Kephart Research Lab
The Kephart Research Lab utilizes tools and techniques derived from synthetic and physical inorganic chemistry and electrochemistry to explore the coordination chemistry of heterogeneous interfaces.
News
2026
4/30/2026
Goodbye Research Updates! Having heard enough suggestions, Mike, Shisang, and Marina took matters into their own hands by sealing Jon and Alec within an underground bunker!
4/11/2026
Way to go, Marina and Mike! Marina Zapesochny was selected as a 2026 NSF-GRFP Awardee, and Mike Vullo was selected for Honorable Mention. Well done, you two!
3/22/2026
ACS Spring 2026! It was great to see lots of friendly faces at ACS Spring 2026! Prof. Marissa Lavagnino and Jon organized a symposium at the ACS Spring 2026 National Meeting in Atlanta, celebrating Prof. Phill Milner for his receipt of the ACS Award in Pure Chemistry.
3/10/2026
Spring time at Cornell! Our group enjoyed a Spring walk around Beebe Lake, with special guests from the Lava-Lab.
3/6/2026
Congrats to Alec and Max!
Alec was recently selected as a 2026 Klarman Postdoctoral Fellow (read more here) and Max was selected as a 2026 Gerald A. and Kathleen H. Hill Fellow. Way to go!!
2025
12/20/2025
That’s a wrap! Jon enjoyed teaching Advanced Inorganic Chemistry (CHEM 6050) this Fall, with topics ranging from group theory to electronic structure and bonding to physical properties and reactivity of inorganic compounds.
For Halloween, Jon lectured as spin-orbit coupling: a spooky phenomenon where the quantum numbers we know and love are no longer valid.
11/4/2025
Fall 2025 group photo. The Fall colors on Cornell’s campus are hard to beat! Welcome to all new graduate and undergraduate students!
10/22/2025
Gloveboxes online! The team has been hard at work assembling three Vigor gloveboxes custom-configured for inorganic synthesis, spectro-electrochemistry, electrolysis, and more! Preliminary names are “Box choy” and “Wumbox”
10/1/2025
Welcome aboard, Alec! Dr. Alec Hegg joined the team as our first postdoctoral fellow. Alec received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Yale University, where he studied (electro)catalytic N2 reduction by rhenium and molybdenum complexes in the group of Prof. Pat Holland.
9/20/2025
Schlenk lines are live! Our custom Schlenk lines, made in-house by Sean Donlon, are chugging along in Baker Lab. Designed to facilitate air-free manipulation of sensitive inorganic compounds, our lines are decorated with hand-made marbles that provide added structural support.
9/4/2025
Potentiostat ready for zapping! Mike and Shisang fired up the 5-channel Biologic potentiostat, our lab’s electrochemical workhorse.
7/28/2025
Two exciting updates: our website is live AND Cornell’s in-house Scientific Glassblower, Sean Donlon, has been making progress with our custom Schlenk manifolds – stay tuned for the big reveal!
7/15/2025
The Kephart Lab opens its doors! Drop by for a visit on the ground floor of Baker Laboratory!
