Hi, I'm Pauline! 

Pauline grew up in Eagan, MN. She attended Saint Olaf College, where she earned a B.A. in Chemistry.

At Saint Olaf College, she briefly worked in a genetics lab before realizing she wasn't very fond of biology.

In Summer 2024, Pauline joined Dr. Anna Brezny to study the electrochemical aerobic epoxidation of styrenes using metalloporphyrin catalysts. She loved her lab so much she stayed up until she graduated, but took a brief hiatus Summer 2025 to explore total synthesis at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Pauline worked under Dr. Jeff Chan on the development of novel anticancer compounds and found herself really  missing catalysis.

Pauline is super excited to pursue her Ph.D. in chemistry and live out the lab rat life forever! She's not 100% sure about her long term goals, but she thinks being a professor could be fun because she really enjoyed working with students as a lab TA!

Outside of the lab, she enjoys sewing, baking, crochet, playing video games, and petting cats. 

Publications

• Iwerks, P. E.; McKinney, E. R.; Oppenheim, S. F.; Williams, T. M.; Scholar, E. A.; Brezny, A. C. J. Org. Chem. 2026, 91, 2187–2192.

Selected Awards

• Dean's List Saint Olaf College

• Saint Olaf Presidential Scholarship (2022)

• Marjorie Klungness Seal Endowed Scholarship for Upperclassmen in Chemistry (2025)

• Phi Lambda Upsilon (inducted Spring 2026)

• Saint Olaf Chemistry Departmental Service Award (2026)

• American Institute of Chemists Foundation Award (2026)

• Distinction in the Chemistry Major 

Favorite Reaction(s)

• CO2 Hydrogenation