People
Leadership Team
Dr. Jennifer Schwartz Poehlmann - Director, Co-founder
Reaching out to Stanford’s diverse body of students and beyond to share the excitement of scientific discovery has been a growing passion for Dr. Jennifer Schwartz Poehlmann. In addition to coordinating and co-teaching Stanford’s freshmen chemistry sequence, she takes a leadership role in developing training programs for teaching assistants and enhancing classroom and lab experiences for undergraduates, while also providing STEM learning opportunities for incoming freshmen and local high school students.
Jennifer Schwartz Poehlmann studied chemistry at Washington University in Saint Louis Missouri (A.B. 2002) before coming to Stanford University as a graduate student (Ph.D. 2008). Her thesis work under Prof. Edward Solomon addressed structural contributions to reactivity in active sites of non-heme di-iron enzymes, including ferritins. She joined the Stanford Center (now Vice Provost) for Teaching and Learning as a Teaching Fellow in 2008. In 2009, she became Lecturer and Introductory Course Coordinator for the Department of Chemistry, and in 2011 was promoted to Senior Lecturer. She has received multiple awards for her teaching and training work, including the Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching, Dean’s Award for Achievements in Teaching, Hoagland Award Fund for Innovations in Undergraduate Teaching, and Society of Latino Engineers and School of Engineering’s Professor of the Year Award.
Hannah Bartels - Co-Graduate Student Lead
Hannah is a third-year Ph.D. candidate in the Chemistry Department working in the Karunadasa Lab. She utilizes high-pressure measurement techniques to uncover the structural origins of optoelectronic and transport properties in novel halide perovskite materials. Along with research, Hannah has been a teaching assistant for several introductory chemistry courses including Chem 31A, 31B, and 33, and has taught in the department's TA training program. She also contributed to the development of the new chemistry fundamentals course, Chem 11. Now, she continues to contribute to teaching and mentorship in the department as a co-graduate student lead of the STEMentors program, Chem 31S! Hannah's interests outside of chemistry and teaching include singing in community choirs, photography, and baking.
Jing-Jing Shen - Co-Graduate Student Lead
Jing-Jing is a second-year Chemistry PhD student in the Karunadasa Lab, developing a layer-by-layer method to deposit halide perovskite and intergrowth crystals. She is currently involved in the department’s Chemistry TA training program and previously served as a teaching assistant for Chem31A and 31B, Stanford’s introductory chemistry sequence, where she enjoyed making chemistry approachable and illuminating for her students. Beyond chemistry, she is an Oral Communication Tutor with the Hume Center and enjoys running, learning languages, and speed-watching romcoms. Jing-Jing strives to become a professor who blends research, teaching, mentorship, and policy to advance renewable energy and energize the next generation with an excitement for science.
Current Mentors
Marianne Chong
Marianne is a sophomore at Stanford University, where she is majoring in Biology and studying stem cells and regeneration. She hopes to pursue a career in dentistry where she hopes to explore her interests in TMJ, periodontitis, and especially art. Originally from Los Angeles and Orange County and now residing in Arizona, she grew up witnessing the challenges her immigrant parents faced and understood the hardships in underserved communities from a young age. These experiences fuel Marianne's passion in supporting her peers to succeed in STEM. Moreover, she is an active member in the Asian American community and Stanford’s Undergraduate Student National Dental Association. In her free time, Marianne enjoys working with animals, photography, drawing & crafting, thrifting, and hiking!
Victoria Cuéllar
Victoria is a junior at Stanford from the border city of El Paso, Texas, majoring in Human Biology. She aspires to become a bilingual and culturally competent internal-medicine physician who approaches patient health holistically and empowers patients, especially in underserved communities, to have agency and comfort in caring for their long-term health and well-being. Her research interests span neurodegenerative disease, gender equity in healthcare, and the intersection of neuroscience, psychology, and music, with a focus on how music-based interventions can both support and expand access to mental health care. Outside of academics, Victoria volunteers at the Stanford Cardinal Free Clinics, plays the cello, and finds her greatest joy in time spent with friends and family. As a FLI student navigating STEM at Stanford, Victoria hopes to not only support all students in chemistry but, more importantly, to empower students to feel capable, knowledgeable, and comfortable in taking up space in STEM because they can and deserve to be there.
