We accept students from all years who have taken General Chemistry.
Summer research spots are available for 2025. Email us to talk about academic year opportunties!
Are you interested in a flexible, welcoming environment in which to meet other students and experience chemistry research? Become a nanobot!
July 2025
Top left: Michael Boleychuk ('26), Ella Paul ('28), Alaina Konicki ('28), Emily Sandoval-Arteaga ('27), Megna Topiwala ('28)
Bottom left: Nikhita Kuntipuram ('28), Noah Ehrenberg ('27), Prof. Plass, Jordyn Collie ('27)
Not shown: Kathleen Nguyen ('26) and Quentin Boussard ('27)
Joined lab later after his study abroad in New Zealand.
Ice cream and networking!
Sharing our science!
July 2025
Marshall is now Senior Research Associate in Process Chemistry at Moderna https://www.linkedin.com/in/marshall-tomat-chemist
June 2025
Above: Alexis Cunningham, Roothy Desir, Plass, Ben Schmidt, and Jiwoo. Below: Christian Jesby, Plass. Not pictured Holden Brown
Christian Jesby ('25)
Jiwoo Choi ('25)
Ben Schmidt ('25)
Alexis Cunningham ('25)
Kathleen Nguyen ('26)
Holden Brown ('25)
Eli Rudman ('26)
Sonali Purohit ('27)
Jordyn Collie ('27)
Jordyn Collie ('27)
Michael Boleychuk ('26)
Kiran Bedi ('26)
Zainab Akram ('26)
Quentin Boussard ('27)
Megna Topiwala ('28)
Annabelle Fulginiti ('27)
Emily Pollard ('27)
Michael Boleychuk ('26)
Jordyn Collie ('27)
Emily Sandoval-Arteaga ('26)
Noah Ehrenberg ('27)
Kathleen Nguyen ('26)
Quentin Boussard ('27)
Alaina Konicki ('28)
Megna Topiwala ('28)
Ben Macy ('26)
Ella Paul ('28)
Nikhita Kuntipuram ('28)
Kathleen Tuong Nguyen Dinh Cat ('26), Ben Schmidt ('25), and Jiwoo Choi ('25) presented their work from the American Chemical Society Conference. Alexis Cunningham ('25) and Quentin Boussard ('27) presented their work for the first time outside of the College. Well done! Thank you for hosting, Ursinus College!
April 2025
Left to right: Quentin Boussard ('27), Alexis Cunningham ('25), Jiwoo Choi ('25), Ben Schmidt ('25), Kathleen Tuong Nguyen Dinh Cat ('26)
Presented "Regioselectivity of Cd2+ cation exchange following Te2- anion exchange on Cu2-xS nanorods."
Presented "Effects of diorganyl diselenides on the shape and composition of copper sulfide nanoparticles"
Presented "Interactions of H2Se with Cu2S modeled with molecular dynamics"
Presenting his computational chemistry research "Decomposition pathways of diorganyl diselenides to elicit selenium anion exchange".
Presentied "Characterization of Nanoparticle Anion Exchange Reaction Mixtures using Computational and Laboratory Methods"
Congratulations to our collaborator Prof. Raymond Schaak for receiving the F. Albert Cotton Award in Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry! Thank you for inviting us to help you celebrate!
Thanks to F&M alum Neal Langerman ('65) for hosting us!
March 2025
Presenting his computational chemistry research "Decomposition pathways of diorganyl diselenides to elicit selenium anion exchange".
Presented "Cu2-xS facilitates anion exchange in CdS/Cu2-xS nanoheterostructures."
Presented "Effects of diorganyl diselenides on the shape and composition of copper sulfide nanoparticles"
Jiwoo Choi ('25), Kat Patutucci ('25, Fenlon lab), Neal Langerman ('75), Campbell Kelly ('25, Piro/Brewer lab), and Ben Schmidt ('25)
Presented "Regioselectivity of Cd2+ cation exchange following Te2- anion exchange on Cu2-xS nanorods."
Presented "Cooperativity of post-synthetic transformations: How does selenization of Cu2-xS nanorods affect Cd2+ exchange?"
Doligon, C.; Rudman, E.; Ehrenberg, N.; Nguyen Dinh, C. T.; Luo, Q.; Plass, K. E. Anion Exchange Impedes Subsequent Cation Exchange: Ion Mobility Is Altered by Vacancies and Ion Size. Inorg. Chem. 2025. DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.4c04273.
January 2025
Left: Eli Rudman ('26), Noah Ehrenberg ('27), Micheal Boleychuk ('26), Emily Sandoval-Arteaga ('26), Kiran Bedi ('26), Kezia Almonte ('24), Alaina Konicki ('28), Connie Ortiz Andujar ('25), Mary Nguyen ('25), Jiwoo Choi ('25), Clarisse Doligon ('24), and Aashi Dadhania ('27) (missing Asher Slutsky ('27)
We made up 1.5 rows!
