Alumni
Stache Lab Alumni
Former Postdoctoral Scholars
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Han-Li Sun
he/him
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow in the Moore Group at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Han-Li was a postdoctoral associate in the Stache Lab from 2023 to 2026, where he worked on isocyanide copolymerization to make vitrimer networks.
Read more about Han-Li’s work!
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Yoon-Jung Jang
she/her
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow in Boydston Group at the University of Wisconsin Madison
Yoon-Jung was a postdoctoral associate in the Stache Lab from 2023 to 2025, where she worked on photothermal depolymerization of commodity plastics.
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Sajjad Dadashi-Silab
he/him
Current Position: Research Scientist at the University of Virginia in Biomedical Engineering
Sajjad was a postdoctoral associate in the Stache Lab from 2021 to 2025, where he worked on methods in controlled radical polymerizations.
Read more about Sajjad’s work!
Vitamin B12 Derivative Enables Cobalt-Catalyzed Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization
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Jiangwei Liu
he/him
Current Position: Research Scientist at IVIEW Therapeutics
Jiangwei was a postdoctoral associate in the Stache Lab from 2024 to 2025, where he worked on methods for polymer upcycling.
Former Graduate Students
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Hanning Jiang
she/her
B.S., Purdue University, 2021
Ph.D., Princeton University, 2026
Hanning received her Ph.D. in 2026 for her work in photothermal plastic recycling and upcycling.
Read more about Hanning’s work!
Emerging Plastic Recycling Strategies Based on Photothermal Conversion
Upcycling Poly(vinyl chloride) and Polystyrene Plastics Using Photothermal Conversion
Photothermal Conversion Recycling of Commercial Polystyrene Plastic
Recycling of Post-Consumer Waste Polystyrene Using Commercial Plastic Additives
Photooxidative Upcycling of Post-Consumer Polystyrene Plastics into Phenol Using Eosin Y
Selective Sequential Depolymerization of Mixed Plastics Mediated by Photothermal Conversion
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Megan Matter
she/her
B.S., University of Florida, 2021
Ph.D., Princeton University, 2026
Megan received her Ph.D. in 2026 for her work on small-molecule synthesis methods using photothermal conversion.
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Cristina Preston-Herrera
she/her
B.S., Ball State University, 2018
M.A., Ball State University, 2021
Ph.D., Princeton University, 2025
Cristina received her Ph.D. in 2025 for her work in method development for controlled radical polymerizations.
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Lejla Čamdžić
she/her
B.S., Southern Methodist University, 2020
Ph.D., Cornell University, 2025
Current: Arkema
Lejla received her Ph.D. in 2025 for her work on controlled radical polymerization of isocyanide copolymers.
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Sewon Oh
he/him
B.S., Boston College, 2020
Ph.D., Cornell University, 2025
Current: Post-doc with Marisa Kozlowski at University of Pennsylvania
Sewon received his Ph.D. in 2025 for his work on the photooxidative and photothermal degradation of polystyrene.
Read more about Sewon’s work!
Tuning the Thermal Properties of Polymethacrylates WithBicyclobutane Monomers
Photothermal Conversion Recycling of Commercial Polystyrene Plastic
Selective poly(vinyl ether) upcycling via photooxidative degradation with visible light
Selective Electrocatalytic Degradation of Ether-Containing Polymers
Chemical Upcycling of Commercial Polystyrene via Catalyst-Controlled Photooxidation
Recent advances in oxidative degradation of plastics
Recycling of Post-Consumer Waste Polystyrene Using Commercial Plastic Additives
Photooxidative Upcycling of Post-Consumer Polystyrene Plastics into Phenol Using Eosin Y
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Clotilde Tagnon
they/them
B.S., The University of Texas at Austin, 2021
M.A., Princeton University, 2024
Clotilde received their MA in 2024 for their work on photothermal depolymerization.
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Cassandra Haynes
she/her
B.S., Lycoming College, 2018
M.S., Cornell University, 2023
Current: PhD candidate at Cornell University, Fors Lab
Cassandra received her MS in 2023 for her work in isocyanide copolymerization.
Read more about Cassandra’s work!
An old polymer class revisited: Versatile, degradable, non-alternating polyketones
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Liat Kugelmass
she/her
B.S., Vassar College, 2018
Ph.D., Cornell University, 2023
Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Associate at Northeastern University in the EcoBioMaterials Design Lab
Liat received her PhD in 2023 for her work in developing the photothermal depolymerization of plastic waste.
Former Undergraduates
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Alex Litak
he/him
Pennsylvania State University
Visiting Undergraduate Researcher, Summer 2026
Alex worked in the Stache lab with Amory Griffin on photothermal small molecule method development.
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Samantha Atkinson
she/her
Rider University
Visiting Undergraduate Researcher, Summer 2026
Sam worked in the Stache lab with Dr. Danielle L. Jacobs and Deepika Shingwekar on photothermal polymer upcycling.
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Lizbeth Menchu-Arpi
she/her
Rider University
Visiting Undergraduate Researcher, Summer 2026
Lizbeth worked in the Stache lab with Dr. Danielle L. Jacobs and Deepika Shingwekar on photothermal polymer upcycling.
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Nathan Wei
he/him
Princeton University
3rd Year Undergraduate Student
Nathan worked in the Stache lab from 2024 to 2026 with Dr. Hanning Jiang and Dr. Han-Li Sun on photothermal small molecule method development.
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Madeline Miller
she/her
B.S., Princeton University, 2026
Madeline worked in the Stache lab from 2024 to 2026 with Cristina Preston-Herrera on developing photodegradable copolymers.
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Erik Medina
he/him
B.S., Princeton University, 2025
Erik worked in the Stache lab from 2024 to 2025 with Hanning Jiang on photothermal PVC upcycling.
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Roy Kim
he/him
Princeton University
4th Year Undergraduate Student
Roy worked in the Stache lab in 2024 with Megan Matter on photothermal small molecule synthetic methods.
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Leana Salgado
she/her
Rutgers University – Camden
Visiting Undergraduate Researcher, Summer 2024
Leana worked in the Stache lab for the Chemistry REU program and worked with Lejla Čamdžić on esterifying polyketones derived from polyisocyanides.
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Darren Langer
he/him
B.S., Cornell University, 2024
Current: PhD candidate at Princeton University, Dincă Lab
Darren worked in the Stache lab as an undergrad with Sewon Oh on photooxidative degradation of polymers.
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Amaya Garnenez
she/her
Undergraduate Researcher, 2023
Current: 4th year undergraduate student at Cornell University, Fors Lab
Amaya worked in the Stache lab with Lejla Čamdžić on the synthesis of isocyanide copolymers.