"Thermodynamic and Kinetic ID models of Protein Folding."
Hughes Fellow

Mentors: Professor David L. Beveridge and Professor Erika A. Taylor

Mateusz (Matt) Burgunder, '15 is a rising sophomore who will be a RA in Nics 5 next year. He is of Polish descent, and currently lives in Switzerland, where he went to school before coming to Wesleyan. He is intending on declaring Chemistry and Mathematics as his two majors. He enjoys reading, web browsing, cooking, participating in outdoor activities, and competing in endurance sports. He appreciates languages and loves dark chocolate. Although he is unsure about his professional goals, he is interested in computational work in health-related fields. 

"Total Asymmetric Synthesis of Antifungal 8."
"Hughes Fellow"

Mentor:  Professor Michael A. Calter 

Scott Greene, '13, is a rising senior from Summet, New Jersey. He is majoring in Chemistry and is also completing the Jewish and Israeli Studies Certificate. Scott plays the trumpet, and is a member and a co-head of the Wesleyan pep band, the Cardinal Players. Scott likes to watch The Wire, watch the Mets lose, and cook sald with rice. After graduating from Wesleyan, Scott hopes to attend law school, with a focus on patent law, and travel. 

"Comparative Studies of Transition Metal Complexes of Polyacetate Tetraaza Macrocycles."
"Hughes Associate"

Mentor:  Professor T. David Westmoreland 

Sarah-Ann Hensiek, '13, is a rising senior from Hampstead (extremely southernO, New Hampshire. She graduated from Pinkerton Academy. Her hobbies include running, participating in triathlons, eating ice cream, playing piano, contra dancing, fishing, and any combination of aforementioned activities. At Wes, she is a Chemistry major with a certificate in environmental studies and is planning on staying for a fifth year in the BA/MA program. After Wes, her plans include entering the real world, attending graduate school, and teaching in some capacity - not necessarily in that order.

"Binding Properties of Integration Host Factor to Holliday Junction DNA."
"Hughes Fellow:

Mentor: Professor Ishita Mukerji 

Suzanne Ho, ' 13, is a rising senior majoring in Chemistry. She grew up in the Bay area and graduated from Albany High School. Her interests include reading, traveling, fitness, and fashion. She hopes to be in graduate school for chemistry after graduating from Wesleyan.

"Investigation of E. Coli Heptosyltransferace I Substrates."
"Hughes Fellow" 

Mentor: Professor Erika A. Taylor

Cassie Liu, '13, is a rising senior, with a double major in Molecular Biology & Biochemistry and Chemistry. She grew up in Chesterfield, Missouri, a suburb in the greater St. Louis area, and graduated from Lafayette Senior High School. After living in Missouri for fifteen years, her family is currently in the process of moving to Scottsdale, Arizona, a city close to where Cassie was born. In her free time, Cassie enjoys baking, writing fantasy stories, and travel. Her interest in understanding the various cultures around the world is fueled by her first generation Chinese-American upbringing and bolstered by time she spend abroad in Spring2012 traveling to India, Argentina, and South Africa. Cassie is particularly passionate about medicinal scientific research, especially targeted drug delivery through nanmedicine, as well as medical anthropology with a heavy emphasis on structural violence. After graduation, Cassie hopes to pursue an MD/PhD program in order to continue with medicinal research and bridge the gaps between scientific research, clinical medicine, and public health while analyzing key health issues through both scientific and anthropological lenses.

"Synthesis of Lignin Imaging Probes to Advance the Development of Sustainable Biofuels."
"Hughes Fellow" 

Mentor: Professor Erika A. Taylor

Matthew Long, '14. is a rising junior from Williston, Vermont. Upon graduating from Champlain Valley Union High School, Matt was awarded IBM's Thomas J. Watson Memorial Scholarship, which allowed him to attend Wesleyan University. His interests include sailing, traveling, exploring the outdoors, athletics, and working with kids. He also is a tight end for the varsity football team. He would like to use his major in Chemistry to go on to medical school and become a doctor. 

