Originally from Buffalo, New York, Marissa attended Cornell University for her undergraduate work, graduating magna cum laude in 2015 with BAs in both chemistry and English. During her tenure as an undergraduate, she worked extensively with Ithaca Beer Company in an analytical research capacity, as well as spending a summer working with Dr. Elizabeth Jarvo at UC Irvine as part of an NSF-REU. In the year after graduating, she trained in Medical Dosimetry in a JCRET accredited program at Roswell Park Cancer Institute where she worked in research involving Gamma Knife technology treatments under Dr. Dhreendra Prasad. She returned to the world of chemistry and academia, starting her graduate education in autumn 2016 and joining Rowan group that October.
Marissa’s work deals primarily with the synthesis and characterization of poly[n]catenane. Her work is focused on developing the second generation of the linear polycatenane by utilizing new macrocyclic components in synthesis. She is also seeking to create co-polymers utilizing the first generation polycatenane. The project employs a combination of polymer solution characterizations and synthetic techniques.
Hart, L. F., Hertzog, J. E., Rauscher, P. M., Rawe, B. W., Tranquilli, M. M., & Rowan, S. J. (2021). Material properties and applications of mechanically interlocked polymers. Nature Reviews Materials.
