Postdoctoral Researchers
Tarun Kumar Roy
Postdoctoral Researcher
Tarun was born in Kolkata, India. He obtained his master’s degree from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay with a specialization in physical chemistry in 2018. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, with Prof. Martina Havenith. Tarun joined the Lester group in summer of 2022. He holds DFG Walter Benjamin Fellowship for the postdoctoral research work in the Lester group at University of Pennsylvania. His current research is focused on the spectroscopy and unimolecular decay dynamics of reaction intermediates in atmosphere and combustion chemistry. Tarun enjoys cooking and watching sports in his spare time.
Graduate Students
Lisa Karlsson
lisadono@sas.upenn.edu
Ph.D. Student
Lisa was raised in North Carolina and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There, she worked on novel methods to analyze 3D cell cultures in Dr. Matthew Lockett’s lab, and explored bioderived polymer applications under Dr. Aleksandr Zhukhovitskiy. After graduating in 2022 with a B.S. in chemistry, Lisa came to Penn and joined the Lester group in 2023. In her free time, Lisa likes to practice yoga, ride her bike, and hang out with her cat.
Meijun Zou
Ph.D. Student
Meijun was born and raised in Jiangxi, China. During her undergraduate study in Nanjing University, she conducted some research on photophysical properties of perovskite under Professor Yuxi Tian. After graduating with a B.S. in chemistry, Meijun continued her study in the University of Pennsylvania. She joined the Lester Group at the beginning of 2020. In her spare time, Meijun enjoys a variety of hobbies including drawing, calligraphy and volleyball.
Yujie Qian
Ph.D. Student
Yujie was born in Jiangsu, China. She did her undergraduate in Chemistry at Pennsylvania State University. She studied the homogeneity of water-polypropylene glycol mixtures in her undergraduate research. She joined Lester’s group at the beginning of 2021. In her spare time, she loves watching movies.
Tianlin Liu
Ph.D. Student
Tianlin was born and raised in Shijiazhuang, a city in the Hebei province of China. During her undergraduate years at the University of Science and Technology of China, she worked on DNA gold-platinum nanoparticles in Dr. Zhaoxiang Deng’s lab, also, and conducted some research on graphene Raman spectroscopy under the supervision of Dr. Qun Zhang. After graduating with a B.S. in chemistry, Tianlin continued her study in the University of Pennsylvania. She joined the Lester Group at the beginning of 2019. In her spare time, Tianlin enjoys reading, going to the gym, and playing video games.
Lilyana Walsh
Ph.D. Student
Lily was born and raised in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. She did her undergraduate studies at Providence College, where she investigated the impact of solvent on the structure and reactivity of iron pentacarbonyl in Dr. Christopher Laperle’s lab. After graduating in 2023 with a B.S. in chemistry and a B.A. in mathematics, Lily came to Penn and joined the Lester Group in 2024. In her spare time, Lily enjoys baking, roller skating, and playing tennis.
