Profile: Katherine Shulenberger
Dr. Katherine Shulenberger is a Postdoctoral Scholar, a Physical Chemist, and a member of the Dukovic Research Group. Katherine received her B.A from Wellesley College in 2014 and went on to join the Bawendi group at MIT to carry out her graduate studies. In 2019 Katherine moved west and joined RASEI.
In September 2022 Katherine was selected by Boulder as a 2022 Outstanding Postdoctoral Scholar, recognizing her outstanding accomplishments and research at the University.
Where are you from?
I grew up in California east of Berkeley with my parents and little sister. They have always been my biggest and best support network through all the twists, turns, and challenges life throws at us. It probably comes as no surprise to those who know me that I was certainly very nerdy growing up. I spent a lot of time on school, taking as many science classes as could fit in my schedule. I also loved to get out and move, participating in a myriad of sports including basketball, horseback riding, and track and field. I played basketball through college and have continued to horseback ride to this day. When I am not in lab you can often find me out at the barn riding or cheering on the incredible community I have found there. Throughout graduate school and my postdoc, getting out to the barn has always been a great excuse to unplug from my work and help my mind reset.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
As far back as I can remember, I have been fascinated by puzzles, games, and learning. While it has been many years since I first started playing games like Mastermind and Risk with my family, I still seek out puzzles and challenges in my life. It is this love of solving and understanding that brought me to chemistry, and specifically physical chemistry. While the puzzles have gotten more complex moving from pieces on a game board to electrons in a nanocrystal, the childlike glee I get from puzzling out what is happening in my cuvette during an experiment is the same.
How did you choose your area of research?
I like to say that everyone got into quantum dot research, at least in part, for the rainbows; I am certainly no exception. From day one I was fascinated by the incredible tunability of semiconductor nanocrystals, and immediately wanted to understand. I’ve also always aspired to dig in to work that was not only interesting but held promise to help society in some way down the line. The nanocrystal world has provided just that with interesting scientific questions to address and long-term applications in display, lighting, photovoltaic, and photocatalytic fields. Some of these arenas already have viable commercial products, emphasizing the idea that the fundamental photophysics research we do can have a human impact. My current work and interests in the Dukovic Group center around understanding excited state processes in semiconductor nanocrystals that have implications for photocatalytic and photovoltaic applications. On the photocatalytic side, I discovered a process through which CdS nanocrystals accumulate excess charges under illumination. These charges persist for minutes to hours, an eternity on the scale of excited state dynamics. I am also continuing my interest in understanding multiply excited states which began during my graduate work to extract and interpret exciton and biexciton transient absorption spectra. This project has implications for photovoltaic applications where the generation of multexcitons could be a mechanism to reduce thermalization losses in devices. Projects such as these make it such a joy to work with the RASEI community. Not only is there an abundance of fascinating research and breadth of expertise, but the big picture aim is to find solutions to making a more sustainable energy future. Such a lofty and worthy goal helps motivate me in moments when the work can get challenging or frustrating.
For folks considering research as a career, what advice would you give?
My biggest piece of advice is the same that I tell incoming graduate students when they set out to pick a research group: “the science is important, but what matters most are the people you will work with.” The greatest bonus of working in the nanocrystal field I did not know of or even expect when I started, are the incredible people. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to work with phenomenal mentors like Professor Gordana Dukovic. In my labmates, both during graduate school and my postdoc, I have found not just amazing colleagues, but also amazing friends. One of my absolute favorite parts of my job is attending conferences and getting to talk with the rest of the community, share our work, and meet the people behind the scientific results and publications. I love the exciting atmosphere and the ideas and collaborations that blossom in these settings. Perhaps I have not changed so much from the little nerd excited to solve puzzles with her parents after all.