See our latest paper reporting Se exchange on copper sulfide nanorods! Congratulations, authors Brandon Hole ('23), Qi Luo ('23), Valerie Xie ('23), Eli Rudman ('26), Mary Nygen ('25), and Diya Dhakal ('23)
See this new review of our work in the Plass lab and collaborations with Prof. Schaak and Prof. van Duin and the MCL at Penn State and F&M professors Prof. Morford and Prof. Krebs
Summer 2024
Rebecca (post-bac, '22) is off to the University of Pittsburgh Chemistry PhD program
Brandon Hole ('23) and Ronald Garcia ('23) are off to work as they apply for medical, graduate, and dental school.
Emma Lenz-Mann ('23) is off to an NIH post-bac.
Alba Espinosa ('24), Plass, Rebecca Qi Luo (post-bac '22), Diya Dhakal ('23), Eric Borguet (Temple University) are shown visiting our collaborator Prof. Borguet and his new laser lab.
August 2022
You all did such a great job, working together, supporting each other, and getting super cool science done! I am grateful to work with you all and eat delicious Mexican food with you! Mary Nguyen ('25), Alex Seman ('26), Brandon Hole ('23), Eli Rudman ('25), Clarisse Doligon ('24), Rebecca Luo ('23, post-bac), Ben Schmidt ('25), Alba Espinosa ('24).
July 2022
Clarisse, Kenya and Brandon got the project going. Alba and Marc worked hard all last semester to get it submitted. Alba and Rebecca did heroic work to address reviewer comments. Well done everyone! Chem. Commun., 2022, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CC01859D
August 2022
We had an outstanding visit to Penn State University! We toured the MCL and nanofab laboratories with Plass lab alum Angus Unruh. We toured the geochemistry laboratories with Morford lab alum Kate Meyers. Then, we spent the afternoon talking science with the Schaak lab. Thank you so much! We learned a lot and got great feedback on our work.
Back row, left: Alex Seman (F&M, Moore-Shaeffer Mentorship student, '26), Brandon Hole (F&M '23), Connor McCormick (PSU), Owen (PSU undergraduate), Chul-Hyun Jeong (PSU), Ray Schaak (PSU faculty), Jenna Kanyak (PSU)
Middle row, left: Diya Dhakal (F&M, '23), Alba Espinosa (F&M, '24), Ben Schmidt (F&M '25), Haley Young (PSU), Sarah O'Boyle (PSU), Katherine Thompson (PSU)
Front row, left: Clarisse Doligon (F&M, '24), Rebecca Qi Luo (F&M post-bac, '22), Eli Rudman (F&M, '25), Mary Nguyen (F&M, '25), Kate Baumler (PSU), Kate Plass (F&M faculty)
Not pictured: Joe Veglak, Gaurav Day, Rebecca Katz
July 2022
Rebecca Qi Luo will be supported by a Postbac Award from the Research Corporation for the Advancement of Science. This is a highly competitive award that will support Rebecca's work in the Plass lab for 1 year post-graduation.
March 2022
Valerie Wanrui Xie and Rebecca Qi Luo presented posters at the PUNC section of the ACS Spring meeting. Plass presented virtually. Watch her talk!
March 2022
Zichen and Sally both recently received Master's degrees from UPenn and came back to visit before moving on to their next positions. Thank you for sharing your experiences with students!
March 2022
Many thanks to the Division of Ocean Sciences for funding our proposal "RUI: Where does all the molybdenum go? Evaluating the role of iron sulfides in molybdenum accumulation in marine sediments". We look forward to involving new students in this interdisciplinary collaborative project.
January 2022
Thank you for a crazy and productive summer! The largest summer research group we have ever had! Left to right: Adem Imamovic ('22), Alba Espinosa ('24), Brandon Hole ('23), Clarisse Doligon ('24), Prof. Plass, Diya Dhakal ('23), Kenya Prenza Sosa ('24), Vanessa Luo ('22), and Valerie Xie ('22).
July 2021
Thank you to our PSU partners Trevor Clark, Bevan Harbinson, and Anthony Diaz-Huemme and the MCL who helped us with a never-before tried experiment in using the Talos TEM remotely!
Pictured left to right: Alba Espinosa ('24), Kenya Prenza Sosa ('24), Vanessa Luo ('22), Diya Dhakal ('23), Clarisse Doligon ('24), and Adem Imamovic ('22).
Thank you to everyone who participated in the PUNC-PA nanomaterials group meetings! We met each Friday with the Thompson group at Gettysburg College, the Toote group at Elizabethtown College, with attendees from the Schaak group at Penn State and the Ellison group at Ursinus College.
