For what we think we understand we do not understand at all. Patrick Thaddeus 2008.

From the gas phase chemistry in the interstellar medium and other astrophysical environments to that in plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The aim of our research team is glean new knowledge of the world around us by the application of gas phase spectroscopy.

Meet the team!

Who is Dr. Damian Kokkin (aka Dr. Damo)?

Damian received a B.S. (Hons) degree from Griffith University (Nathan, QLD, Australia) in 2004, under the research mentorship of Prof. Alan Knight, where he did research characterizing the weak intermolecular binding in aromatic clusters. Following this Damian then studied at The University of Sydney (Sydney, NSW, Australia) gaining a Ph.D. in 2009 for spectroscopic investigations on molecules of interstellar interest with the hope of gaining further insights into the carriers of the diffuse interstellar bands, under the supervision of Prof. Timothy Schmidt. His interests in astrochemistry and molecular spectroscopy led him to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (Cambridge, MA, USA), where he researched simple silicon-carbide clusters of astrophysical relevance under the direction of Dr. Michael McCarthy. Following his stay in Cambridge, Damian moved to Toulouse in the south of France and worked with Dr. Christine Joblin at IRAP on the spectroscopy of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon cations. Damian returned to the USA in 2014 working with Prof. Timothy Steimle at Arizona State University on high resolution spectroscopy of metal containing species. He moved to Marquette University in summer 2016, working on a number of different research projects with Prof. Scott Reid, while establishing his research interests and teaching upper division and graduate chemistry courses.