"A semi-empirical interpretation of ab initio O-H and N-H Bond Dissociation Enthalpies."
"Hughes Fellow" 

Mentor: Professor George A. Petersson

Jesse Mangiardi, '15, is a rising sophomore from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he graduated a year early from Taconic High School. His interests include computer software and hardware, as well as linguistics. To date, he knows English, Old English, Latin, Attic Greek, French, and Italian, and is studying Romanian. He plans to double major in Chemistry and Classics and is unsure of his graduate objectives, though he would like to find a way to combine his loves of linguistics and chemistry.

"Electrochemical reduction of 1,1 diphenylacetone and its derivatives."
"Hughes Associate" 

Mentor: Professor Albert J. Fry

Matenga "Tenga" Zvikomborero, '13, is from Harare, Zimbabwe and he graduated from Harare High School in Mbare, Harare. He is majoring in Chemistry and Mathematics and he enjoys soccer, basketball and other activities. He plans to attend engineering school or medicals school.

"Optimization of an IFB-like Reaction of α,β-Diketoesters."
"Hughes Fellow" 

Mentor: Professor Michael A. Calter

Rebecca McClellan, '14, is a rising junior. She graduated from Westwood High School in her hometown of Westwood, Massachusetts. When is not taking classes to fulfill her double major in Chemistry and Italian, she enjoys knitting,reading mystery novels, and cooking.

"Selective Determination of Mn(II) Ion in Aqueous Solution Using an Ionophore-Doped Membrane Electrode."
"Hughes Associate" 

Mentor: Professor T. David Westmoreland

Brittney McNab, '14, is a rising junior from Mount Vernon, New York. She graduated from Nellie A. Thornton High School and is now a Biological Chemistry major. Her interests include singing, dancing, and playing badminton. Ultimately, her goal after she graduates from Wesleyan is to go to medical school and become a pediatrician.

"Spectroscopic Probes of Solution Structure of transition Metal Complexes of 1,4,7,10-tetrakis(acetamido)-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane."
"Hughes Fellow"

Mentor: Professor T. David Westmoreland

Maika Nagata, '13 is a rising senior hailing from the great state of Hawaii specifically the only city of Honolulu. He graduated fromPunahou School, the same school as president Barack Obama. He is a double major in Chemistry and Science in Society, an interdisciplinary course that focuses on the historical, sociological, and philosophical aspects of science. He wrestles for Wesleyan University when not working in the lab and like to read books and play video games.

"Mutant Chronicles: Mutagenesis, Expression and Purification of LigAB Mutants."
"Hughes Fellow" 

Mentor: Professor Erika A. Taylor

Abraham Ngu, '13, is a rising senior from Sarawak, Malaysia. He loves food and music and enjoys hugging trees and people. When he's not making music with piano or violin, he can be found making all sorts of edible things in the kitchen. He doesn't know whathe wants to do with his major in BIochemistry at the moment but definitely hopes to do something good after he graduates.

"Structure and Function of Holliday Junctions complexed with Ions and HU Protein."
"Hughes Fellow" 

Mentor: Professor David L. Beveridge and Professor Ishita Mukerji

Laura Nocka, '13, is a rising senior who lives in Alpha Delta Phi. She spent the entirety of her childhood in Harvard, Massachusetts and graduated from Bromfield High School. She studied at New York University through her sophomore year, when she decided to make the move to Wesleyan. She now studies Biochemistry and mathematics, and plans to pursue a PhD and eventually a career in research after graduating. Outside of play with molecules and fussing with computers, Laura spends her time skateboarding,thiathlon-ing, cooking and enjoying the outdoors.