Isabelle Peña
Isabelle is a Junior at Stanford University from Roseville, CA, majoring in Chemistry with aspirations of pursuing an MD/PhD. She works in the Abu-Remaileh lab, conducting research in lipidomics and metabolomics. Isabelle is actively involved in Side by Side, Stanford’s volunteer a cappella group. She also serves at Cardinal free Clinics, dedicates time to Camp Kesem, and is a CTL Chemistry Tutor. A former LSPXII scholar, Isabelle is passionate about supporting fellow FLI and minority students and is dedicated to personal growth and building community. In her free time, she enjoys thrifting, hiking, and singing.
Izzy Riley
Izzy is a junior at Stanford majoring in Chemistry, with aspirations of becoming a medicinal chemist in the biotech industry. Originally from Ross, CA, she first discovered her love for chemistry in Chem 31A with Dr. Schwartz Poehlmann. She has since pursued diverse research experiences, from studying mosquito-borne disease ecology in the Mordecai Lab to interning in drug discovery at Relay Therapeutics, a biotech company in Boston. Izzy understands the challenges of navigating new scientific environments and is excited to help students build confidence in their abilities, develop strong study strategies, and find joy in chemistry, just like she did. In her free time, she enjoys going to the beach, doing crafts, and exploring new restaurants and foods.
Mahalit Sisay
Mahalit is a junior studying Biochemistry and Public Policy with a concentration in Health Policy. She’s passionate about health and education equity and aims to be a pediatrician. She’s been an active member of different community organizations, including the Black Community Services Center, Women’s Community Center, the Stanford African Student Association, and, most recently, the Haas Center for Public Service, serving as a biology teaching assistant for Menlo-Atherton’s Compass program for incoming 9th graders. Her favorite part about being a STEMentor is seeing students grow throughout the quarter, like when they mention the study strategy they’ve been consistently using, and when she sees a student’s line of thinking strengthen. She enjoys being with family and visiting the beach in her hometown, LA.
Barbod Vaezeafshar
Barbod is a junior at Stanford University where he is double majoring in Biology and Psychology, with aspirations of going to medical school and becoming a physician scientist. He was born in Iran and moved to the Bay Area with his family when he was six years old. From an early age, he saw the impact of peer mentors during his adjustment to a new environment in the United States. As a STEMentor, he wants to provide the same comfort, relatability, and guidance that he received from his mentors. On campus, Barbod is part of Stanford Running Club, a Chemistry Appointment Tutor in the Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning, and an EMT for Stanford EMS. In his free time, Barbod likes to hang out with friends, go on runs, and watch soccer, with his favorite team being FC Barcelona.
Founders
Professor Robert Waymouth - Faculty Lead, Co-founder
Robert Eckles Swain Professor in Chemistry Robert Waymouth investigates new catalytic strategies to create useful new molecules, including bioactive polymers, synthetic fuels, and sustainable plastics. In one such breakthrough, Professor Waymouth and Professor Wender developed a new class of gene delivery agents.Born in 1960 in Warner Robins, Georgia, Robert Waymouth studied chemistry and mathematics at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia (B.S. and B.A., respectively, both summa cum laude, 1982). He developed an interest in synthetic and mechanistic organometallic chemistry during his doctoral studies in chemistry at the California Institute of Technology under Professor R.H. Grubbs (Ph.D., 1987). His postdoctoral research with Professor Piero Pino at the Institut fur Polymere, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, focused on catalytic hydrogenation with chiral metallocene catalysts. He joined the Stanford University faculty as assistant professor in 1988, becoming full professor in 1997 and in 2000 the Robert Eckles Swain Professor of Chemistry. Today, the Waymouth Group applies mechanistic principles to develop new concepts in catalysis, with particular focus on the development of organometallic and organic catalysts for the synthesis of complex macromolecular architectures. Professor Waymouth is an instructor for CHEM 31A: Chemical Principles I, the first course in Stanford's introductory chemistry sequence.