July 2021
Our group was fueled this summer by Sour Patch Kids, ice cream, and pizza.
Left to right: Adem Imamovic ('22), Brandon Hole ('23), Valerie Xie ('22), Vanessa Luo ('22), Diya Dhakal ('23), Kenya Prenza Sosa ('24), Clarisse Doligon ('24), and Alba Espinosa ('24)
We are very grateful to Emily Wilson (left) and the Earth and Environment Department for extensive use of their SEM-EDS (pictured) and PXRD.
Left to right: Emily Wilson, Kenya Prenza Sosa ('24), Clarisse Doligon ('24), and Alba Espinosa ('24).
July 2021
Luis Garcia-Herrera led the way on our latest paper, "Multistep Regioselectivity and Non-Kirkendall Anion Exchange of Copper Chalcogenide Nanorods" involving F&M students Haley McAllister, Adem Imamovic, and Anna Xiong, as well as our collaborators at PSU, Haiying Wang, Rob Lord, Sarah O'Boyle, Ben Steimle, and Ray Schaak, published in Chemistry of Materials.
May, 2021
The first Plass lab researchers (left: Adem Imamovic ('22), Brandon Hole ('23), Luis Garcia-Herrera ('20) and Diya Dhakal ('23)) gathered to thank post-baccalaureate researcher, Luis Garcia-Herrera ('20), and celebrate his new position as graduate student at the University of Michigan.
May 2021
Thank you for being such wonderful research students! Luis especially, your work as a post-baccalaureate researchers carried us through the pandemic! Left: Bonnie Page ('21), Haley McAllister (headed to Northwestern University) ('21), and Luis Garcia-Herrera (headed to University of Michigan) ('20)
It was wonderful to see you at graduation and to be able to give vaccinated hugs!
May 2021
Luis Garcia-Herrera did a great job presented his poster "Copper telluride nanorods and copper telluride-copper sulfide nanoheterostuctures through anion exchange" at the Spring 2021 American Chemical Society meeting.
Haley won 2nd place in her session at the Intercollegiate Student Chemists Convention for her talk "Understanding the multi-stage geometry of copper sulfide nanorods during Te2- exchange"
April, 2021
Former Plass lab member, Han Le, has just received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Han is currently a graduate student at the University of California - Berkeley in the Alivisatos lab. The NSF-GRFP is a very competitive fellowship for US citizens attending graduate school in the sciences and I recommend that every eligible student talk to me about applying in the summer before their senior year.
March 2021
Left to right: Boxi Cameron Li ('19, now at UT Austin in the Roberts group), Haley McAllister ('21), Kaiyuan Karen Hao ('20, now at UMass Medical School Immunology & Microbiology Program), Prof. Plass, Connor Protter ('19, now at UW Madison in the Hamers group), and Han Le ('19, now at UC Berkeley in the Alivisatos group).
Prof. Plass gives a "lightening talk" describing our recent publication in ACS Materials Letters.
January 2021
Check out this interview about using our LVEM 25 TEM for some advice on being a woman in STEM.
Our first collaborative paper with the Morford group has been published! See our work in ACS Earth and Space Chemistry
November 2020
Prof. Plass was featured on the LibreTexts Chemistry site for our Introduction to Materials Characterization text.
August 2020
Thank you, Division of Materials Research in the NSF, for funding our proposal "RUI: Modulation of cation exchange using oxidation/reduction to design plasmonic nanoheterostructures". A huge thank you to all of the students who contributed to making this a compelling proposal!
July 2020
Congratulations, 2020 graduates, Anna Huiyan Xiong and Luis Garcia-Herrera! It is tragic that we were not able to be together to celebrate in person and that you were unable to present your work at the ACS meeting this Spring.
May 2020
From the left: Prof. Plass, Anna Xiong, Bonnie Page, Haley McAllister, Luis Garcia-Herrera, Stephen Yakita
Congratulations to Anna, Bonnie, Cam, Haley, Han, and Luis.
February 2020
From the left: Anna Xiong, Luis Garcia-Herrera, Haley McAllister, Barbara Altmann, Bonnie Page, and Kate Plass
Group lunch with President Altmann. Thank you, President Altmann, for coming to hear about our research and how creative students are!
September 2019
This week we are excited to share nanochemistry research at our first group meeting with the Schaak lab and Penn State and the St. Angelo lab at Dickenson College.
July 2019
The Morford-Plass lab end-of-semester celebration!
May 2019
Boxi (Cameron) Le, Connor Protter, and Han Le have committed to graduate school in chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of California Berkeley, respectively. Way to go guys!
Franklin & Marshall students attend the 83rd Annual Intercollegiate Student Chemists Convention.
