ISKI RESEARCH GROUP

This summer Mistura, Ella, Nazila, and Soumick will researching how the growth of Au magic fingers are affected by humidity.

This summer Row and Dillon will continue looking at amino acid assembly on Au(111) in ambient conditions. The Iski group will be utilizing STM in addition to AFM and SAXS. 

Emily was awarded a prestigious NSF GRFP fellowship to attend the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign in fall 2022. 

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https://utulsa.edu/nsf-grfp-fellowship-students-alumni/

Our paper on the Extreme atomic-scale surface roughening: Amino acids on Ag on Au(111) was published in JVSTA. The issue was a special collection commemorating the career of Pat Thiel.

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https://pubs.aip.org/avs/jva/article/39/6/060404/247459/Extreme-atomic-scale-surface-roughening-Amino

The Iski Group welcomes Emily, Eric and Kassidy for the Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge! Emily and Kassidy will continue their research on thin films and the molecular interactions between amino acids and Au(111) while Eric will study DFT!

The Iski Research Group welcomes our new member, Eric!

Dr. Iski partnered with Tulsa Public Schools and RSUTV for STEM outreach and made a video of various science experiments that can be conducted at home!

Our paper detailing the Effect of Temperature on the Amino Acid-Assisted Formation of Metal Islands was accepted into the Journal of Vacuum Science and Techonolgy A! Click the link below to check it out!

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CLICK HERE!

Our paper on Using EC-STM to Obtain an Understanding of Amino Acid Adsorption on Au(111) was accepted into AIP Advances! It was selected as an Editor's Pick and will be featured on the journal's homepage!

To complete work for a collaboratin with Argonne National Lab, Kennedy got to head to Chicago and work with Nathan Guisinger on the UHV-STM.

Dr. Iski attended the 2019  Gordon Research Conference on Dynamics at Surfaces and presented her published work on the formation of magic gold fingers and amino acid assembly!

The Iski Group welcomes Emily, Maria and Kassidy for the Chemistry Summer Undergraduate Research Program and welcomes Mason for the Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge Junior Scholars Program!

Our paper detailing the creation and implementation of a new undergraduate lab focusing on an improved method to teach chemical kinetics has been accepted for publication into the Journal of Chemical Education!

Dr. Iski was featured on a Podcast discussing the work performed in the Iski Research Group on NPR Tulsa! Click the Link to give it a listen!

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CLICK HERE

The Iski Research Group is graduating its first PhD and three more undergraduates. We are very proud of all the work they've done and everything they have accomplished!

Our paper on the Formation of magic gold fingers under mild and relevant experimental conditions was accepted into Surface Science without any revisions! Click the link to check it out!

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CLICK HERE

After 5 years, Jesse successfully defended his dissertation on Using Electrochemical Scanning Tunneling Microscopy as a Novel Method to Modify and Observe Metal Surfaces. Congratulations Dr. Phillips!

Our paper on Amino Acid Immobilization of Copper Surface Diffusion on Cu(111), in collaboration with Argonne National Lab, was published in Advanced Materials Interfaces! Click the link to check it out!

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CLICK HERE

Jesse attended the GRC on Surface Science and presented his published work on the thermal stability of Ag monolayer on a Au(111) surface.

To complete work for a collaboration and publication with Argonne National Lab, Jesse got to head to Chicago and work with Nathan Guisinger on the UHV-STM.

The Iski Research Group welcomes our new members, Maria and Camryn!

Kennedy and Irene were selected to attend the 2018 Regional Symposium of GCURS in Houston to present their project from the Iski Research Lab

Dr. Iski attended the 65th Annual American Vacuum Society International Symposium and Exhibition

Jesse, Kennedy, Irene, Lauren, and Dr. Iski are gearing up for a productive school year!

Our paper on Electrochemical Control of the Thermal Stability of Atomically Thin Ag Films on Au(111) was accepted into Surface Science! Click the link to check it out!

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CLICK HERE

Jesse got to spend a week at NASA JPL working with Dr. Laurie Barge and her research group through his NASA Early Collaboration Award. He spent the week learning new experimental procedures for the production of compounds that will be analyzed at TU using EC-AFM. He also got to tour the facilities and snap a few pics during his visit!

