Philippe Vidon

Executive Director for the Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences

Philippe obtained his PhD in Geography from York University, ON, Canada in 2004, and subsequently occupied professor positions at Indiana University – Purdue University in Indianapolis (IUPUI) and at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry a.k.a. ESF, in Syracuse, NY. There he served as Director of the Hydrological Systems Science Council, among other leadership appointments. His most recent research has focused on a broad range of topics including (but not limited to): watershed management, water quality, soil biogeochemistry (e.g., N, P, C, Hg cycling and soil N2O, CO2, and CH4 emissions), bioenergy, and the impact of beaver dam analogues on floodplain hydrogeomorphology and landscape resiliency.

Natia Frank

Prof. Natia L. Frank received her Bachelor’s degree with Honors from Bard College in 1987 (Chemistry, Math, Music), an M.Sc. in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1989), and Ph.D at the University of California-San Diego (1996, Organic Chemistry). She was a CNRS Postdoctoral Fellow with the late Prof. Olivier Kahn at the University of Bordeaux, France (spin-based materials), and an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow (Biomaterials, Prof. Thomas Meade/Prof. Harry Gray) at Caltech. She began her independent career in 2000 as an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington-Seattle in the study of multifunctional magnetic materials for spintronics and biosensing. In 2005, she was recruited as a Canada Research Chair Tier II in Multifunctional Materials Chemistry at the University of Victoria where she developed optically switchable spin-based qubits for quantum science. In 2012, she was a Visiting Scholar at Humbolt University (Physics), Berlin, Germany, and University of Rennes (Chemistry), France. In 2020, she joined the University of Nevada-Reno as Associate Professor of Chemistry. Her primary expertise is at the interface of organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, spin-based materials and photochemistry/electron transfer theory which allows her to be well-situated to address current challenges in molecular quantum information science: the design of molecular qubits with long decoherence times, multiqubit arrays, and qubits/qudits that can respond to external stimuli for quantum computing and sensing. Prof. Frank currently serves on two funded DOE EFRC advisory boards in quantum science, the ACS-PRF Advisory Board, and has served on numerous NSF funding panels in quantum relevant areas.

Keith Lawler

My primary research interest lies in studying systems where strong electron correlation effects are the source of exotic bonding or unique properties, or where intricate changes in the bonding motif drive an observed phase change. This involves studying a system’s electronic structure; its properties, both structural and spectroscopic; and its response to external stimuli such as pressure and temperature. Understanding these electron driven properties and responses is fascinating from a scientific point of view, and it will be the key to unlocking the next generation of functional materials.

Jeongwon Park

• Funded research grants from governments and industry
• H-index of 23 (peer review journal articles: 84), and cited more than 4700 times
• Senior Member of IEEE, Professional Engineer
• 6 US patents and 82 peer-reviewed papers in high-impact journals
• Contributed to high-impact research projects in nanotechnology at the University of Nevada Reno, University of Ottawa, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, and Applied Materials, Inc.

Levent Atici

I am an anthropologically trained archaeologist with a research focus on the relationships between humans, non-human animals, and the environment. I am particularly interested in the origins of the food we eat, and the evolution of urban food provisioning systems. My research program features fieldwork, laboratory analysis, and an integrative approach to big data and sharing digital data. My background at the intersection of humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences allows me to understand and support undergraduate education across the continuum of academic disciplines. As a student of life and infinitely curious Homo sapiens, I often wear multiple hats and strive to integrate multiple perspectives in everything I do.

Craig Schwartz

We use X-ray sources around the world around the world to understand disordered materials, particularly at interfaces, using large international laser facilities such as those in Italy and Japan. This includes materials such as liquids to better understand fundamental phenomena like how evaporation occurs. It also includes solar cells where we try to make ever more efficient devices.

Jared Bruce

Photochemistry is central to many aspects of energy conversion, atmospheric chemistry, corrosion, and catalysis. The ability to drive chemical reactions selectively and efficiently on surfaces with light remains a significant challenge, as these transformations are often dependent on the structure and chemical nature of the material surface. Furthermore, as more complex, multi-component materials are used in photochemical applications, robust model systems are needed to understand how synergistic properties impact these transformations.

The Bruce Group focuses on processes related to the conversion of light to drive chemical reactions at different interfaces. Our group are world experts in surface chemistry using ultrahigh vacuum, near ambient pressure, and operando spectroscopy/microscopy techniques. This, coupled with electrochemical and photoelectrochemical characterization, enables a unique insight into photochemical conversions at gas-liquid, liquid-solid, and solid-gas interfaces.

Mustafa Hadj-Nacer

Dr. Mustafa Hadj-Nacer is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Nevada Reno (UNR). Dr. Hadj-Nacer’s research is focused on applying and developing experimentally benchmarked computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models for several applications ranging from Nuclear Packaging to Enhanced Heat Transfer and Cooling systems.

Dr. Hadj-Nacer received a Ph.D. from Aix-Marseille University, France. His research included gas-surface interaction in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and the measurement of the mass flow rate through micro-tubes of different cross-section shapes and materials. He also developed analytical and numerical approaches to calculate the mass flow rate in the slip, transitional and free molecular flow regimes.

Ping Wang

Ping Wang is a mathematics instructor at Great Basin College (GBC). She was the former director of Academic Success and Testing Center (ASC) at GBC. Ping Wang has worked in higher education for 12 years, and has always been passionate and dedicated to promoting students’ success, both academically and professionally. Currently, Ping Wang is working on her Ph.D. degree in Education at the University of Nevada, Reno, with the emphasis of educational information and technology.

Merryn Cole

Dr. Cole’s research interests focus on the relationship between spatial thinking and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) content as well as the ways in which teachers understand and implement project-based instruction and the impact of implementation on students’ understanding of STEM content. Other research interests include the content understanding and self-efficacy of practitioners of science communication and/or science outreach and the impacts on their audiences.