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.

Monojit Batabyal

Hello, I am Monojit Batabyal and I am from India. I obtained my Bachelor and Master degree in Chemistry from University of Burdwan (West Bengal, India) and Banaras Hindu University (Varanasi, India); respectively. Further, I did my PhD in Chemistry at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal. During my doctoral research, I mainly worked on synthetic main-group chemistry (Organoselenium & Organotellurium) and their application in synthetic organic transformation and HER catalysis. I joined Professor Hyun-Joong Chung group (Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering) as a postdoctoral fellow and currently I am working on synthesis and study of & Ion Sensing Hydrogel polymers. As part of my postdoctoral research here in the Rivard group (Co-Supervisor), I would like to expand my expertise in synthetic main group chemistry. Apart from chemistry, I love travelling and playing cricket. I also enjoy cooking and biking.

Still Rockin'

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.

Graduate Students

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.

Ruiqi Li

Hi! My name is Ruiqi, and I'm from Shandong, China. I graduated from the University of Waterloo in the summer of 2024 with the bachelor's degree. It's a great honor and pleasure to be joining the Rivard Group. My research focuses on frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs), and I'm especially interested in their applications in main-group chemistry. Outside of the lab, I love listening to pop music and enjoy playing guitar and cooking Chinese food in my spare time.