Shelley Lab News

PhD Candidate Samantha Pryor received top honors at the Regeneron Capital Region STEM Poster Showcase held at Hudson Valley Community College on April 11, 2025. Sam won the PhD Poster Award for her presentation titled 'RNA Synthesis in the Skies: Microdroplet Chemistry at the Air-Water Interface'. More than 100 STEM students shared their research with Regeneron employees and students from local high schools at the event.

PhD Students Julia Danischewski and Carlos Nogales Herrara won First Place for PhD Poster Presentation and Podium Presentation, respectively, at the RPI Graduate Research Symposium on April 11, 2025. Carlos presented his work on developing a multimodal analysis platform for trapped particles. Julia presented her work on acoustic ion manipulation.

PhD Candidate Julia Danischewski was elected Student Representative of the Society of Applied Spectroscopy. Julia will serve as liaison between student chapters of the Society and the National SAS Executive Board.

PhD Candidate Elly Breves was awarded an American Society for Mass Spectrometry Graduate Student Award to present her work on two-dimensional correlation for mass spectrometry at the 2025 ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics in Baltimore.

PhD Candidate Julia Danischewski was awarded a Research Grant from DAAD, the German Academic Exchange Service. Julia will conduct research on acoustic ion manipulation with collaborators at Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) in Berlin.

PhD Candidate Julia Danischewski was awarded an American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry Graduate Fellowship sponsored by Agilent. The 9-month fellowship is awarded for outstanding research ability and accomplishment in mass spectrometry, as evidenced by peer-reviewed publications in analytical chemistry.

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 Samantha Pryor was named Programming Chair for the Astrobiology Graduate Conference 2025 taking place from June 10-13 in Boulder, CO. AbGradCon is dedicated to early-career scientists who study the complex and diverse topics that the astrobiology field encompasses. The conference offers exposure to cutting-edge research, networking opportunities, and invaluable insights into career paths spanning academia, industry, and government.

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.