Dr. Iski gave a talk on “The Use of EC-STM to Study the Nanoscale Structure and Behavior of Atomically Thin Ag Films on Au Surfaces.”

Dr. Iski was off to Loyola for another week to work with collaborator Dan Killelea. The work she has done with Dan has led to multiple publications so we love the Killelea group! She seems to have found some potential new lab members while she was out there as well!

Local bar, Heirloom Rustic Ales, invited Dr. Iski to present on Electron Microscopy at their monthly "Think and Drink" night. Many TU faculty and students attended to show support and have a great night out!

This year we lost 3 members, both current and past, to Graduation. Although they will be missed by the Iski research group we know they are destined for great things in their futures. Congratulations to Heather Morgan and Austin Carr!!!

Dr. Iski was awarded the TU Faculty Travel Grant to allow her to travel to Brno, Czek Republic. Dr. Iski will be presenting the work on "The Use of EC-STM to Study the Nanoscale Structure and Behavior of Atomically Thin Ag Films on Au Surfaces” at the ICN+T conference

Jesse was honored with the Robert E. Howard Outstanding Teaching Award for his work done while teaching the physical chemistry labs. This award is given out once a year by the TU Chemistry and Biochemistry Department.

The Beta Tau chapter of Phi Lambda Upsilon held its annual induction ceremony and Heather Morgan and Austin Carr were two of the students invited to join this prestigious national chemistry honor society. Jesse even got to initiate them and gave them their PLU honor chords! Congratulations Heather and Austin!!!

Jesse presented his work on “Electrochemical Control of the Thermal Stability of Atomically Thin Ag Films on a Au(111) Single Crystal Surface using EC-STM" at the 63rd Annual Oklahoma Pentasectional Meeting of the American Chemical Society. This year's meeting was hosted here at TU!

Charlie came from Tufts University to TU as an invited speaker at the 1st Annual Graduate Chemistry Student Spring Seminar. It was great catching up and showing him around Tulsa!

Jesse was awarded the NASA Astrobiology Career Research Award which will allow him to visit NASA JPL in Pasadena, CA. While there he will work with Dr. Laurie Barge and the Icy Worlds Team in an attempt to perform experimentation using our EC-AFM!

Irene and Lauren presented at the University of Tulsa 21st Annual Research Colloquium where they competed with other students for best research presentation.

Irene and Lauren traveled to New Orleans, LA to present their projects at the 255th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. Irene and Lauren were able to go through funding by the University of Tulsa Chemistry and Biochemistry Department.

NASA JPL researcher and Iski group collaborator, Dr. Laurie Barge, made a visit to TU to give a presentation at the 1st Annual Graduate Chemistry Student Spring Seminar. She gave a very captivating talk concerning early Earth and the search for life!

As president of the Graduate Chemistry Student Association and the Beta Tau Chapter of Phi Lambda Upsilon, Jesse started the 1st Annual Graduate Chemistry Student Spring Seminar. The new seminar was created to bring influential chemists from across the country to visit TU and give talks as well as meet with graduate students and have a round table where they can converse about various topics.

Kennedy Boyd, a chemistry major and mathematics minor joins the Iski research group! Welcome Kennedy!

Jesse was invited to perform research with Nathan Guisinger at Argonne National Lab near Chicago, IL. While there Jesse gave a presentation on “An Investigation into the Thermal Stability of Various Silver Halide Thin Films on a Au(111) Single Crystal Surface using EC-STM” at a seminar at the Center for Nanoscale Materials. This was a great trip that allowed Jesse to learn from our collaborators at Argonne!

Dr. Iski and Co-PI Dale Teeters were awarded an SF-MRI grant for the “Acquisition of a Transmission Electron Microscope for Multidisciplinary Research” bringing a new and bery useful instrument to the University of Tulsa

STEM^2 has come to TU once again and this time the Iski group was able to help out by having Heather and Jesse help teach and perform demos alongside Dr. Iski to students across multiple grade levels.