Congratulations on great talks to all student presenters!
The ISCC is the longest running conference of its type. See more on the history here.
Next year, Franklin & Marshall will host.
The convention was attended by (* indicates a speaker):
Back row from the left: Prof. Christine Piro, ByungUk (Mike) Lee ('19)*, Anthony O'Donnell ('19)*, Boxi (Cameron) Li ('19)*, Kaiyuan (Karen) Hao ('20)*, Huiyan (Anna) Xiong, Prof. Kate Plass
Front row from the left: Tipsiri (Mint) Pungsrisai ('19)*, Han Le ('19), Angelica Camillo ('20), Darcy Harris ('21)*, and Brianna Papoutsis ('21).
Three F&M students were judged as 1st or 2nd place winners in their sections! Extra congratulations to Anthony 'Donnell, ByungUk (Mike) Lee, and Han Le!
Dan Rossi '12 has recently graduated from the University of Texas A&M with a Ph.D. and is now doing a postdoc at the IBSCMN (Institute for Basic Science, Center for Nano-Bio Medicine) in South Korea. Congratulations, Dr. Rossi!
Pat Cunningham '13 has graduated from the University of Chicago with a Ph.D. and is on the job market. Good luck, Dr. Cunningham!
Mona Lotfipour '12 is a resident at Penn State Hershey in ophthalmology. Well done, Dr. Lotfipour!
Felicia Lucci '11 has just started a postdoctoral position combining policy and research at the Lawrence Livermore National Labs. Hooray, Dr. Lucci!
September-October 2018
Our research video for the Camille and Henry Dreyfus website
August 2018
Visiting the Schaak lab at Penn State. We just had a great joint group meeting with our collaborators in Ray Schaak's lab at Penn State and are on our way to ice cream at the Creamery. Thank you Ray, Ben, Abby, and Robert for sharing your time and your insight.
July 2018
Morford and Plass labs welcome our new and continuing members and congratulate our graduating seniors! Show below left to right: Sam Patzkowky '20, Ellie Driscoll '20, Kate Meyers '19, Haley McAllister '21, Ruochen Du '20, Kaiyuan Hao '20, Cameron Li '19, Han Le '19, Nathan Miller '21, Zichen Zeng '18, Angus Unruh '18, and Connor Protter '19. Maura Dougherty '19 (not shown)!
May 2018
Evan Jones '12 just defended his Ph.D. thesis at Harvard University. Congratulations, Dr. Jones!
Jenny Georgieva '16 just published her first graduate school work in Advanced Materials!
April 2018
Angus Unruh is off to Pennsylvania State University and Zichen Zeng is going to the University of Pennsylvania.
April 2018
Students from the Piro, Brewer, Morford, Yoder, and Plass labs attended. Plass lab seniors Angus and Zichen gave oral presentations, as did Kate Meyers, who is working on a Morford-Plass collaborative project.
Check out this article on our new instrument. See Angus Unruh and Han Le using it.
January 2018
Prof. Morford, Yoder, and Plass received NSF MRI funding for a benchtop TEM. This will benefit nanoscience and biology work on campus and at neighboring institutions. Thank you very much, NSF!
August 2017
Profs. Plass and Morford co-taught a College Prep course this summer called "Chemistry Everyday".
Gaurav Day, Rebecca Katz
Plass lab alum Jolie Blake '10 defended her Ph.D. thesis at the University of Delaware on Friday July 14th, 2017.
This will support a new collaborative project studying iron sulfide sediments.
Angus Unruh and Zichen Zeng gave posters, while Prof. Plass gave a talk.
June 2017
The first of two blog installments on the Plass lab summer research has been posted.
June 2017
See her profile here.
Thank you, NSF! See more information here!
December 2016
We enjoyed hearing about the varied and interesting research our students are taking part in.
Prof. Plass is granted a Henry Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Award
Plass lab alum Jolie Blake wins Outstanding Physical Chemistry Poster at the American Chemical Society meeting.
Plass lab alum Felicia Lucci successfully defends her PhD thesis at Tufts University.
Alex Kim, Jenny Georgieva, and Marshall Tomat are on their way to medical school (Alex) and graduate school (Jenny and Marshall). They will be missed.
May 2016
Alex and Marshall traveled to San Diego to present posters in the Undergraduate Research at the Frontiers of Inorganic Chemistry section. Marshall's poster was also chosen for Sci-Mix! Well done!
Spring 2016
On September 12, we went to the Philadelphia Inorganic Colloquium. A fun and inorganic time was had by all!
September 2015
Thank you NSF for funding our lab for 3 more years through our new grant titled "RUI: Post-synthetic transformations of anions in metal chalcogenide nanoparticles: Uncovering synthetic design rules and the effect on subsequent transformations"
July 2023