"Design and Synthesis of Covalent Organic Polygons."
"Reseach Associate"

Mentor: Professor Brian H. Northrop

Natalia Powers-Riggs, 13

"Optimization of an IFB-like Reaction of 5-ene-1,2,4-triones."
"Hughes Fellow" 

Mentor: Professor Michael A. Calter

Michael Revelas, '13 is a rising senior from Seattle, Washington. He graduated from Seattle Academy in 2009, where he was senior class president and a three-sport varsity athlete. He is the captain of Wesleyan's all male Ultimate Frisbee team (Nietzsch Factor), and is on the Biological Chemistry track of the Chemistry major. After he graduates Wesleyan, he plans to attend medical school.

"Determination of the structurallocations of binding of selected ligands on the 22 mer telomeric quadruplex structure via a fluorescence-visualized hydroxyl radical footprinting assay."
"Hughes Fellow" 

Mentor: Professor Philip H. Bolton

Andras Sagi, '14 is a rising junior. Andreas was born in Budapest, Hungary but has spent most of his life in the United States. He graduated from Cheshire High School in Cheshire, Connecticut. His interests are biophysical chemistry and history, and he is majoring in Chemistry and Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. He intends to proceed to graduate school to obtain a PhD in his area of specialty and hopefully thereafter into academia or government.

"Optimization of the IFB-like Reaction of β,γ-Unsaturated α-Ketoesters."
"Hughes Fellow" 

Mentor: Professor Michael A. Calter

Patrick Sarver, '14 is a rising junior from Centerport, New York where he attended Harborfields High School. His interests include guitar and Ultimate Frisbee. He is currently majoring in chemistry, and will likely pursue something chemistry-related in the future.

"Genomic heterogeneity within Putative Ecotype 15: Quantitative divergence in gene content between extremely close relatives leads to differentia fitness on maltose."
"Hughes Fellow"

Mentor: Professor Frederick Cohan

Jessica Sherry, '13 is a rising senior majoring in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, as well as Chemsitry. She attended ColonieCentral High School in update New York. Her interests include reading and dancing, and she's a member of the Wesleyan cross country and track teams. She hopes to put her majors to good use studying infectious diseases after she earns her PhD.

"Structural Studies of E. Coli Heptosyltansferase I: Optimizing Protein Expression and Purification."
"Hughes Fellow"

Mentors: Professor Erika A. Taylor and Professor Rich Olson

Bennett Sluis, '14 is a rising junior, hailing from Syracuse, New York. He graduated from Fayetteville-Manlius High School in 2010 and was involved in student government while playing soccer and lacrosse. he is on the Wesleyan Varsity lacrosse team and enjoys playing the drums in student bands in his free time. He is majoring in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry and Science in Society and hopes to attend medical school upon graduation.

"Synthesis of α-hydroxyphosphonate monoesters as β-Lactamase Inhibitors."
"Hughes Fellow" 

Mentor: Professor Rex F. Pratt

Jenna Vanderlinden, 14 is a rising junior from Tenafly, New Jersey. Jenna is graduate of Tenafly High School where she played ice hockey and was very busy with tutoring, mentoring, and community service. Jenna is loving her experiences at Wesleyan, where she also plays Women's Ice Hockey, mentors, tutors, and works as an EMT. Her interests and hobbies are sports, baing, reading, and spending time with friends and family. She would like to make use of her double majors in Neuroscience adn Chemistry to go to medical school after graduating from Wesleyan. Her goal is to become a doctor, hopefully helping adults with developmentally disabilities.

"Investigating Steric Effects in Mechanically Interlocked Polymers."
"Research Associate" 

Mentor: Professor Brian H. Northrop

Ging-ji "Nathan" Wang, '13

"Synthesis of Allyl Functionalized Crown Ether Macrocycles."
"Hughes Fellow" 

Mentor: Professor Brian H. Northrop

Matthew Younger, '14 is rising junior from Takoma Park, Maryland. He is a graduate of the Washington International School and a former flat-water sprint kayaker and rower. he will be studying abroad in Madrid this coming semester but will miss Wesleyan and is looking forward to completing this Chemistry and Hispanic Literatures and Cultures double major upon his return. His interests include technology, design, and creating the future today which he will hopefully pursue after graduation.