The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) helps ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States and reinforces its diversity. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions.
As the oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, the GRFP has a long history of selecting recipients who achieve high levels of success in their future academic and professional careers. The reputation of the GRFP follows recipients and often helps them become life-long leaders that contribute significantly to both scientific innovation and teaching.
Carter Gerke is a second year Ph.D. student in the Thoi group. Carter is interested in designing systems that enhance the electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction by selectively deactivating hydrogen evolution. He is working to optimize N2 reduction by tailoring conditions at the electrode/electrolyte interface. He hopes to use in-situ electrochemical techniques such as surface-enhanced IR spectroscopy to understand the evolution of reaction intermediates at the electrode surface.
Congrats again, Carter!