August 2026

  • Congrats to Hannah on a successful PhD defense!!
  • Balaka, Esi, and SRD presented their research at the National ACS meeting in Chicago. 

July 2026

  • Congrats to Darby and Janadhi on successful PhD defenses!! We are going to miss you!
  • Balaka, Aaron, Dom, and Ben completed another trip to SSRL. Lots of new and interesting results! Thanks to our friends and collaborators in the Bart, La Pierre, Hayton, and Culver Research Groups for sending samples!

June 2026

  • We welcome our newest graduate student, Ben Mullen, to the group! Ben completed undergraduate research at UIowa with the Forbes and Vlaisavljevich Groups, and he will be working on our transuranium research projects.
  • Aaron and SRD complete another successful trip to SSRL. Looking forward to sharing the results!
  • Congrats to Darby and Dunya and undergrad researchers Megan and Alex on their new paper in Dalton Transactions! This work was completed with our awesome collaborators in the Vlaisavljevich and Shaw Research Groups at UIowa and the Shores Research Group at Colorado State.
  • Balaka and SRD present at the Inorganic Chemistry GRC. It was great to see many of our inorganic friends and collaborators! Thanks to Ellen Matson and Stefan Minasian for putting on a great conference!

March 2026

  • Janadhi, Darby, and Daniel's paper on dinuclear Cr complexes is published in Inorganic Chemistry with the Vlaisavljevich Group. Congrats all!!
  • We completed another successful trip to the Canadian Light Source. More cool XAS science coming soon!!

December 2025

  • Khadijah completes her second-year seminar on the chemistry of dinuclear copper complexes. Congrats Khadijah!
  • The Daly Group travels to SSRL to collect XAS data with the La Pierre and Minasian Groups. It's always fun catching up and doing experiments with friends!
  • We welcome first-year graduate students Sarah Hill and Dominic D'Agostino to the group! Sarah is co-advised by Scott Shaw, and she will be working on our NSF-funded battery project. Dominic will be joining TRUCoRE and working on our NNSA-funded efforts.

October 2025

  • Our Chemical Science paper was selected as the Pick of the Week. Congrats team!
  • New science alert! Our first paper on B K-edge XAS studies of Zr and Hf borohydrides complexes is out in Chemical Science. Congrats Hannah, Josh, Jacob, Peter, and Mai Yer! This was definitely a team effort!
  • We welcome Dr. Jacob Brannon! Dr. Brannon is coming to us from Professor Thomas Albrecht's group at the Colorado School of Mines. He will be working with us and the Forbes Group to stand up new radiochemistry teaching labs at here at UIowa.
  • SRD presents at the 2025 Midwest ACS Meeting in Columbia, MO. Thanks to our friends at Mizzou for hosting!

July 2025

  • Our new paper on spectroscopic and theoretical investigations of ruthenium complexes with a redox noninnocent tetradentate ligand is out in Inorganic Chemistry. Congrats to former members Javier Luna and Kyle Spielvogel and the rest of the team!
  • Janadhi presents her work on dinuclear vanadium and chromium complexes at the Organometallics Gordon Research Conference in Newport, RI. Great work, Janadhi!
  • SRD heads out to the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Light Source in Menlo Park, CA to try some new X-ray experiments.

June 2025

  • Welcome Dr. Gaurav Dake! Dr. Dake has joined our group as a postdoctoral scholar. He completed his PhD at IIT Bombay with Prof. Krishna P. Kaliappan, and his work there focused on total synthesis of natural products.  
  • Dunya presents her research on dinuclear metal complexes at the 2025 Great Lakes ACS meeting. Great job Dunya!
  • Our Organometallics paper was selected for the journal cover. Congrats all!!
  • New science alert! Our first B K-edge XAS study of metal-boron bonding in Ni(C2B9H11)2 is out in Organometallics. Congrats to Hannah, Jacob, Mai Yer and our collaborators in the Farha and Keith Groups!
  • Scott, Peter, and Esi present at the 30th Rare Earth Research Conference at Argone National Laboratory. Nice job Peter and Esi!
  • Hannah, Peter, and Esi present at the 2025 Stewardship Science Academic Programs (SSAP) Symposium in Chicago, IL along with our collaborators in TRUCoRE. Hannah received an Outstanding Poster Award! We even managed to snap a photo with Oppenheimer. Congrats all!
TRUCoRE members at the 2025 SSAP Meeting.
2025 SSAP student poster winners.

May 2025

  • Esi, Setayesh, and Melissa passed their comprehensive exams and have ascended to PhD candidacy. Congrats all!!
  • Peter's Dalton Transactions paper is selected as a HOT article. Congrats Peter!
  • Peter's manuscript on terphenylborohydride complexes with uranium and lanthanides is out in Dalton Transactions. Congrats Peter!
  • Hannah graduates with her MS in Chemistry. Congrats Hannah!

April 2025

  • Peter received the Post-Comprehensive Research Fellowship from the Graduate College for Fall 2025. Congrats Peter!
  • We received three years of funding from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust to pursue new chelators for rare earth elements. We thank the program officers and members of the Carver Charitable Trust for their generous support!!
  • Aaron completes his second year seminar. Congrats Aaron!
  • SRD presents at the University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire.
  • Balaka, Mai Yer, and SRD traveled to Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource in Menlo Park, CA, to collect X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy data. Great job Balaka and Mai Yer! We even managed time to grab dinner by the coast.
SRD, Balaka, and Mai Yer having dinner on the pacific coast.
Balaka and Mai Yer at Beamline 14-3
Daly Group Fall ACS 2024

August 2024

The Daly Group was out in force at ACS Fall 2024!

Fe dimer

July 2024

Our paper describing the structures and magnetism studies of dinuclear Fe complexes was published in Chemical Communications! Congrats to Kyle, Emily, and Dunya and our collaborators in the Vlaisavljevich, Thomas, and Demir Groups!

DT TOC

January 2024

Our paper describing the synthesis of volatile lanthanide complexes containing heptadentate ligands was published in Dalton! Congrats to Josh, Balaka, and Tommy and our theory collaborators Bess and Jorge!

TOC IC 2023

November 2023

Our paper describing the mechanochemical synthesis and characterization of new uranium and lanthanide phosphinodiboranates has been accepted for publication in Inorganic Chemistry! Congrats to Josh, Fran, Taylor, Rayford, and Anastasia, as well as our awesome theory collaborators Rina and Bess at USD!

TruCore Thrusts

September 2023

The Transuranic Chemistry Center of Excellence was established with a five-year grant from the National Nuclear Security Administration! This Center includes the Daly Group and researchers from four other universities, four national laboratories, and two user facilities. Read about it here.

Chemistry Platoon Logo

June 2023

Former Chemistry Platoon student leader Zachary Graham was selected as a Pat Tillman scholar, one of the most prestigious and competitive scholarships for student veterans.

Manisha

February 2023

Daly Group postdoc Dr. Manisha Skaria was highlighted in an article for UIowa International Programs entitled "Manisha Skaria balances career, campus involvement, and family."