Mike Toney

Three ChBE professors on Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list

Susan Glairon — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 21:19:34 +0000

Three ChBE professors on Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list Susan Glairon Tue, 11/25/2025 - 14:19

Three Chemical and Biological Engineering professors, Jason A. Burdick, Michael D. McGehee and Michael F. Toney were featured among highly cited researchers in 2025.

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Cavity Enhanced Emission from Telecom Rare-Earth System Achieves 30-fold Brightness and 2-fold Lifetime Improvement

Susan Glairon — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 18:12:24 +0000

Cavity Enhanced Emission from Telecom Rare-Earth System Achieves 30-fold Brightness and 2-fold Lifetime Improvement Susan Glairon Thu, 11/13/2025 - 11:12

Researchers from Ģ��Ӱ�� Boulder and their collaborators have found a way to make erbium emit light more efficiently—a key step toward creating quantum memory that can communicate using the same light wavelengths already used in today’s fiber-optic internet networks.

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Building community around electrochemistry and energy innovation

Susan Glairon — Sat, 13 Sep 2025 13:56:48 +0000

Building community around electrochemistry and energy innovation Susan Glairon Sat, 09/13/2025 - 07:56

Professor Mike Toney

Building on the momentum of the well-attended 2023 materials chemistry gathering, a new workshop brought together students, faculty and national lab staff from across the Front Range for a focused conversation on electrochemistry—with a strong emphasis on batteries, energy storage and the role of machine learning in accelerating innovation.

Professor Michael Toney, co-organizer for the 2025 Front Range Electrochemistry Workshop (FREW), explained that while the meeting broadly addressed electrochemical science, this year’s focus on batteries reflects their increasing relevance to everything from electric vehicles to renewable energy infrastructure.

“Electrochemistry is a very energy-efficient way of driving chemical reactions to produce useful products,” he said. “That includes emerging battery technologies, which are key to storing electricity generated by solar or wind when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.”

Among the invited speakers was Assistant Professor Kayla Sprenger, who spoke on her group's innovative approaches using simulations to model battery interfaces. The event aimed not only to highlight cutting-edge research—including the potential of AI to optimize battery materials and testing—but also to build community among graduate students and early-career researchers. As Toney noted, many students work in small lab groups and don’t always realize how many peers and potential collaborators are just a short drive away.

Co-organized with Eric Toberer, a physics professor at Ģ��Ӱ�� School of Mines, the workshop also included collaborative pitch sessions, where student teams proposed new research ideas for cash prizes. Pitch and poster session awardees included CEAS graduate students Loren Andrews, Rebecca Beswick, Peter Romero, Bryce Rives and Cindy Wong.

With around 100 attendees—mostly students—the event fostered both technical exchange and professional networking, creating space for new ideas, mentorship and cross-institution partnerships across the region.

Read the RASEI story

Co-organized by Professor Mike Toney, the 2025 Front Range Electrochemistry Workshop (FREW) broadly addressed electrochemical science, with this year’s focus on batteries reflecting their growing importance to everything from electric vehicles to renewable energy infrastructure. Assistant Professor Kayla Sprenger was an invited speaker.

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Building a just future: Why graduate research must include energy justice

Susan Glairon — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 23:17:35 +0000

Building a just future: Why graduate research must include energy justice Susan Glairon Mon, 11/25/2024 - 16:17

Susan Glairon

In a comment published in “Nature Chemistry,” on Nov. 25, Casey Davis, a chemistry PhD student, along with her advisor, Mike Toney, a professor of chemical engineering and materials science, and others, argue that universities must integrate energy justice into graduate curricula and research.

Ģ��Ӱ�� Boulder spoke with Toney and Davis about energy justice and the importance of preparing graduates to tackle these challenges in their careers as the world transitions from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

What is energy justice?

Davis: Energy justice means ensuring fairness in how energy is produced and used, as well as addressing past harms experienced by disadvantaged communities.

Can you explain the social aspects of energy justice?

Davis: Community solutions involve engaging with communities to understand their needs, rather than having scientists and policymakers make decisions in isolation. For example, while coal is harmful, communities reliant on it for jobs and the local economy may have different perspectives. Addressing their concerns can foster broader support and accelerate progress, rather than facing resistance.

