Principal Investigator
Sharon R. Neufeldt grew up in Tucson, AZ and graduated from University High School in 2003. She earned a B.S. in Chemistry at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff in 2006, and then began her Ph.D. studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 2007. At Michigan, she worked with Professor Melanie Sanford on the development of Pd-catalyzed C—H functionalization reactions. In 2013, she became the Cram Teacher-Scholar at UCLA. There, she undertook postdoctoral research with Professor K. N. Houk using DFT to study the mechanism and selectivity of transition metal-catalyzed C—H activation, while also teaching sophomore organic chemistry. In summer 2016 she moved to Bozeman, MT to begin her independent career. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2023. She is the recipient of an NSF CAREER award (2019), a Thieme Chemistry Journals Award (2020), a Cottrell Scholars Award (2020), and an NIH NIGMS MIRA award (2020). Outside of chemistry, Sharon enjoys spending time with her husband, Roland, and 3-year old son, Teddy.
Postdocs
Vitor H. Menezes da Silva
Vitor grew up in São Paulo, Brazil. He received his PhD in Chemistry at the Universidade de São Paulo (USP) in 2017, with a sandwich period at University of North Texas (USA). His research involved the application of computational methods to understand homogeneous Pd- and Ni-catalysis. He spent a postdoctoral period at Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) working with computational studies on enantioselective Pd-catalyzed reactions. In 2022, he joined Neufeldt lab, and his research is focused on the elucidation of Pd-catalyzed site-selective reactions and in the animating organic chemistry reaction mechanisms. Vitor loves football and spending time with his family.
Graduate Students
Matt Kania (6th Year Graduate Student)
Matt earned his B.A. at Macalester College in Saint Paul, MN. His current research focuses on mechanisms of oxidative addition at Pd(0). In his free time, Matt enjoys skiing.
Oliver Jackson (5th Year Graduate Student)
Oliver grew up in Manchester, United Kingdom and graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with a master’s degree in Chemistry under the supervision of Dr. Oliver Sutcliffe. During his undergraduate program, he completed an industrial placement year at Azotic Technologies (Nottingham, UK) and completed a summer research position under the guidance of Dr Mark McLaughlin before moving to Montana State University as a PhD candidate. In his spare time, he enjoys outdoor sports including hiking, diving and football. In the Neufeldt lab, he is studying Pd-catalyzed site-selective cross couplings of dihaloheteroarenes.
Grace Ibsen (4th Year Graduate Student)
Grace was raised in Helena, MT and graduated from Capital High School. She then attended The University of Providence in Great Falls, MT where she earned her B.A. in chemistry and psychology. In the Neufeldt lab, her research is primarily focused on chemoselective Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling. During her free time, Grace enjoys hiking, floating, and snowboarding.
Nate Larson (4th Year Graduate Student)
Nate Larson grew up in Bemidji, MN and earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Bemidji State University in May of 2020. As an undergraduate, Nate’s research focused on the synthesis of a gadolinium-based complex for the capture and release of phosphates from freshwater systems with Dr. Katie L. Peterson. At MSU, Nate’s research is focused on Pd-catalyzed site-selective cross-couplings. Outside of lab, Nate enjoys fishing, hunting, and hanging out with friends and family.
Albert Reyes (3rd Year Graduate Student)
Albert grew up in Chicago, IL and earned his B.S. in Chemistry at Marquette University in the fall of 2020. As an undergraduate, his research focused on the copper catalyzed Hydrofunctionalization of Alkynes and Alkenes under Dr. Joseph R. Clark. In the Neufeldt lab, Albert’s research is focused on site-selective Pd-catalyzed cross-couplings. In his free time, Albert enjoys reading and hanging with his friends.
Collin Stein (3rd Year Graduate Student)
Collin grew up in Appleton, WI and earned a B.S. in Chemistry from St. Norbert College in the spring of 2021. As an undergraduate, Collin’s research focused on synthesis of novel indole based compounds with possible medicinal benefit with Dr. Jon Russel. At MSU, he is studying nickel and palladium catalysis. In his spare time, he enjoys camping, snowboarding and hanging out with friends.
Matt Sandin (1st Year Graduate Student)
Matt Sandin, originally from the Bay Area of California, has spent the last 20 years in Colorado pursing various academic and outdoor endeavors. Matt worked as a dental hygienist in Aspen before returning to academia to pursue a B.S. in Chemistry and a B.S. in Biology from Western Colorado University. Beyond the lab, Matt loves to snowboard, race bikes, play board games, and enjoy time with his loved ones. In the Neufeldt lab, he will be studying palladium and nickel catalysis.
Undergrads
Daniel Lanske (sophomore)
Daniel Lanske grew up in Billings, MT and graduated from West High School. He is currently pursuing a B.S in Cell Biology & Neuroscience with a minor in Global Health here at MSU. Outside of school, Daniel enjoys climbing, hiking, and hanging out with his friends and family. Daniel is working on site-selective cross-coupling with Oliver.
Riley Ullery (sophomore)
Riley Ullery grew up in Casper, WY and graduated from Kelly Walsh High School. She is currently working on her B.A. in nutrition science on a pre-dental pathway at MSU. In her spare time, she enjoys baking, fishing, and hanging out with family and friends. Riley is working on chemoselective Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling with Grace.
Zach Zatz (sophomore)
Zach grew up in Denver, CO and is currently studying Exercise Science at Montana State. In his free time he enjoys fly fishing and skiing at Bridger Bowl! Zach is working on site-selective cross-coupling with Albert.
Alumni
Jacob Norman (PhD Fall 2023)
John Russell (PhD Summer 2022)
Steven Rehbein (PhD Spring 2022)
Emily Elias (née Reeves) (PhD Spring 2021)
Michael Giroux (MS Summer 2019)
Postdogs
Meeple (7 years old)
Meeple is an Australian Labradoodle who was born near Seattle, WA but grew up in Bozeman. She has successfully trained her little human brother to share his snacks with her, especially waffles. She is proud of her perfect record for scaring away UPS drivers. However, her greatest accomplishment to date is that she trained the USPS mail carrier to leave a cookie on top of every Amazon package delivered to her doorstep.