Team

Gavin Gallop received a B.S. from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (UMHB) in central TX where he graduated from the honors program with summa cum laude distinction while majoring in Chemistry and double minoring in Ceramics and Christian Studies.  While on the UMHB President’s academic scholarship, Gallop garnered a number of local and national distinctions and accolades, including UMHB’s Freshman Science Award, the American Institute of Chemists Student Award, a Welch Scholarship for undergraduate research, and inclusion in the Gamma Sigma Epsilon National Chemistry Honors Society.  In the fall of 2023 Gallop matriculated into the chemistry graduate program at Baylor University where he joined the research group of Prof. Jonathan Larson. 

Gallop, inspired and intrigued by the regularity and order found in nature, desires to deeply understand the origins of the physical and chemical processes that govern the universe from an atomic and molecular level.  Of particular interest are phenomena residing on the boundary of physical chemistry, materials science, and electrochemistry.  Motivated by these interests, Gallop’s primary research goals at Baylor aim to advance the field of energy storage science through the development, modeling, and characterization of various lithium-ion battery materials and interfaces.  Being passionate about education, scientific communication, mentorship, and fundamental research, Gallop is pursuing a career in academia to become a professor of physical chemistry.

Bibek Karki is originally from Nepal, joining the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Baylor University as a Ph.D. graduate student in the Fall of 2024. Prior to Baylor, Karki completed a B.S. degree in chemistry and a M.S. degree in physical chemistry at Tribhuvan University.  At Tribhuvan, Karki played a critically important role in the application and securing of research funds that enabled studies into the supercapacitive energy storage properties of MXene-based composites.  He was one of three authors on the successful grant proposal sent in response to an international solicitation from The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS).  The project resulted in a publication.

Karki has strong expertise and interest in electrochemistry, especially as it relates to energy storage systems, and is particularly fascinated by electrochemically active heterogeneous interfaces found in devices like batteries.  The complex physicochemical interactions that take place at these interfaces govern device performance and safety, and through his research, Karki hopes to gain deep insight into the numerous relevant physicochemical mechanisms that occur therein. Karki additionally has interest in programming and computational modelling and hopes to bolster experimental results with theoretical approaches to gain deeper insights into these systems. 

Ericsson McDermott earned two bachelor’s degrees, with honors, from Evangel University in Springfield, MO: a B.S. in Applied Mathematics with a concentration in chemistry, and a B.A. in Intercultural Studies.  During his time there, McDermott conducted research on the synthesis of ruby crystals, and also received numerous academic distinctions in National Honors Societies. These include serving as chapter vice president for the National Science and National Mathematics Honors Societies – Sigma Zeta and Kappa Mu Epsilon, respectively.  Furthermore, he was also a member of the Theology Honor Society (Theta Alpha Kappa) and was awarded the sole Outstanding Intercultural Studies Graduate in 2024. 

In the fall of 2024, Ericsson accepted his offer to study chemistry in the graduate program at Baylor University, and joined the Larson Lab. Ericsson has had a long-standing goal to conduct interdisciplinary research while leveraging his strong background in mathematics to tackle both theoretical and experimental problems.  This unique goal perfectly aligned with the goals of the Larson Lab, where McDermott is now focused on exploring scientific questions on the boundary of physics, chemistry, and materials science –  particularly in the energy storage space.

Moksodur Rahman received his B.S. in Chemistry and M.S. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Chittagong in Bangladesh. As part of his M.S. Rahman conducted research on perovskite materials for renewable energy applications, resulting in a first author publication.  After his master’s work, Rahman joined the staff of the Solar Energy Laboratory of the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), a renowned National Laboratory in Bangladesh. During Rahman’s two-year tenure at BCSIR his productive research endeavors on energy and environmental sciences – especially on ferrite materials for humidity sensing and photocatalytic applications – yielded three first author publications and three supporting author publications.

In the Fall 2024, Rahman matriculated into the Ph.D. program in chemistry at Baylor University and joined the research group of Prof. Jonathan Larson.  Driven by a passion for advancing energy technologies and fundamental science, Rahman’s research centers on applying advanced nanoscale characterization schemes (e.g. near-field optical methods like nano-FTIR spectroscopy) to explore energy storage  and quantum materials. By leveraging a robust and interdisciplinary scholastic and research background in physical chemistry, materials science, and energy and environmental science, Rahman aims to unravel interfacial phenomena, charge dynamics, and material properties at complex heterostructures; he hopes his work will contribute to both developing next-generation energy storage solutions and deeper insights into quantum materials science.  Rahman’s aims to pursue a career in advanced materials research within the energy sector. 

Nick Saladino, originally from New Jersey, received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Montclair State University with additional coursework in molecular biology, biochemistry, and mathematics. He initially had a keen passion for the medical field, so far as to become certified and serve as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) in his home state as he prepared for medical school. However, with a desire to understand nature at a deeper level than microscopic biology could provide, Nick decided to shift his academic interests toward a field instead grounded in elegant mathematical models and rich in atomic and molecular detail – physical chemistry. Nick has a deep admiration of the chemical physics that govern all of reality and especially enjoys application of mathematical methods to describe chemical phenomena in a rigorously quantitative manner. 

Nick’s primary research goals aim to address one of the significant roadblocks in physical science: characterizing materials with requisite spatial and temporal resolution in a non-destructive manner. He has a special interest in the utilization, optimization, and modeling of advanced atomic, molecular, and optical spectroscopies for vibrational, electronic, and structural characterization of a host of surfaces. In pursuit of these research interests Nick matriculated into the Chemistry graduate program at Baylor University in the Fall of 2023, where he joined the group of Prof. Jonathan Larson as a graduate student in physical chemistry. 

Matthew Sanders graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, in three years, with a B.S. degree in Chemistry and with National Honor Society distinctions in both chemistry (Gamma Sigma Epsilon) and mathematics (Kappa Mu Epsilon).  While there, Matthew was trained in a plethora of experimental characterization techniques, including, HPLC, GC-MS, FTIR, and Fluorescence Spectroscopy.  Moreover, he applied for and secured an undergraduate grant from the Welch Foundation, which he utilized to design and implement custom experiments to assess the purity of local water sources through the identification of microplastics.

Prior to his undergraduate studies, Matthew had a fulfilling career in emergency services, including roles as firefighter and paramedic.  While serving in these roles Matthew developed a multiplicity of skills transferable to science, including, a robust work ethic, leadership ability, communication proficiency, and time and project management experience.  In the fall of 2023 Matthew joined the graduate Chemistry program at Baylor University.  Motivated by his interests in the coupled and complex relationship between structure and function of materials, Matthew joined the Larson Lab to explore such phenomena within energy storage materials, at the nanoscale.  Matthew graduated with a M.S. in Chemistry in Dec. 2024.