My name is Jingheng Yuan. I am an entering PhD student in Chemistry at The Graduate Center — CUNY who has been working with Dr. Evans for about 2 years. One of the reasons why I chose to join the Evans Laboratory is the patience and helpfulness of Dr. Evans. The other reason is the primary research focus of the Evans Laboratory.

I was introduced to chemistry when I was a middle school student in China and have remained very interested in Chemistry as my understanding of this diverse field advanced. I am fascinated in how the reactants convert to products during chemical reactions. Generally in an experimental laboratory, it is easy to observe how two or more molecules react under certain conditions, and our professors always said that the electrons from molecule A move and create bonds with certain atoms in molecule B. This becomes arrows that indicate electron motion in organic mechanisms. However, the mechanism of this “movement” of electrons never can be observed directly due to the fundamental nature of quantum mechanics. Is there another way or angle to study the mechanism of this “movement” of electrons? This is the reason why I chose physical chemistry as research direction and also a reason why I selected the Evans Laboratory. I want to understand what happens to electrons during chemical reactions?