Notebook • Vo l um e X X X • 2022
2 0 2 2 to bench work has been jarring but only
2021 spring semester when he mentored
partial, as she and her lab members still
undergraduate students. Additionally, he has
get out to the Great Salt Lake to collect
been part of ACCESS program working with
soil specimens.
other CSOE volunteers to assist students in
Outside of research Julie loves to
performing at-home chemistry experiments.
climb mountains and practice the salsa
Finally, he mentors graduate students,
dancing skills she picked up in Panama.
teaching them the fundamentals of electrochemistry and laboratory safety, and advising
AMIR HOSSEINI - CHEMISTRY JULIE JUNG - BIOLOGY Outstanding Postdoctoral Researcher In high school Julie Jung roamed
Outstanding Postdoctoral Researcher Amir received his PhD in Chemistry
them on their graduate research. Equity and inclusion in academia is a very important matter for Amir. He currently
from Indiana University, where he trained
serves as the post-doc representative on
greenhouses as a volunteer for a wheat
with one of the world’s premier organic
the DEI committee of the Department
lab at the USDA. Following that, she turned
electrochemists (Dr. Dennis
to ecology, working first with owls then
Peters). He joined the
chipmunks and pollinators within New
University of Utah
England’s deciduous forests.
in December
After graduation with honors in
of Chemistry. However, his outreach activities are not limited to academia. He
2020, as a
volunteers to
biology from Williams College, Julie found
Postdoctoral
herself on a plane to Panama to do field
Research
Iranian
work at the Smithsonian Tropical Research
Fellow in
and
Institute where she spent the next several
the NSF
Afghan
rainy seasons studying how red-eyed
Center of
families
treefrogs escape hatch in response to snake
Organic
settling
vibrations.
Synthetic
“I was so excited to have been peed
istry (CSOE)
she remembers of her time in the field as
where he is work-
a graduate student. While pursuing a
ing in Henry White’s
doctorate at Boston University, she slowly
laboratory.
Winner of this year’s College of Sci-
in Salt
Electrochem-
on by a titi monkey while walking to lab,”
grew into her role as a behavioral biologist.
help new
Amir’s research project is focused on
Lake City. In this role, he assists families who need a translator for taking care of paperwork, enrolling their
discovering novel electroorganic transforma-
children in school, and communicating
ence “Outstanding Post-Doc Award,” Julie
tions and using variety of electroanalytical
with federal and state officials regarding
has found a scientific home in the Michael
tools to explore the mechanism of the
their urgent needs.
Werner Lab studying the phenomenon of
reaction at the molecular level. Recently,
“phenotypic plasticity”—or how the same
he developed a new synthetic strategy for
genotype produces distinct phenotypes de-
electrooxidation of alcohols that is referred
pending on environmental conditions. The
to as electroreductive oxidation.
lab’s subject model is primarily nematodes.
Amir is passionate about mentoring
Her NSF-funded research hopes to
and education of the next generation of
establish a general model of plasticity across
scientists. He participated in the Science
diverse systems. The pivot from field work
Research Initiative (SRI) program during the
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