Research Sketch

Research in the Emmert group focuses on the development of new, sustainable processes. Current projects include non-directed C-H functionalizations, aerobic oxidations at low oxygen concentrations, catalyst development for biomass deconstruction, and zero waste recycling processes for rare earth materials. Her independent research has been funded by the ACS PRF, NSF, NIH, the Army Research Laboratories, and industrial sponsors. High-impact results have been highlighted by the national and international press, including C and E News, BBC Horizons, Gizmodo, and National Geographic Online.

Biography

Marion H. Emmert received her Diploma (MS) degree from the University of Freiburg (Germany), where she completed her MS thesis of Pd catalyzed allylic substitutions with Prof. Bernhard Breit. Subsequently, she earned her PhD from the University of Munster (Germany) working with Professor Gerhard Erker on models for Zr-based polymerization catalysts. Following postdoctoral work at the University of Michigan with Professor Melanie Sanford as a NSF CCI CENTC postdoctoral fellow, she joined the faculty at WPI in 2011 as Assistant Professor of Chemistry, with joint appointments in Materials Engineering and Chemical Engineering since 2012. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2017.

Marion has received a DFG (German Research Foundation) postdoctoral fellowship, an American Chemical Society New Doctoral Investigator Award, has been elected as a 2016 Young Investigator of the ACS Organic Section, and is associated with the NSF CCI Center for Selective C-H Functionalization as a Diversity Faculty Fellow.

In 2018 Marion took a position at Merck, West Point, as an Associate Principal Scientist.