Current Members

Mike Reppert
Assistant Professor

A Kansas native, Mike completed his BS at Kansas State University in 2009 in Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Math. It was also at Kansas State (during four years of undergrad research) where he became fascinated by the molecular mechanisms of photosynthesis. After a year of Fulbright research at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland, he went on to work in 2D IR spectroscopy and peptide structural analysis with Andrei Tokmakoff at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago. After obtaining his PhD in 2016, he worked as a Banting Scholar with Professor Paul Brumer at the Chemical Physics Theory group of the University of Toronto, investigating quantum effects in biological light harvesting. In summer 2019, he moved to Purdue to begin his own research group in Physical Chemistry, working to develop both experimental and computational tools to quantitatively understand structure/spectrum relationships in biomacromolecules, particularly photosynthetic proteins.

Curriculum Vita

Amala Phadkule
Graduate Student

Amala completed B.Sc. Chemistry and M.Sc. Organic Chemistry from the University of Pune (India). In December 2020, she graduated from the University of Alabama with MS Chemistry degree. Amala is interested in molecular biology and spectroscopy. After work, you can find Amala cooking, baking or painting. Favorite cake: Tres leches.

Angelina Fisher
Undergraduate Student

Angelina is an undergraduate getting her B.S. in Biochemistry (Chemistry) and a minor in classical studies. She is interested in pharmacology, biochemistry, and anything involving chemistry. In her free time she enjoys scrapbooking, reading, and watching documentaries and movies.

Biscuit
Group Mascot

This is Biscuit. Dorothea hasn't gotten around to writing anything more about him, so that's all the information you get. Poor Biscuit.

Brandon Parker
Graduate Student

Born and raised in Washington State. Brandon completed his BS at Western Washington University in Chemistry. During his Junior and Senior year, Brandon did molecular dynamics research with molecular solar thermal fuels underneath Dr. Tim Kowalczyk. Brandon's research interests are in quantum dynamics in open quantum systems. During his off time, Brandon enjoys spending time with his birds, strumming any instrument with strings, modifying/repairing electronics, and exercising.

Devin Hiatt
Graduate Student

Devin completed his BS at Indiana State University in 2024 in Chemistry. During his time at ISU, Devin did computational chemistry work under Dr. Eric Glendening. Devin is interested in spectroscopy and computational chemistry. In his free time, Devin enjoys astronomy, watching and playing sports, and playing guitar.

Dorothea Illner
Graduate Student

Dorothea earned her B.Sc. in Chemistry from the Phillipps-University Marburg in Germany and her M.Sc. in Chemistry from the Florida Institute of Technology. Her research intersects biochemistry and computational chemistry, while she has a personal interest for astrosciences. She honors her German roots by taking long hikes and baking homemade bread. Inspired by Schrödinger´s famous cat, she adopted a kitten-one who is very much alive, extremely observable, and strongly against boxes of any kind.

Laika and Oppy
Group Mascot

This is Laika (black and gray) and Oppy (white and brown). Laika is a Norwegian Elkhound named for the first dog in space, which is fitting since the Elkhound is one of the oldest dog breeds in the world. Laika does not hunt moose like her ancestors, instead being a master of getting food from her human mom. Oppy was the nickname given to the Opportunity rover by NASA scientists, and our Oppy is certainly an opportunistic hunter, but less for food or animals and more for the unsuspecting face to lick!

Nico de Cordoba
Graduate Student

Nicolas Alberto carlos Jose de Cordoba (Nico) is a biochem graduate student. He graduated from springhill college with a degree in molecular and cellular biology then worked at a microbrewery despite being allergic to beer. His interest in science was born from a love of Pokémon wanting to be a Pokémon professor. He loves poker, sunlight, and Pokémon.

Wigner
Postdogtoral Associate

Wigner is an alum of Walnut Lane College near Manhattan Kansas. A specialist in chaotic dynamics, he now supervises a subgroup of 3 cats, 6 ducks, and roughly 20 chickens. Wigner is everyone's friend. Which makes everyone Wigner's friend. Which is a quantum paradox in itself.