Julian is a Canadian-American chemist who firmly believes that doing chemistry sustainably and environmentally responsibly is one of the grand challenges facing the world today. From his undergraduate degree at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver) studying safe, light-driven fluorination reactions with Prof. Glenn M. Sammis to his doctoral research at Princeton University designing reactions catalyzed by earth-abundant elements with Prof. Erik J. Sorensen, he has been driven to invent chemical processes that are safe, sustainable, and useful. This passion for green chemistry continues as a NIH and Resnick Sustainability Institute postdoctoral fellow at Caltech, where he is working with Profs. Harry Gray and Brian Stoltz to develop new electrocatalytic methods for producing low carbon fuels, pharmaceuticals, and high-performance materials.

Julian’s research on sustainable catalytic methods at Caltech is making impacts on the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals of affordable and clean energy and responsible production and consumption. He also works to increase public appreciation and understanding of chemistry by writing magazine articles and giving public outreach talks. Julian strongly believes in increasing diversity in chemistry and is working to help make this reality, from mentoring underrepresented undergraduate students to attending National SACNAS Meetings. He strives to advance interdisciplinary and international collaboration in chemistry through participating in two national NSF centers, the Center for Selective C-H Functionalization and Center for Solar Fuels. He became connected with peers across the US, in Japan, and in South Korea through these Centers and is excited to continue working with them as an independent researcher.

Julian’s ultimate goal is to lead a diverse team pursuing innovative research as a professor at a PhD-granting institution.