PJR

pjr was born and raised in the Niagara Region. After some time spent in the army and working in his Dad's steel shop, he ultimately earned his BSc. from Brock University in 2000. He obtained his PhD in 2004 from Dalhousie University under the supervision of Dr. Neil Burford and then completed an NSERC PDF at the University of Toronto with Dr. Ian Manners. Now he spends his time trying to keep pace with his own research crew at Western University and his family in Stratford, ON. pjr's sports of choice are Mon. and Fri. 6 am squash games and practicing yoga in the hot room. And because he is civilized, pjr does indeed enjoy olives. 

Matthew Davies

Matt was born near Manchester, UK, where he went to do his MEng in Chemical Engineering. He then moved up to Newcastle University to do his PhD focusing on the biomechanical properties of lipid bilayers, using primarily atomic force microscopy and molecular dynamics. He works with the Karttunen and Ragogna groups undertaking computational simulations. He enjoys swimming and running, unfortunately running doesn’t enjoy him. Olives, no complaints.

Jordan Bentley

Jordan Bentley (PhD York University, he/him/they/them) joined the Ragogna Lab in 2022 as a joint PDRA with the Barry Lab at Carleton University. Jordan did his B.Sc. in chemistry at Toronto Metropolitan University, where he developed a passion for research. He then completed a Ph.D. at York University focusing on main-group chemistry for material and energy applications. He will be working on molecular layer deposition (MLD) centred around carbenes on metal surfaces, as part of the Carbon to Metal Coating Institute at Queen’s University. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, video games, and wine.

Jeanette Adjei

Jeanette grew up in the Jane and Finch community in Toronto, Ontario. She obtained her Honours BSc in Chemistry in 2018 at Toronto Metropolitan University. She completed her undergraduate thesis under the supervision of Dr. Robert A. Gossage. Jeanette's favourite sports are basketball and track and field. She thinks olives are disgusting, however she enjoys eating ketchup (with food) and occasionally drinking piping hot tea.

John Lortie

John grew up a couple hours from London in the city of Brampton and later moved to St. Catharines. He did both his BSc and MSc thesis projects with Dr. Nikonov at Brock University before coming to London. His hobbies are snowboarding in the winter and biking any other time. He thinks that olives can go on a pizza but definitely not in a panzerotti.

Alexander Watson

Alexander was born and raised in London, Ontario and did his Honours Specialization in Chemistry degree at the University of Western Ontario. He is currently a PhD student in the Ragogna and Gilroy groups. When not in the lab, Alexander enjoys playing baseball and volleyball. He considers himself a big fan of olives.

Justin Lomax

Justin grew up in Ancaster, Ontario and then moved to London in 2016 to complete his Honours BSc. In chemistry at Western University. He really enjoys listening to music, although some may question the music taste coming from the BGS 2004 lab… As for olives, he absolutely loves them and thinks they pair great with pizza.

Jeff Collins

Jeff was born in El Paso, Texas and came to Canada for school in 2012. He completed his B.Sc in Chemistry at Western where he worked in the Huang group during his Chem 4491 where Jeff studied Xe adsorption in MOFs using solid-state NMR. Working jointly with the Gilroy and Ragogna Groups, he is studying novel surface coatings for his graduate work. When not studying chemistry, Jeff enjoys keeping up with the latest computer hardware and trying new restaurants wherever he finds himself. He is not personally an olive enjoyer, but he can appreciate why others like them.

Ellie (Wai Tung) Shiu

Ellie was born in Hong Kong and later moved to Vancouver. She moved to London in 2018 to complete her Honours BSc. in chemistry at Western University. She is currently an MSc student in the Ragogna and Liu groups. When not studying chemistry, Ellie enjoys hiking and shopping. Olives…she picks them out every time.

Jessica Bosso

Jessica grew up in Mississauga, Ontario and completed her Honours Specialization in Chemistry degree at Western University in the Ragogna group. After spending a summer in Banff, AB, she moved back to London and is currently a MSc student joint between the Ragogna and Gilroy groups. Her hobbies include hiking, travelling, and drinking peach-flavoured Moscato. Jessica absolutely loves olives and was actually instructed to cut down her green olive intake for health reasons.

Golnoosh Havaei

Golnoosh was born in Isfahan, Iran, and lived there until she moved to London, Canada, for her PhD studies. She loves hiking and cycling and is a former Taekwondo medalist and a swimming coach. She loves her hair and uses olive oil to strengthen it.

Marco Antonio Quintanilla-Riviere

Marco grew up here in London, Ontario, and obtained his honours B.Sc. in Chemistry from Western University. He completed his undergraduate thesis under the supervision of Dr. Yining Huang. After graduating, he moved to Toronto where he completed his M.Sc. in organic synthesis under the supervision of Dr. Robert Batey. Now, Marco is back at UWO where he is pursuing his PhD. In his spare time, he enjoys gardening, running, and baking. Olives are adequate.

Joshua Ing

Joshua was born and raised in Mississauga, Ontario. He is currently working to complete his Specialization Degree in Chemistry. He took an internship over the summer with the Ragogna Group to work on NHC synthesis and backbone functionalization. In his free time, he enjoys attending raves, and spending time with friends and family. He does enjoy olives on his pizza and sandwiches, mostly black olives.