Honors student sees collaboration as essential to energy research

Through programs like Common Cause, which last year focused on climate justice, the University Honors Program challenges students of all disciplines to explore issues of urgent concern through collaboration. A chemistry major like Jonah Stiel might call it synthesis — a combination that creates something new.

Stiel put this principle to work as a 2019 participant in the Beckman Scholars Program, which provides selected KU undergraduates with a 15-month mentored research experience in chemistry or biology.

As a Beckman Scholar, Stiel worked under the direction of Dr. James Blakemore. The Blakemore lab studies catalysts, chemicals that allow reactions to occur that otherwise would not happen. This is important for developing innovative solutions needed to curb climate change. A current shortcoming of renewable energy is that there is no economical way to store large amounts of renewable energy. Catalysts might someday eliminate this problem by storing surplus energy in chemical bonds for later retrieval.

“The big goal is to understand how these molecules do their job. So even if a specific compound that we're working with will not go on to solve the energy crisis, it helps us understand the mechanisms that are happening when these catalysts operate,” said Stiel.

Blakemore’s group uses the results of previous research to determine what to study next. After they’ve generated a new compound in the lab, the group purifies it and tests its properties. Each new test provides information that can improve the work exponentially over time.

“By understanding how catalysts operate, better ones can be designed,” said Stiel. “In the end it's an iterative process.”

Prior to his time in the Blakemore lab, Stiel took honors organic chemistry II with Dr. John Tunge, a professor of chemistry. Stiel said the course helped prepare him for some of the concepts, like synthesizing organic molecules, that were key to his work in Blakemore’s lab.

“I consistently drew upon the things I learned in Professor Tunge's class,” he said.

Stiel’s undergraduate efforts earned him several notable achievements. Last year he was one of only 410 recipients of the Goldwater Scholarship nationwide, and in both 2021 and 2020 he received fellowships from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, making him the first KU student renewed for the award.

Now a KU graduate, Stiel plans to continue his work in the chemistry doctoral program at the University of California, Irvine, where new collaborators and advanced technology will aid his mission to combat climate change. “We’re able to put out a lot more and higher quality research than was possible 50 years ago because we have better tools,” said Stiel. “We’re building off of people’s past work.”

The pace of adopting renewable energy may be slow, but advancement accelerates thanks to collaboration — and scientists like Stiel who see the potential in each interaction.