October 2024+. I am developing bioinspired routes towards hierarchically structured inorganic matter based on organisms such as diatoms. Diatoms are single-celled algae with exterior cell walls made of silica called a frustule. These frustules appear in a wide range of patterned structures, that are reproduced accurately between generations with feature sizes spanning several orders of magnitude. We are interested in using biomolecules associated with diatom biomineralization to develop new materials science approaches to produce nanostructured materials

I have an interest in the synthesis, self-assembly of optically-resonant nanoparticles, particularly plasmonic and Mie-resonant nanoparticles.