Doerrer Student Receives 2014 NSF Fellowship

Ariel Hyre (GRS 2013)
Ariel Hyre (GRS 2013)

Ariel Hyre, a first-year graduate student in Professor Linda Doerrer‘s laboratory, has received a 2014 NSF Graduate Research Program Fellowship on her initial attempt.   NSF stated that she was awarded the 3-year fellowship based on her “outstanding abilities and accomplishments, as well as [her] potential to contribute to strengthening the vitality of the US science and engineering enterprise.”  Ariel, who came to BU after receiving her BS from Brandeis University in 2013 (Cum Laude, High Honors in Chemistry), is deeply committed to materials research that will contribute to environmentally sustainable energy.

As an undergraduate, Ariel explored many aspects of chemistry, working in three different laboratories at Brandeis to learn organometallic techniques and instrumentation (with Professor Christine Thomas);  engineering-based materials research (with Professor Seth Fraden); and oscillatory chemical reactions  (with Professor Irving Epstein).   Coming to BU, she decided to join the Doerrer Group and work on a project that focuses on synthesizing one-dimensional, heterobimetallic nanowires supported and bridged by carboxylate ligands. The infinite chains found in the crystals of these complexes will be tested for electronic conductivity to understand the fundamental design principles needed to produce highly efficient nanoscale wires for electronic devices. Other research directions within the Doerrer lab include C-H and O-H bond oxidation and facile synthesis of zero-valent iron nanoparticles.

Ariel, who minored in political science as an undergraduate, is also committed to scientific outreach, believing that a vibrant scientific community is vital to the health and development of society, at the both local and national levels.  She and Professor Doerrer have exciting plans to develop a bilingual English/Spanish outreach program for the elementary school students.  Their aim is to engage students from one of the most underrepresented groups in the sciences in the excitement of chemistry.