Aziz was born and raised in Washington, DC where he was spoiled by free museums, great bookstores, and easy access to Rock Creek Park. He earned a BA with Honors in Chemistry from Oberlin College. During his time at Oberlin, Aziz collaborated with Dr. Matthew Elrod to research the kinetics of organosulfate formation from sulfuric acid and atmospherically relevant alcohols such as glycerol, erythritol, and 2-methyltetrol. He spent his senior year working with Dr. Shuming Chen, using a combination of computational and synthetic methods to investigate instances of multiple products arising from a single transition state, known as post-transition state bifurcations.

After four years of enduring Ohio winters, Aziz moved to sunny Southern California in 2023 and joined the Bradforth Lab, where he will use TRPES to study the ultrafast photochemistry of precursors to atmospheric brown carbon (BrC). In his free time, Aziz likes to read, play card and board games, and bankrupt himself by searching for good coffee and bagels.

Email: azizmoha@usc.edu

Thabassum grew up in the southern part of India, Kerala. He did his BS-MS from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali (IISER). At IISER, he was mentored by Dr Jino George. As a part of his MS thesis, he studied the modifications of chemical reaction landscapes initiated when the vibrational modes of molecules are coupled to vacuum field modes generated inside optical
cavities.

In 2021, he moved to LA and joined Steve’s lab for graduate studies. At USC, he will be probing the ultrafast dynamics of photocatalytic systems. More precisely, his studies aim to generate highly tunable, earth abundant photosensitizers to drive photocatalysts more efficiently. Apart from his graduate studies, he enjoys travelling and listening to music.

Shivalee joined USC in fall 2018 and joined Steve’s lab shortly thereafter. She completed both Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Chemistry from Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan (West Bengal) in India. Her master’s thesis was entitled Turn-on luminescence sensing of toxic metal ions by a new manganese complex. After her bachelor’s degree, she undertook a summer internship at IISER, Mohali working under Dr. Arijit Kumar De, publishing work on understanding picosecond solvation dynamics using fluorescent probes with small Stokes shifts. A year before joining USC, she worked as a lecturer in Shyamsundar College, University of Burdwan.

In her spare time, she loves acrylic painting, travelling places (mostly mountains), enjoys biking trips; she also admits to being fond of doing nothing at all!

Christine grew up in Los Angeles, California and moved soon after to Orange County where she finished her high school degree at Brea Olinda High School. She is currently continuing her academic journey as an undergraduate student at the University of Southern California for a B.S. in Chemistry under the Dornsife School of Letter, Sciences, and Arts.

She began to attend USC in the fall of 2022 and joined the Bradforth group in the following spring of 2023. She is currently working with José, studying the ultrafast formation of cyclobutane thymine dimers and how it relates to DNA using the absorption of UV light and NMR. Apart from her academics, her interests include golfing, crocheting, cafe-hopping, and eating out.