Mike and I have worked to integrate this focus into our fundamental research, which I find very rewarding.

Toney: As an example, one of the first-year chemical engineering graduate students, Summer-Solstice Thomas, is proposing to specifically engage local communities impacted by Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or so-called “forever chemicals,” in her graduate research aimed at improving membranes to remediate PFAS.

Why do graduate students need to understand energy justice?

Davis: Students who understand both the scientific and social aspects of climate change will develop better and more implementable solutions to address environmental challenges in ways that minimize harm to vulnerable communities and address previous injustices.

In STEM, PhD students often focus on their specific science and don’t have all the skills needed to contribute to a just energy transition. For example, students working on renewable energy may learn how batteries work, but not about the negative impacts of mining the materials needed for them.

What are some of these potential negative impacts?

Davis: Sourcing materials and establishing sites for renewable energy can negatively impact adjacent communities in ways similar to fossil fuels. For example, the cobalt mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for lithium-ion electric car batteries, has led to severe injustices, including child labor and mining deaths.

Casey Davis

How have scientists historically approached energy justice?

Toney: Historically, many scientists, including myself, have only superficially addressed this issue. However, there is a growing awareness among early-career scientists about its significance. We need to integrate these considerations into our technical work. Recently, there’s been a significant increase in student interest in energy justice. In my experience, recent engineering students are particularly passionate about energy and environmental justice.

Davis: This growing demand highlights the need for professors and academic institutions to consider these concerns more in their teaching and research. It’s essential to address these issues in graduate school, where future scientists and engineers are trained. By teaching students the importance of energy justice and how to incorporate it into their work, they can apply these principles in their careers, whether in industry or regulatory agencies like the EPA.

Are there barriers to integrating energy justice into research?

Davis: PhD students might hesitate to add this new focus due to concerns about extending their graduation time and potential pushback from advisors. Additionally, some journals and reviewers have been resistant.

Toney: Incorporating these concepts at the PhD level has been challenging, but Casey and other students have successfully integrated energy justice into their research, receiving positive feedback during exams. In my generation, nobody really ever thought about this.

Professor Mike Toney

How can these barriers be overcome?

Davis: Solutions should be tailored to each institution, but incorporating more diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is essential, a point that we discuss more in the Comment. Schools can develop interdisciplinary programs and hire faculty who support these approaches to encourage a culture shift. Equity can become part of the curricula and dissertations of science graduate students. While it’s challenging, these incremental changes have significant impact. We’re already seeing progress.

What is changing in Ģ��Ӱ�� Boulder’s graduate program?

Davis: Mike is encouraging me to incorporate energy justice into my dissertation. This sort of support from professors is necessary for graduate students to begin to develop a holistic understanding of how their work fits into larger issues such as climate justice.

Toney: Ģ��Ӱ�� Boulder is proposing a new approach to graduate education through an NSF grant proposal. The plan integrates fields like communications, business and social sciences into PhD programs, giving students across disciplines a broader understanding of engineering and science. This multidisciplinary training prepares our students with the tools needed to apply these concepts in their careers end enable a just energy transition. I see this as expanding engineering education to include broader training which would extend into the undergraduate level.

This approach will better equip our graduates to make a more significant, holistic impact in the world.

How will you be integrating energy justice into graduate curricula here at Ģ��Ӱ�� Boulder?

Toney: I will be teaching a new one-credit class Spring semester on “Energy Justice in Engineering.”

Do you have a vision for how incorporating energy justice at a college level might evolve?

Davis: I envision energy justice becoming integral to STEM education, where students not only learn science and engineering concepts but also understand its social implications. Solving climate change is also about addressing social issues. If we resolve social inequalities, it would significantly advance our climate goals. For instance, equitable public transportation reduces emissions and supports broader access. It’s about creating a more abundant and connected community.

In a comment published in Nature Chemistry on Nov. 25, Casey Davis, a chemistry PhD student, along with her advisor Mike Toney, a professor of chemical engineering and materials science, and others, argue that universities must integrate energy justice into graduate curricula and research.

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CHBE students shine with prestigious awards and honors

Susan Glairon — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 18:55:49 +0000

CHBE students shine with prestigious awards and honors Susan Glairon Mon, 11/25/2024 - 11:55

Emma Aldrich, a member of the Sprenger Group, received a Division 15 Oral Presentation Award at the 2024 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Annual Meeting, held Oct. 27-31 in San Diego. The award included a $600 prize.