A project put forth by Dr. Iski titled, "Novel Thermal Stability of Nano-Alloy Systems" was selected for funding by the Shark Tank Kick-Start Program at the University of Tulsa. This program is designed to help faculty kick-start newer research projects and help facilitate external funding.

Jesse attended the 231st meeting of the Electrochemical Society held in New Orleans, LA. He got to give a talk on the exciting EC-STM work being done in the lab as well as attend many talks with another TU faculty member Dr. Syed Hussaini!

Jesse applied for and received travel funding from the TU Graduate Research Travel Grant, The Graduate Student Association Travel Grant, and the Chapman Distinguished Ph.D. Career Travel Grant for his upcoming trip to New Orlenas to present his work at the 231st ECS meeting!

Dr. Iski went back to Loyola University Chicago to continue work being done with Dan Killelea. The collaboration will lead to a joint publication between the Killelea and Iski research groups!

Jesse was invited to present his work on "EC-STM Investigation of Ag UPD on Au(111) via Multiple Application Mechanisms" to the executive members of the Tulsa section of the American Chemical Society.

It's that time of year again! TU hosts Tech Trek 2017 and of course the Iski Research Group is geared up for another great time. The group spent the week performing chem demos and teaching some introductory chemistry to a host of middle school girls as a way to get the future women in chemistry interested at a young age. The Iski group loves our outreach events and Tech Trek has quickly become our favorite that we look forward to every year.

Heather loves to show off her teaching and demo skills at this years STEM Exploratorium event! Lots of fun to be had and young minds to mold. Hopefully we see these kids in the chem labs in the near future!

The Chemistry Student Undergraduate Research Program for the summer of 2017 has begun! This summer looks to have a lot of potential with this great group of students! We are joined this summer by a high school student, Erika Ravitch, through the Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge Junior Scholar Program.  Here's to a great summer of research for the Iski Group!

Another academic year comes to a close and the Iski Group has to say goodbye to another great student. Lauren graduates this year with a degree in physics with a minor in chemistry. Congratulations Lauren! We know that you will do great in grad school! Don't forget to visit when you come back our way!

Jesse gave a talk on “ EC-STM Investigation of Ag UPD on Au(111) via Multiple Application Mechanisms" at the NASA Energy and Nano-Bio Materials Symposium. Talks were from groups that have collaborations with NASA and hosted at the University of Tulsa this year!

The Iski research group attended the 253rd ACS National Meeting in force this year. Heather, Austin, and Lauren all presented posters showcasing their work over the past year. Congratulations to all 3 of you guys for a job well done!

Irene was awarded a TU Student Research Grant this year to help fund her project on amino acid self assembly on a Au(111) surface. Congratulations Irene!

Irene Baljak, a chemistry major and bioinformatics minor joins the Iski research group! Welcome Irene!

Lauren Harville, a physics major and chemistry minor joins the Iski research group! Welcome Lauren!

Dr. Iski was an invited speaker at the Tokyo Institute of Technology where she gave a talk on the “Use of In-situ AFM and STM for Origin of Life Investigations" during a workshop on electrochemistry at the origin of life.

Jesse presented at his first international symposium! He traveled to Nashville, TN to present his work on “The Use of EC-STM to Study the Chemical Activity and Nanoscale Structure of a Metal Surface” at the 63rd American Vacuum Society International Symposium. Looks like he had to use the book to find his way around!

Jesse was nominated and made it through the second round selection process for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Germany this year. Although he did not win we are still very proud of him in the Iski Research Group and know how large of an honor it was to get that far. Great job Jesse!

Heather and Austin traveled to Rice University to present at the 2016 Gulf Coast Undergraduate Research Seminar to present their work in the Iski lab. Heather was honored with the award of "Best Microscopy Oral Presentation." Congratulations Heather! Good job representing the group you two!

Dr. Iski went to Chicago, IL to work with collaborator Dan Killelea at Loyola University. She spent time helping Dan's graduate student Rachel Farber work on the UHV-STM. 

The Iski Lab once again hosts the chemistry section of Tech Trek and Jesse, Lauren, and Austin have a blast with the demos! Tech Trek is geared towards introducing young girls to the STEM fields in middle school to help promote women in STEM. The Iski group loves to be a part of this organization every year!

