SAS has an opening for the Student Representative. Voting will occur among student members in December. Below are the candidates.

Julia Danischewski 

Julia Danischewski is a fourth-year graduate student in the Shelley Lab at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Originally from Staten Island, New York, she completed her undergraduate studies in chemistry at Skidmore College. There, she worked on developing a new synthetic method for silica-coated silver nanoparticles to preserve color in a variety of matrices. Upon starting graduate school, her research interests shifted towards instrumentation and technology development. She now works on acoustic ion manipulation (AIM), with an emphasis on developing atmospheric pressure ion-optic devices based on the AIM phenomenon. Julia plays an active role in her local scientific community by participating in mentorship and outreach activities. She has served as an American Chemical Society (ACS) Project SEED mentor to high school students for two years, as well as designed demonstrations and activities for regional STEM events hosted by RPI. Additionally, Julia has been on the executive board for the New York Capital Region Society for Applied Spectroscopy (NYCRSAS) student chapter since 2022, as both President Elect and President. Through NYCRSAS, she has helped to organize three regional symposia, as well as numerous social and academic events, including guest lectures, student seminars, and coffee hours. When not conducting research, Julia likes to hang out with her cat and bake new sweets to share with her lab mates at weekly group meetings. Julia's current CV can be found here.

Lottie Murray

Lottie Murray is a fourth-year graduate student at the University of Delaware (UD) in the Materials Science and Engineering (MSEG) department working in the lab of Dr. Matthew Doty. Her work primarily focuses on using 2D materials, specifically Ga₂Se₂, to create platforms to act as sources of deterministic single photon emitters for quantum computing applications. She has studied the optical degradation of thin Ga₂Se₂ via Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopy, as well as ways of mitigating this degradation process to maximize the practicality of this material in quantum photonic devices. In addition, she has worked on understanding optical signal changes and altering the bandgap of Ga₂Se₂ through strain engineering with nanopatterned substrates. Most recently, she has been incorporating multivariate data analysis approaches to better characterize and understand hyperspectral photoluminescence maps of strain with the end goal of characterizing and predicting emission as a function of degree of strain. In addition to research, Lottie is an active member of the MSEG department, having had roles in both the Materials Research Society’s (MRS) chapter at UD and the student mentoring program EmPOWER. Lottie also has been a student representative and is currently the secretary for the Brandywine Valley ASM International, and has organized an outreach event at Washington & Jefferson College focused on showing undergraduate students’ opportunities in materials and quantum sciences. Looking forward, Lottie hopes to pursue a postdoctoral position where she can continue to diversify spectroscopic techniques and applications with the intent to become a research professor afterward. Lottie's CV can be found here.