Tom Chaney of the Toney Group has been selected for the American Chemical Society's Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research Symposium and invited to present in the oral session at the 2025 Spring ACS Meeting in San Diego on March 24 and 25.

Claire Ely's proposal, ChemECar, was approved for full funding ($3,000) by the Engineering Excellence Fund. Ely is with the Toney Group.

Luis Kitsu Iglesias, a fifth-year PhD candidate in Professor Mike Toney’s lab, received the prestigious gold award—the highest graduate student honor—at the 2024 Fall Meeting of the Materials Research Society (MRS) for his exceptional battery research. Read more.

Delaney McNally, an undergraduate student in the Anseth Lab, earned first place in the Food, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology VIII category of the national poster competition at the 2024 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) annual meeting, held Oct. 28-31 in San Diego.

Tanvi Pati, an undergraduate student in the Hind Lab, earned first place in the Food, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology category of the national poster competition at the 2024 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) annual meeting, held Oct. 28-31 in San Diego.

Paula Pranda, a member of the White and Hayward labs, was selected as a recipient of the 2025 Peebles Award for Graduate Student Research in Adhesion Science. The award provides partial support for attendance at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Adhesion Society.

Nathanael Ramos, a member of the Holewinski and Medlin Groups, has been awarded a Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) fellowship. Ramos will begin his research at Pacific Northwest National Lab in December.

Nidhi Thite of the Randolph group was recognized by the Journal of Pharmaceutical Science as an "Outstanding Early Career Scientist.”

A roundup of chemical and biological engineering students who won prestigious awards and honors this semester.

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Discovery could lead to longer-lasting EV batteries, hasten energy transition

Susan Glairon — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 19:35:49 +0000

Discovery could lead to longer-lasting EV batteries, hasten energy transition Susan Glairon Thu, 09/12/2024 - 13:35

Batteries degrade over time, which is why older phones lose power faster. An international team led by Professor Mike Toney has uncovered the cause of this degradation, paving the way for improved batteries that could extend the range of electric vehicles and advance clean energy storage.

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New materials research at Ģ��Ӱ�� Boulder will help develop high-efficiency solar cells

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 19:50:29 +0000

New materials research at Ģ��Ӱ�� Boulder will help develop high-efficiency solar cells Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 04/19/2023 - 13:50

Researchers in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering Program have published new findings in Joule that could lead to the development of better hybrid lead halide perovskites – a class of materials proposed for use as low-cost, high-efficiency solar cells.

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Michael Toney and Ryan Hayward receive $699,000 award from the Office of Naval Research/DoD

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 22:31:06 +0000

Michael Toney and Ryan Hayward receive $699,000 award from the Office of Naval Research/DoD Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 10/20/2022 - 16:31

Professor Mike Toney

Professors Michael Toney and Ryan Hayward of chemical and biological engineering and the Materials Science Engineering Program received a one-year Office of Naval Research/DoD award for $699,000 for “Small- and Wide-angle X-ray Scattering to Probe Functional Organic Materials.”

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Work of Seth Marder, Mike Toney and Wilson Smith included in DOE's $400 million award for clean energy technologies

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 22:26:12 +0000

Work of Seth Marder, Mike Toney and Wilson Smith included in DOE's $400 million award for clean energy technologies Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/29/2022 - 16:26

The DOE has awarded $400 million for research into clean energy technologies and low-carbon manufacturing through 43 Energy Frontier Research Centers, six of which feature 13 Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI) members, including ChBE professors Seth Marder, Mike Toney and Wilson Smith. RASEI is a joint institute between Ģ��Ӱ�� Boulder and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

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Elementary Arts Lab teaches science concepts through creative expression

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 18:22:15 +0000

Elementary Arts Lab teaches science concepts through creative expression Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/10/2022 - 11:22

Jonathan Raab

Students created models based on atomic structures

Science and creativity went hand in hand at University Hill Elementary School thanks to researchers from the Toney Group and graduate students from the Theatre & Dance Program. The collaborative project taught third graders about STEM subjects through art, music and dance activities.

