Dr. Jerry LaRue

2011-15
Postdoctoral Scholar, SUNCAT Center for Interface Science and Catalysis, Stanford University / SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory; Advisor: Dr. Anders Nilsson

2005-11
Ph.D. in Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of California at Santa Barbara; Advisor: Dr. Alec Wodtke

2000-04
B.A. in Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Willamette University

Catalysts are the unsung heroes of chemistry: Widely used in industry, they speed up chemical reactions by making the reactions much more efficient. Many important reactions related to global issues, such as climate change and carbon-neutral fuel production, take place on the surfaces of metal catalysts. Today we know very little about how these reactions proceed. Dr. LaRue’s research interests are aimed at understanding the most fundamental processes that occur during chemical reactions on these catalytic surfaces and how to manipulate them to control reactivity. His current research projects involve using various types of spectroscopy (ultrafast optical techniques, x-ray spectroscopies, Raman spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy) to study the elementary processes of chemical reactions and molecular interactions.

Keywords

Heterogeneous catalysis, surface science, lasers, x-rays, physical chemistry, chemical physics spectroscopy, nanomaterials, metals, nanoparticles, proteins