The Meyer Research Group

Research in the Meyer Group is a collaborative effort that involves faculty, graduate students and undergraduates. We actively seek collaborations with other research groups and work to address fundamental questions in polymer chemistry and materials science.

room 1008 CSC
email: tmeyer@pitt.edu
phone: 412-625-8635

Tara Meyer, Group Leader

B.S. Grinnell College, 1986
Ph.D. University of Iowa, 1991
Postdoctoral, University of Iowa 1991-2; UC Berkeley 1992-1994

University of Pittsburgh, 1994-Present
Dept. of Chemistry and McGowan Center for Regenerative Medicine

Bio: Tara Y. Meyer received her B.A. from Grinnell College in 1991 and her Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1991. Her doctoral thesis, under the supervision of Prof. Louis Messerle, focused on the reactivity of early transition metal acyl complexes. She carried out postdoctoral work at both the University of Iowa (1991-2) under the supervision of Prof. Richard F. Jordan and at the University of California, Berkeley (1992-4) under the joint supervision of Prof. Robert G. Bergman and Bruce M. Novak. Dr. Meyer joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh, Department of Chemistry in 1994 and is a member of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Her work has been recognized by both CAREER and Sloan Foundation Awards and a sabbatical stay at MIT (2003) was supported by an NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award. Dr. Meyer’s research focuses on synthesis and structure/function studies on repeating sequence copolymers and on the design of stimuli responsive materials.

Current Graduate Students

email: men54@pitt.edu
phone: 304-670-1402

Megan Clark

Current Projects

Synthesis of Sequenced Multiblock Copolymers

B.S. in Chemistry, Bethany College, 2018

Bio: In my undergraduate research, I studied the conductivity of polyaniline through its oxidation and reduction of various forms. My work in the Meyer group involves the study of sequenced multiblock copolymers. My goal of this project is to understand how the sequence of the multiblock copolymers will affect their properties.

email: ans290@pitt.edu
phone: 412-624-0838

Anneliese Schmidt

Current Projects:

Synthesis and characterization of polymers with sequenced side chains for applications involving dielectric materials.

B.S. in Chemistry, University of South Carolina Upstate, 2009

Bio: I began conducting research while working for Milliken and Company, where I synthesized small molecules as additives to improve various polymers’ properties, e.g. toughness or permeability. My work with the Meyer and Hutchison groups allows me to conduct organic and polymer synthesis, and characterize the electrical properties of these polymers. The goal of my project is to understand how the sequence of polymer side chains affects the dielectric constant of the polymer.

email: jaf186@pitt.edu
phone: 412-624-0838

Jordan Fitch

Current Projects:

Sequenced Copolymers

B.S. in Chemistry, University of Mount Union, 2016

Bio:

email: mtc52@pitt.edu
phone: 412-624-0838

Mike Cole

Current Projects:

Properties of Semi-Sequenced Step-Growth Polymers: Synthesis, Characterization, Modeling.

B.S. in Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, 2016

Bio: As an undergraduate, I worked in Dr. Geoffrey Hutchison’s lab developing models for the statistical prediction of conjugated polymer molecular orbital energies using quantum mechanical data. In the Meyer Group, my project involves controlling and quantifying the long-range sequence fidelity of step-growth polymers. We synthesize semi-sequenced polymers by making unique oligomers in parallel and successively coupling them. My goal is to use characterization data to quantify sequence patterns in our oligomers and polymers, model these sequence patterns using computational methods, and use the models to understand the sequence dependent properties of our polymers.

email: s.craig@pitt.edu
phone: 267-347-3710

Sarah Craig

Current Projects:

B.S. in Chemistry, University of Rochester, 2021

Bio: I began working on research as an undergraduate in Prof. Bob Boeckman's lab synthesizing polyalkylated imidazoles for use in Prof. Mitchell Anthamatten's lab for ion transport membranes, an experience which gave me lots of practice synthesizing and characterizing organic small molecules & using them for engineering applications. I later completed my undergraduate thesis with Prof. Rose Kennedy, working on first-row transition metal catalyst development for functional group autotransfer and also taking on a project implementing new external control on atom transfer radical polymerizations (ATRP). I also served as a TA for many of UR's undergraduate lab courses. Expanding representation in STEM is very important to me, as are outreach efforts. I followed the Meyer Lab's work while still an undergraduate (I was especially a fan of the ED-ROMP publications!) and was excited for the opportunity to join the group in graduate school. In my free time, I enjoy musical theatre, playing video games, fencing, and rock climbing. Following graduate school, I hope to develop a career teaching chemistry at the collegiate level.