Emma Antonio, a postdoc in the Toney Group, was interested in how art and movement could be used to communicate scientific concepts to elementary school students.

“The goal was to focus on curiosity, play and creativity,” Antonio said. “By inspiring children to explore science in the world around them, I was keen to challenge conventional ideas about what science is and who it is for. I was also excited to provide Ģ��Ӱ�� Boulder students with an opportunity to engage with young people, build an interdisciplinary community across campus and develop skills outside the lab.”

She reached out to the Theatre and Dance Program and connected with graduate students Katerina Lott and Christina Mitchell. The group then contacted Mary Powell and Becca Spence of University Hill Elementary, who teach art and music, respectively. Antonio won a Ģ��Ӱ�� Outreach and Engagement community impact grant for the project.

Together, they developed what would become the Elementary Arts Lab.

A lesson on sizes of objects in outer space inspired artwork

“Christy Mitchell and I were the artists of the group, working with our friends from the science side,” said Katerina Lott, a second year MFA student in the Dance program. “We wanted to create a truly blended curriculum that explores art and science together — using art to explore and embody science concepts, and using science to inform and provoke our art-making.”

The group developed a series of lesson plans for third graders to explore science concepts including atoms, light and color, sound, states of matter, the scale of atoms to galaxies, weather and the water cycle.

“This was a unique experience for students as they have missed many learning opportunities due to the restrictions of COVID,” said Mary Powell, art teacher at University Hill Elementary. “They were eager for activities that were beyond the usual scope of third grade and were eager to meet the Ģ��Ӱ�� Boulder students and use technology as a bridge between their learning world and that of the scientists and dancers.”

Powell saw the Elementary Arts Lab as a way to challenge students to consider their perspectives and thoughts about science, dance, movement and art.

“Working with the dance students and teachers was such an enriching experience as we generated ideas, shared our expertise and delivered the sessions together,” Antonio said. “As well as the all-round excitement about the project, I was delighted by reports that the children were ‘not just learning science, they were thinking like scientists’ as well as comments from Ģ��Ӱ�� Boulder students who felt that thinking about topics in new ways had improved their own understanding.”

The group taught nine lessons to 75 third grade students during the spring 2021 semester. Antonio, Lott and Mitchell were joined by science and engineering students and postdocs Elizabeth Allen-Cole, Tom Chaney, Luis Kitsu, Andrew Levin, Trisha Nickerson, Lacey Roberts and Nick Weadock. Together, they introduced the concepts to the students, and teachers Powell and Spence would continue to explore the concepts over the course of the week.

“It was really wonderful to see the children responding to and getting excited about what we were bringing in,” Lott said. “I have a lot of experience teaching children, particularly in an elementary school setting, so I was excited to join the project. I am also very passionate about advocating for arts education in public schools. I am very inspired by our mission, a big part being to challenge stereotypes and preconceptions about what a scientist or an artist is, and who can be a scientist or an artist.”

Professor Michael Toney of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering lauded the Elementary Arts Lab.

A student's sand painting, made during the lesson on atoms

“I am exceptionally proud of the Ģ��Ӱ�� Boulder postdocs and graduate students for their innovative outreach to the Boulder Valley School District [BVSD] elementary schools to foster interest in STEM through the use of dance and art,” Toney said. “This is a wonderful demonstration of the impact that a group of talented and passionate Ģ��Ӱ�� Boulder postdocs and students working with teachers can collectively have in the broader Boulder community.”

In the fall, the group worked with BVSD to develop resources on energy and waves for all 75 fourth grade classrooms. The lesson plans meet the national Next Generation Science Standards and have also been translated into Spanish for bilingual learners.

Sara Nelson, a curriculum developer with the Strategic Initiatives department of BVSD, praised the collaboration.

“The lessons created by the Elementary Arts Lab group are innovative and creative ways for kids to explore rigorous science concepts in the way kids do it best: with their whole bodies and minds,” Nelson said. “I can’t wait to see how our fourth grade teachers use these enriching resources this year.”

The Elementary Arts Lab is currently looking for more opportunities to collaborate with teachers and young students, and is seeking to expand its team of artists and scientists. Learn more about the program here.

Postdocs and graduate students combined art, movement, dance and science for students from the Boulder Valley School District.

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