Our Team

The Graduate Student Symposium Planning Committee (GSSPC) is a group of graduate students from the University of Southern California. They are responsible for the tasks associated with the planning of the symposium at the Spring 2027 American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting.

Chloe Ramsperger is a 4th year Ph.D. candidate in the Organic Chemistry program at the University of Southern California, under the supervision of Prof. Elias Picazo. Her current research focuses on the development of new heterocyclic rearrangements and synthesis of molecular photoswitches. She has particular interest in synthesizing novel Stenhouse Zwitterionic photoswitches and elucidating their unique hydrogen bonding functionality.

Email: ramsperg@usc.edu

Kelly Biv is a 5th year Ph.D. candidate in the Organic Chemistry program at the University of Southern California, under the supervision of Prof. Elias Picazo. Kelly started her USC graduate studies under the guidance of Prof. Mark E. Thompson in 2022. There, she developed novel two-coordinate complexes for solar induced conversion of water to hydrogen gas. Her current research, in the Picazo group, focuses on the development of new heterocyclic rearrangements and synthesis of molecular photoswitches. She has particular interest in synthesizing novel amino Donor–Acceptor Stenhouse photoswitches (DASAs) and elucidating their unique characteristics and functionality.

Email: biv@usc.edu

Mukund Sharma is a 4th year Ph.D. candidate in the Inorganic Chemistry program at the University of Southern California, under the supervision of Prof. Michael Inkpen. His research focuses on scanning tunneling microscope break-junction (STM-BJ) techniques to investigate electron transport at the single-molecule level. He is particularly interested in understanding and tuning the conductance of single-molecule junctions using ancillary chemisorbed species, solvents, and visible light.

Email: mukundsh@usc.edu

Adya Mahapatra is a 4th year Ph.D. candidate in the Inorganic Chemistry program at the University of Southern California, under the supervision on Prof. Smaranda C. Marinescu. Her current research focuses on exploring molecular catalysts for the electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide into value-added fuels, with an emphasis on sustainable energy applications. Adya has particularly interested in studying the reactive intermediates involved in homogeneous catalysis to better understand and improve the sustainable activation of small molecules.

Email: aamahapa@usc.edu

Cynthia Avedian is a 5th year Ph.D. candidate in the Inorganic Chemistry program at the University of Southern California, under the supervision of Prof. Michael Inkpen. Her research focuses on self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on metal electrodes and electrochemical interfaces. Her research is driven by a desire to understand and control electrochemical interfaces through molecular surface engineering, exploring how controlling molecular organization at interfaces can improve the performance of electrochemical systems.

Email: cavedian@usc.edu

Matthew Cow is a 6th year Ph.D. candidate in the Organic Chemistry program at the University of Southern California, under the supervision of Prof. G. K. Surya Prakash. His research focuses on the development of novel methodologies in organofluorine chemistry, primarily through radical and carbene intermediates. He aims to continue to develop methods for the incorporation of fluorine in organic molecules with applications in pharmaceutical development and materials science.

Email: mcoe@usc.edu