Abby was born and raised right here in New Jersey! She attended Lafayette College where she started research during her sophomore year working with Professor Chip Natarostudying the synthesis and characterization of ruthenium complexes containing phosphinometallocene ligands. From her undergraduate research experience, she was inspired to pursue a career in undergraduate chemistry education. So she pursued a PhD in chemistry at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Abby started her work in 2003 with Professor Maurice Brookhart investigating the mechanism of 1,3-diene polymerization using naked nickel initiators. She earned her PhD in 2008 and went to the University of Washington to work with Professor Karen Goldberg in the Center for Enabling New Technologies through Catalysis (CENTC). Here she worked on hydrogenation chemistry and biomass conversion. She also gained a passion for outreach and inclusion during her postdoc at UW. In 2010, Abby moved back to New Jersey to start her tenure track position at The College of New Jersey. She is currently a Professor in the department of chemistry. She is a 2021 recipient of the WCC Rising Star award and the 2022 recipient of the E. Emmet Reid award.
Research Description
Abby’s research interests are in the area of homogeneous catalysis. In particular, her group is researching ways to develop more sustainable approaches to the production of chemicals. Areas of interest to her group are 1) the development of air-tolerant, mild, additive-free catalytic transformations for fine chemicals production, 2) the design of new polymerization catalysts to make polymeric materials, 3) the development of Earth-abundant catalysts for the reduction of carbon dioxide to methanol, and 4) the synthesis of new ligand scaffolds using greener microwave technology for use in rare earth metalation reactions. She actively contributes to ORDMOC. She is also interested in developing course-based research experiences and designing and implementing teaching methods that are inclusive and equitable. She contributes to VIPEr community – a community for inorganic chemistry. She teaches general, organic and inorganic chemistry and typically the junior-level seminar course. Abby also teaches an advanced course in sustainable chemistry.