Ashly (she/her) is a junior Honors Scholar pursuing a degree in Chemistry and Physics with a minor in Mathematics.  On campus, she serves as the Vice President of the Chemistry Club, an Organic Chemistry Undergraduate TA under Dr. Nicholas Leadbeater, and the Social Media Coordinator of the Green Chemistry Initiative (GCI).  She is also involved in Women in Physics (WiP) and runs the General Chemistry Worksheet Sessions.

Ashly began her research journey her freshman year under the mentorship of Dr. Nicholas Leadbeater in the New Synthetic Methods Group.  As a member of the group, Ashly focused on studying how galvanic electrochemistry and radical catalysts can be utilized as a replacement for toxic metal oxidants.  In this pursuit, she utilized a commercially available electrochemical setup, overcoming issues with reproducibility, one of the biggest drawbacks of organic electrochemistry.  During the summer between her freshman and sophomore year, she received the Dr. Charles Waring Scholarship to work towards developing an electrochemical method to synthesize imine dimers.  During the past summer, she received the Caxide Scholars Award to work on her self-proposed project of using electrochemistry to synthesize novel acyl pyrazoles and will be presenting her work this September!

Recently, Ashly has begun her involvement with Dr. Tomoyasu Mani in the Mani Group to focus more on methods in Physical Chemistry.  In this group, Ashly is working with Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR, also known as ESR) to study the quantum behavior of organic radicals.  Specifically, she is using EPR to determine the spin dynamics of molecular qubits the group has developed.  Drawing from her previous experience, she is also working on using in-situ electrochemistry to develop the organic radicals instead of external oxidants to streamline the spectroscopic process.

Upon completing her undergraduate degree, she plans to pursue a PhD in Physical Chemistry and is hoping to specialize in magnetic resonance spectroscopies.  Ashly is fascinated by quantum electrodynamics, especially involving spin.  Outside of the academic world, Ashly enjoys crocheting, thrifting, and taking care of her army of houseplants!