Group Members

Aaron Gregory grew up in Banning, California. He transferred from Mt. San Jacinto Community College in 2018 to UCR where he completed his B.S. in Chemistry. He is a Ph.D. candidate with an emphasis in synthetic inorganic chemistry and the leader of the lab's "Team Carbene". In his free time, Aaron likes to play video games and bust out his Kobe moves on the basketball court.

Email: agreg006@ucr.edu

Stephen Proctor obtained his B.S. in Chemistry at CSU Chico in 2020 where he worked under Dr. Lisa Ott on the implementation of acidic deep eutectic mixtures as substitutes for solvents and strong acids. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate with a focus on electrolyte design utilizing carborate anions. In his free time, Stephen likes to shred the gnar (snowboard), spend time with friends, and play the piano and guitar.

Email: sproc007@ucr.edu

Luke Jackson obtained his B.S. in Chemistry at UC Merced in 2022 and is currently a Ph.D. candidate on Team Carbene. His focus entails designing ligands and creating novel organometallic reactions for catalysis and small molecule activation. In his free time, Luke likes to play video games and piano.

Email: ljack030@ucr.edu

Juan Gomez received his B.S. in Chemistry at the University of New Orleans in 2025 while working with Dr. Wiley on perovskites. For his Ph.D., Juan aims to combine his synthetic inorganic chemistry skills to develop new electrolytes for a variety of rechargeable batteries. In his free time, Juan is a big fan of attending comedy shows and finding new places to explore to find the best scenic views the Inland Empire has to offer. 

Email: jgome370@ucr.edu

Kathy Espinoza Morelos is a 3rd year chemistry major who enjoys gymming (max 420 on the squat rack), fostering cats, playing Minecraft, and spending time with friends. After her undergrad years, she would like to go into research.

Kathy was also recently accepted to the prestigious UC Leads program and will secure funding for two summer internships at a UC research lab as well as funding for two years in her future Ph.D. program! 

Julian Hernandez is a 3rd year chemistry major who likes to hit the gym, play Battlefield with his homies, and body surf the West Coast. As a former prodigy of our alumni Jess Estrada, Julian is following his sensei's footsteps on Team Carbene. His focus is on synthesizing carborane-containing molecules for applications in small molecule activation and catalysis.  

James Navarro is a chemistry major at RCC that is volunteering in our lab and is a part of Team Carbene. He plans to transfer to UCR this fall.