Members of the Rivard Group

Post-Doctoral Fellows

Natsuki Kato

Hi, I am Natsuki, and I am from Japan. I obtained my Bachelor's, Master's and Doctor's degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Kyoto University. I have been involved in the development of novel condensation reactions and organic photocatalysts as my doctoral research. I joined Rivard group as a postdoc because I was also interested in fundamental main group chemistry. Hopefully I'll merge my backgrounds and this group's interesting chemistry to develop exciting reactions! My favorite things on free time are watching dramas, playing games and listening to music.

Ludwig Zapf

Hello, I'm Ludwig. I grew up in Nürnberg (Germany) and did my Bachelor, Master, and PhD in Chemistry at the Julius-Maximilians-University in Würzburg. During my doctoral research, I mainly worked on the synthesis of anionic borane- and phosphorane- functionalized NHC ligands and related main group and transition metal chemistry. As part of my postdoc here in the Rivard group, I would like to expand my expertise in main group chemistry and materials science. Besides chemistry, I love to enjoy and explore the outdoors, be it hiking, biking, camping, or fishing. I also enjoy cooking and sports such as soccer and ball hockey.

Graduate Students

Samuel "Samwise" Baird

I was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1996 but grew up in Chipman, New Brunswick. I completed my undergraduate degree at Mount Allison University in the duck themed town of Sackville, NB in 2018. I moved out to the frozen city of Edmonton due to my interest in fundamental research in inorganic chemistry. In my spare time you can find me convincing people garlic fingers are an East Coast delicacy and that they are not the same thing as garlic bread, sleeping or trying to convince myself that I don't need to drink on school nights.

Brandon Frenette

Hey, I'm Brandon and I'm from Bathurst, New Brunswick. I completed my BSc in chemistry at the University of New Brunswick in 2019, then migrated west to join the Rivard group. I'm interested in fundamental main group chemistry and the strange compounds within that field. Outside of chemistry, I love movies (both old and new), music (mostly metal, but I dabble in other genres), reading, and fountain pens. Contrary to how it may appear, I don't eat many cucumbers. The group told me I'm not allowed to change this photo.

William Medroa

Hello! I am William. I grew up in the "grey" Lima, Peru, where I also obtained my Bachelor's and Master's degree in Chemistry at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru in 2014 and 2017. While working in my Master's thesis I developed a liking in polymer Chemistry and inorganic materials, this fixation drew me into Dr. Rivard's investigation and, happily, I was accepted into the UoA university and his lab. I am now researching the use of Germanium to develop novel Ge-polymeric compounds with different applications. On my free time, you can surely find me playing board games, listening to music, and going out with friends to chat.

Abhishek Muralidharan

Hi, I am Abhishek. Originally from Kerala, India. I completed M.Tech from CUSAT and M.Sc from MG University. My master's thesis program as a visiting student at the University of British Columbia attracted me to stay in Canada for graduate studies. Lucky me, to be a part of Rivard group and happy to work on some interesting inorganic materials. Other than chemistry, I would like to play games, travel around and trying to cook some veggie dishes.

Mamak Bakhtiari

Hi, I am Mamak. I was born and raised in Tehran which is the capital city of Iran. For my undergrad degree, I studied polymer engineering at the University of Tehran and I graduated with the first rank in my class. Then I decided to move to another country to continue my studies so I travelled about 10,000 km to Edmonton and I am so excited to begin my journey in Canada. Luckily, I got the opportunity to join the Rivard group and explore inorganic/polymer chemistry. In my free time, I love to play sports (especially running), go to the theater, and watch movies.

Qiannan (Nancy) Wu

Hi, I am Qiannan (Nancy). I'm from Shandong, China. I completed my Bachelor's degree in Liaocheng University. Now, I'm very happy to join the Rivard group to do some researches about FLP. Outside of chemistry, I like to go to the gym, watch movies, listen to music, travel around and cook some Chinese food.

Visiting Students

Mauricio Itoh

Hi! I'm Mauricio. I was born in the skyless Lima, Perú. I'm an undergraduate student of chemical engineering. I'm very happy I can do an internship here and hope I get to learn a lot from this experience! Other than chemistry, my interests range from getting lost exploring the outskirts of Edmonton to staying all day watching anime in my basement. I like board games, biking, eating strange food (even my failed attempts to replicate Peruvian cuisine) and buying cheap things on clearance :3 . Nice to meet you!