Professor Dory DeWeese
Prof. Dory DeWeese is a proud alumnus of the Stanford Chemistry Department, where she earned her Ph.D. in 2024 with Prof. Edward Solomon studying the structure and function of non-heme iron metalloenzymes. She also worked extensively with Dr. Jennifer Schwartz Poehlmann and her team to create equitable learning environments in the general chemistry course series to support all students, which included founding and building the STEMentors program! She is now an Assistant Teaching Professor at UCLA, where her research will focus on expanding equitable chemical education by developing new equitable education practices to enhance student’s feeling of belonging and success in chemistry and re-designing large enrollment courses to tailor instruction to individual needs and knowledge levels of students.
Collaborators
Shima Salehi
Shima Salehi is a Research Assistant Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Education, and the director of IDEAL research lab, the research component of Stanford IDEAL initiative to promote inclusivity, diversity, equity and access in learning communities. Her research focuses on how to use different instructional practices to teach science and engineering more effectively and inclusively. For effective science and engineering education, Dr. Salehi has studied effective scientific problem-solving and developed empirical framework for main problem-solving practices to train students in. Based on these findings, she has designed instructional activities to provide students with explicit opportunities to learn these problem-solving practices. These activities have been implemented in different science and engineering courses. For Inclusive science and engineering, she examines different barriers for equity in STEM education and through what instructional and/or institutional changes they can be addressed. Her recent works focus on what are the underlying mechanisms for demographic performance gaps in STEM college education, and what instructional practices better serve students from different demographic backgrounds. Salehi holds a PhD in Learning Sciences and a PhD minor in Psychology from Stanford University, and received a B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Iran. She is the founder of KhanAcademyFarsi, a non-profit educational organization which has provided service to Farsi-speaking students, particularly in under-privileged areas.
Jocelyn (Josie) Nardo
Jocelyn (Josie) Nardo is an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University doing chemistry education research. She investigates the experiences of historically and systematically excluded groups in higher education chemistry programs. Her work combines quantitative analysis with qualitative methods such as photovoice, focus groups, and interviews to provide a holistic view of equity challenges. Josie also integrates innovative participatory methods, like photovoice, where students visually capture and narrate their own experiences in chemistry education. Additionally, her work on professional development for BIPOC scholars within STEM programs includes using observation protocols in educational settings, capturing interactions, mentoring relationships, and teaching practices. This multi-layered approach helps her bridge the gap between data and lived experiences, aiming to inform evidence-based practices and policies for more inclusive educational environments.
Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL)
Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) supports evidence-based and inclusive learning and teaching practices, educational programs and training, community building, and strong collaborations and partnerships with schools, departments, and other offices. Learn more at ctl.stanford.edu.
Leland Scholars Program (LSP)
Leland Scholars Program (LSP) facilitates the transition to college for incoming Stanford frosh who may be the first in their families to attend college, attended under-resourced high schools, or are from low-income backgrounds. The program starts with a summer bridge experience in August, and continues with a first-year seminar, advising, and ongoing events throughout students' time at Stanford. Learn more at lelandscholars.stanford.edu.
Past Mentors
Victoria Villarreal (Lead Mentor)
Cameron Ehsan (Lead Mentor)
Jennifter Hamad
Jordan Vedelli
Sameer Sundrani (Lead Mentor)
Isaac Applebaum (Lead Mentor)
Christian Tocol
Blen Kedir
Famyrah Lafortune
Cameron Mirhossaini
Karim Aloul
Olawunmi Akinlemibola
Olayemi Ajao
Winnie Huang