistant in the University of Iceland’s Research Center in Husavik, University of Patras, Greece and Natural History Museum of Crete/University of Crete, Greece.
Minjung Son is an assistant professor of chemistry at Boston University, in Boston, Massachusetts. Son’s group investigates the fundamental photophysical processes that govern how energy and charge move through molecular, material, and biological systems. Using ultrafast optical spectroscopy and microscopy, the team studies the dynamics underlying these processes. Son’s group also develops advanced nanomaterials and hybrid photonic materials known as polaritons to uncover new photophysical phenomena and better understand structure–property relationships relevant to functionality and energy conversion applications.
Brett McGuire is an assistant professor of chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he runs and leads his own research group.
Brad Pierce was born in Loveland, Colorado, and moved to Sacramento, California, in 1989. He earned a B.S. in Chemistry with a minor in Biology from California State University, Chico, and began his scientific career as a research associate at Matrix Pharmaceuticals, where he contributed to the development of gel-based cisplatin formulations for cancer therapy. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University under the mentorship of Professor Michael Hendrich, employing advanced EPR spectroscopic methods to study transition metal complexes and metalloproteins.
Following his doctoral studies, Pierce conducted NIH-funded postdoctoral research with Professor Brian Fox at the University of Wisconsin, where he investigated the mechanisms of non-heme iron metalloproteins and the role of protein-protein interactions in modulating enzymatic reactivity. He launched his independent career in 2008 as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he was promoted to Associate Professor in 2014. In 2019, he joined the faculty at the University of Alabama, where he advanced to the rank of Professor in 2025.
Monica Arienzo is an Associate Research Professor in the Division of Hydrologic Sciences at the Desert Research Institute. In her research, Arienzo uses chemical tools to understand how humans have impacted the environment. After years of studying caves in the Bahamas and ice cores from Antarctica, now she studies microplastics from peak to tap. Her microplastic research focuses on microplastics found in snowy peaks, to downstream lakes and rivers, and in drinking water taps.
Johanna Nelson Weker is the Lead Scientist at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Stanford, California.
Hunter Andrews is an R&D Staff Scientist in the Isotope Applications Research Group within the Radioisotopes Science and Technology Division, where his work focuses on developing in-situ, online monitoring tools for complex environments.
Maryam Shakiba is an Assistant Professor in the Aerospace Mechanics Research Center (AMREC) at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Fran Adar is the Principal Raman Applications Scientist for Horiba Scientific in Edison, New Jersey.