Fairbrother Research Group > People > Graduate Students

Graduate Students

Casey performing reaction in front of fume hood

Casey Smith

  • B.Sc. in Chemistry: Virginia Tech, 2018
  • B.Sc. in Biochemistry: Virginia Tech, 2018
  • Contact: [email protected]
  • Bio: Casey enjoys reading, graphic design, and watching reality television. You would probably want her on your R House trivia team as a pop culture expert.
  • Project: Release and transformation of additives from plastics
picture of caroline

Caroline Anastasia

  • B.Sc. in Chemistry: University of Connecticut, 2019
  • Contact: [email protected]
  • Bio: Caroline enjoys cottage cheese on Ritz crackers, whole peeled cucumbers, and crocheting.
  • Project: Caroline is a member of the NSF Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology (CSN), where she is studying how nanoparticles interact with model plant cell wall surfaces. Outside of the CSN, Caroline is looking at how microplastics and their additives are taken up and metabolized by plants
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Savannah Phillips

  • B.Sc. in Chemistry: Virginia Tech, 2020
  • B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering: Virginia Tech, 2020
  • Contact: [email protected]
  • Bio: Savannah enjoys filling out forms, being overinvolved in department affairs, reading capitalist literature, and crocheting.
  • Project: Modification of plant-derived nanoglycogen for applications in sustainable agriculture
Patrick using ultra-high vacuum equipment

Patrick Eckhert

  • B.Sc. in Chemistry: Northern Arizona University, 2020
  • Contact: [email protected]
  • Bio: Patrick enjoys interpreting NMR spectra, loves orchids, and hates beeping microwaves.
  • Project: Electron Stimulated Surface Reactions of Organometallic Precursors
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Elias Buurma

  • B.A. in Chemistry: Middlebury College, 2021
  • Contact: [email protected]
  • Bio: Elias enjoys wearing the same clothes and eating the same foods everyday.
  • Project 1: Integrating Phosphorous in Biodegradable Polymers for Sustainable Agriculture
  • Project 2: How Phthalates in Microplastics are taken up by Plants
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Caroline Lee

  • B.A. in Biochemistry: Oberlin College, 2023
  • B.A in Environmetal Studies, Oberlin College, 2023
  • Contact: [email protected]
  • Project: How Phthalates in Microplastics are taken up by Plants
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Anya Chinniah

  • B.A. in Chemistry: Mount Holyoke, 2021
  • Contact: [email protected]
  • Project: Modification of plant-derived nanoglycogen for applications in sustainable agriculture
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Ruiqi Cui

  • M.S. in Chemistry: Tsinghua University, 2023
  • Contact: [email protected]
  • Project: Electron Stimulated Surface Reactions of Organometallic Precursors