Jesse got to attend the 76th Physical Electronics Conference held in Fayetteville, AK where he presented a poster on recent work completed in the Iski lab over the past year. While there he got to meet up with other graduate students and their advisor Dr. Llyod Bumm, an STM group from the OU Physics Department.

Dr. Iski was honored by Tulsa Business & Legal News with the 2016 Woman of Distinction Award. This is a tremendous achievement! Congratulations Dr. Iski!!

The Iski Group says goodbye to Greg and Abigail as they graduate from the University of Tulsa. Greg double majored in chemistry and education while Abigail majored in biochemistry. Congratulations you two! You did outstanding work both in and out of the research group and you are both going far in life! We will miss you.

To celebrate the end of the school year as well as Greg's graduation, the Iski group decided to test it's intellectual prowess by taking on The Escape Tulsa, Tulsa's local escape room. We are prod to say we completed the room in well under an hour!

Heather and Lauren head over to the Owasso 7th Grade Center to perform some chem demos for the students as an outreach event. The Iski group loves to perform local outreach and Dr. Iski actively applies for grants to help fund our demonstrations. This outreach event was funded through the ACS Coaches Educational Grant!

In this year's TU Research Colloquium the Iski lab had 4 members present. Undergraduates Heather, Lauren, and Austin presented talks on their individual work over the past year and graduate student Jesse presented his preliminary data towards his PhD project. Jesse was also awarded the Second Place Overall Best Presentation for his talk! Congratulations Jesse and all the Iski group members!!

Heather, Lauren, and Greg attended the 251st American Chemical Society National Meeting in San Diego, CA where they presented posters on their work in the lab over the past year.

Jesse and Heather were both awarded TU Student Research Grants to help fund their projects! Congratulations you two!

Jesse travelled to Memphis, TN to present at the 2015 ACS Southeast/Southwest Regional Meeting(s). This is his first regional meeting and he presented his work on “The Investigation of the Stability of Silver-Bromide Films on the Atomic Scale.” While there he and a few other TU grad students become ACS ambassadors!

Tech Trek is a summer program that brings local middle school girls to TU to participate in various STEM events from TU groups. This year the Iski Lab was asked to host the chemistry section in which we worked with around 15 girls all week. Our group got to not only teach these girls about chemistry but we got to have a lot of fun with all of the new chem demos we set up. It was a great time and a big thanks to the group members that helped this summer!

The Chemistry Student Undergraduate Research Program for the summer of 2015 has begun! This summer looks to have a lot of potential with this great group of students! We are joined this summer by a high school student, Chril Clevland, through the Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge Junior Scholar Program.  Here's to a great summer of research for the Iski Group!

Abigail traveled to Denver, CO to attend the 249th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society to present a poster on the work she has done in the Iski Research Group this past year.

The Iski Lab welcomes three new undergraduate students this year. Welcome Lauren Jackson, Greg Jones, and Austin Carr!

Dan Killelea, a collaborator with the Iski Group, came to TU from Loyola University Chicago to give a seminar presentation on "Surfaces and Beneath"

Dr. Iski was recognized as a Most Valuable Professor for the TU Women’s Soccer Team!

The Iski Research Lab takes on Jesse Phillips as its first graduate student. Jesse is from Florida where he earned his BS in Chemistry from UF and will be working towards his Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry here at TU under the tutelage of Dr. Iski. Welcome to the group Jesse!!

After working with the Iski Group all Summer Heather has decided to join the group officially with the start of her Freshman year here at TU! Welcome Heather!

CSURP has begun and this is the Iski Lab's first year participating. We have Abigail heading up the lab with a new pre-freshman, Heather Morgan, and a Junior TURC Daniel! We are going to have a great summer!

The Iski group takes on its first student! Abigail is a biochemistry major who is very energetic and ready to work! Welcome Abigail!

Dr. Erin Iski is a former TU alumnus and after completing her Ph.D. at Tufts University and Post-Doc at Argonne National Lab, she has returned to TU as an Assistant Professor. Now it's time to set up the Iski Research Group!!