Shelley Lab News

PhD Candidate Justin Park's latest research was featured in a news article in Science after he presented recent results at the Annual Meeting of the American Geophysical Union in December 2024. Justin's work with advisors Profs. Morgan Schaller and Jacob Shelley presents direct evidence that oxygen levels were high enough to support animal respiration much earlier than previously thought.

PhD Candidate Julia Danischewski et al. published "Use of Resonant Acoustic Fields as Atmospheric-Pressure Ion Gates" in Analytical Chemistry. Nice work, Julia!

PhD Candidate Julia Danischewski was selected as a 2025 Future Leader by the Eastern New York Section of the American Chemical Society. This honor is given to PhD students who have demonstrated exceptional work ethic, creativity, perseverance, and collaboration throughout their graduate experience. Julia will present her research on acoustic ion manipulation at the 10th Annual Future Leaders Meeting of the ENY ACS at Union College in Schenectady, NY.

PhD Student Carlos Nogales Herrera won the top prize for his poster titled "Development of an Optical Particle Trap for Atomic and Molecular Characterization of Extraterrestrial Particles via Raman, LIBS, and MS" at the 5th Annual Chemistry and Chemical Biology Graduate Research Symposium at RPI. PhD Student Elly Breves took 3rd for her poster "Characterization of Organic Carbon Molecular Networks in Martian Meteorites Using Mass Spectrometry and 2D-Correlation Techniques".

PhD Candidate Justin Park and Prof. Morgan Schaller published "Constraints on Earth’s atmospheric evolution from a gas-aqueous partition of fluid inclusion volatiles" in Gondwana Research. Nice work, Justin!

PhD Student Elly Breves received 2nd Place in the Journal of Mass Spectrometry Poster Awards for her presentation titled "Characterization of organic carbon molecular networks in Martian meteorites using mass spectrometry and 2D-correlation techniques" at SciX 2024 in Raleigh, NC.

PhD Candidate Justin Park received the Founders Award of Excellence, the highest honor given at RPI's annual Honors Convocation ceremony. The award recognizes students who embody the qualities of creativity, discovery, and leadership, and the values of pride and responsibility at Rensselaer.

PhD Candidate Meri Herrero Perez received the 2024 James P. Ferris Fellowship in Astrobiology for outstanding contributions and accomplishments in the field of Astrobiology. Meri's research focuses on the chemical transformations that occurred to small organic compounds delivered through meteorites on the early Earth. The fellowship was created in 2012 as a tribute to the late Prof. Ferris's pioneering work in Astrobiology conducted at RPI.

PhD Student Carlos E. Nogales Herrera received an NIH T32 Training Grant Fellowship to develop an advanced multimodal chemical imaging platform. The platform combines mass spectrometry, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy to analyze iPSC-derived forebrain neurons affected by Alzheimer’s disease at high spatial resolution. Carlos will work under the guidance of Prof. Shelley and in collaboration with Prof. Mariah Hahn in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at RPI.

Prof. Jacob Shelley was named Vice President of the International Atomic Spectrometry Associate (IASA), an international membership society formed to advance atomic spectrometry scholarship, education, advocacy, and innovation. The IASA was formed in August 2024 with the intent of operating as a Society of Applied Spectroscopy (SAS) Affiliate Society.

PhD Students Elly Breves and Julia Danischewski received top honors for their oral presentations at the 2024 New York Capital Region Society for Applied Spectroscopy Symposium. Elly presented her work on mass spectra of Martian meteorites. Julia presented her work on acoustic ion manipulation.

PhD Candidates Justin Park and Julia Danischewski received top honors for their oral presentations at the 2024 RPI Graduate Research Symposium. Justin presented his work on constraining carbon dioxide levels in the ancient atmosphere using fluid inclusions in minerals. Julia presented her work on acoustic ion manipulation. Julia, Research Specialist Abby Ross, and Justin also swept the PowerPoint Karaoke competition with their partners.

Several current and former Shelley Lab members published "Manipulation of Gaseous Ions with Acoustic Fields at Atmospheric Pressure" in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Research Specialist Abby Ross received an Honorable Mention in the 2024 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program for her proposed work on the use of cyanotoxin concentrations, cyanobacterial genetics, and environmental variables to predict regulators of harmful algal bloom toxicity. Abby will enter the PhD Program in Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder in the fall.

PhD Candidate Julia Danischewski won the 2024 American Society for Mass Spectrometry Graduate Student Award recognizing academic achievement and a high level of excellence and distinction in her research on acoustic ion manipulation. The award was presented at the ASMS Conference in Anaheim, CA.

Prof. Shelley and PhD Candidate Julia Danischewski won the 2023 FACSS Innovation Award recognizing innovative and outstanding new research advancements for their work on acoustic ion manipulation. The award was presented at the SciX Conference in Sparks, NV.

PhD Candidate Julia Danischewski won Third Place in the FACSS Student Poster Awards at SciX 2023 in Sparks, NV for her presentation titled "Exploration of Acoustic-Based Ion Optics for the Control of Gaseous Ions".

The New York Capital Region Student Chapter of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy won the 2023 FACSS William J. Poehlman Award. The award is given to the Regional Section of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy that has contributed the most towards accomplishing the goals and ideals of the Society. PhD Students Julia Danischewski and Jared Viggers serve on the Executive Board along with Prof. Shelley.

Prof. Shelley and his students demonstrated acoustic levitation and a plasma speaker to visitors at the Going Places >> Changing the World STEM outreach event held at the Albany International Airport's Million Air Terminal in November 2023.