Reece Johnson

Background

About Reece Johnson

I am a 5th year graduate student working under the mentorship of Dr. Keith Searles in the field of heterogeneous catalysis. Chemistry has been my passion for several years now and I don’t see that stopping anytime soon. My current projects include catalyst development for industrial hydrocarbon transformations by utilizing the SOMC methodology to design heterogeneous catalysts with well-defined active sites. In the time that I've been in the Searles Research Group, I've had the opportunity to work with a variety of instrumentation, as well as work with a group of motivated, science-driven co-workers. This environment has been ripe with the ability to collaborate and work with others, whether in-person or through Microsoft Teams. In catalyst development, I have had several years to work with and understand: • Schlenk Line, High Vacuum Line, and Glovebox techniques to synthesize air-sensitive compounds. • Characterization techniques that include Infrared, NMR, and MAS NMR Spectroscopy, as well as Mass Spectrometry and Single X-Ray Crystallography. • Collaborating with other groups and recording scientific data in an organized, easy to understand fashion. In working with catalytic hydrocarbon transformations, I have had ample time to familiarize myself with: • Instrument set-up and maintenance. • Micromeritics Microactivity Effi Flow Reactor, experience in LabView software, PID tuning, and gas feed reaction optimization. • H.E.L. High Pressure ChemScan II Polyblock Semi-batch Reactor, experience in WinISO software and high pressure/temperature liquid reaction screening. • Agilent 8890 Gas Chromatogram, experience in ChemStation software method development and compound calibration and product identification. • Data processing, organization, and presentation through Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. As the safety manager of our lab, it is also my responsibility to make sure that each student who joins is well-trained and well-informed of our practices. I have trained several students, both undergraduate and masters, as well as written Lab SOPs and Safety Guidelines. I enjoy hearing from others and listening to other’s perspectives. Feel free to reach out if you want to discuss surface chemistry, new advances in tech, or indie music.