Members

Madison H. McMinn graduated summa cum laude from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2019, receiving a B.S. in Chemistry with minors in Mathematics and Forensic Science.  During her undergraduate, Madison conducted research into the mechanism of ionization in MALDI-MS under Dr. Mary and Dr. Gary Kinsel.  In the summer of 2018, she was selected as a Harvard-Amgen Scholar, which allowed her the opportunity to conduct research in MALDI-MS Imaging at Harvard Medical School.  As a senior undergraduate student, Madison received the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to pursue her Ph.D. in Chemistry at Northeastern University.

Madison’s research interests include the development of novel chromatography and mass spectrometry methods with applications in environmental chemistry, as well as the development of data analytics programs to aid researchers in compound identification from complex mixtures.

In her free time, Madison enjoys baking, playing video games, and spending time with her Siamese cat, Vitruvius.

Kat graduated from UMass Amherst with a B.Sc. in Chemistry in 2018. She worked on the Single Compound Purification Team with Spectrix Analytical Services at Bristol Myers Squibb in Cambridge, MA, performing high throughput small molecule purifications in support of early drug discovery. Upon joining the Chemistry Ph.D. program at Northeastern, Kat was awarded the AJC STEM fellowship.

Kat’s research is centered on the investigation of water contaminants. She is interested in exploring unique chromatographic and mass spectrometric techniques for the analysis of challenging analytes and matricies. In her free time, Kat enjoys outdoor activities, video games, and being cozy.

Phillip graduated from Sewanee with a B.Sc. in Chemistry in 2019. He worked on the Trace Metals Analytics Lab within Discovery Sciences at RTI International in RTP, NC, performing high throughput analysis of water samples for toxic contaminants such as lead. During his time at RTI, he was awarded an internal research grant to investigate water soluble organic pollutants in PM2.5 collected during wildfires in conjunction with Dr. Imari Walker-Franklin and the Ions Analytics Lab.

Phillip’s research is centered on method development utilizing the QuEChERS method, with future avenues looking at contaminants in a number of matrices. In his free time, Phillip enjoys cooking, video games, and playing with his cats.

Pranali Ashara is a first-year at Northeastern with a combined major in Environmental and Sustainability Sciences and Chemistry. This is her second semester with the Tian Lab, and greatly enjoys working with the other members and gaining experience in the analytical and environmental chemistry fields. 

In her free time, Pranali adores dancing (she is a classically-trained Indian dancer), plays music, and writes poetry.

Paola is a third-year chemistry major at Northeastern university. She is on the pre-med track but is interested in both environmental chemistry and medicinal chemistry. She is originally from Puerto Rico, and she enjoys going to the beach. 

Jaime is a second year at Northeastern University pursuing a combined B.Sc. in Environmental and Sustainability Sciences and Chemistry. She is interested in learning more about the applications of analytical chemistry techniques to environmental issues. Outside of academics, she enjoys reading, bug photography, and listening to music.

JJ is a third-year chemistry major with a minor in environmental studies. She has completed one research and development co-op at 908 Devices, and this is her second year with the Tian Lab.
In her free time, JJ loves rock climbing, reading, and hiking.

Patrick is a fifth-year undergraduate student pursuing a Chemistry major with a minor in Business Administration. He has completed two co-ops garnering experience in Materials Science and Engineering both at Parker Chomerics (Woburn, MA) and Via Separations (Watertown, MA). Outside of his studies, Patrick is also a member of the Northeastern Cross Country and Track & Field team.