{ "151929-21912474": { "datetime_modified":"20260928T140226", "datetime_start":"20261015T160000", "datetime_end":"20261015T173000", "has_end_time":1, "date_start":"2026-10-15", "date_end":"2026-10-15", "time_start":"16:00:00", "time_end":"17:30:00", "time_zone":"America\/Detroit", "event_title":"Catalyst Discovery for Metal-free, Photoredox CO2 Reduction", "occurrence_title":"", "combined_title":"Catalyst Discovery for Metal-free, Photoredox CO2 Reduction: Shaama Sharada | University of Southern California", "event_subtitle":"Shaama Sharada | University of Southern California", "event_type":"Workshop \/ Seminar", "event_type_id":"21", "description":"Our goal is to identify sustainable, light-driven routes for CO2 utilization. Prior experiments show that upon excitation by light and subsequent reduction, a simple organic chromophore, p-terphenyl, can reduce and transform CO2 into valuable molecules such as amino acids. These photoredox reactions are attractive because organic chromophores are metal-free and can access highly reactive states upon excitation and quenching that are otherwise energy-intensive. However, the steps of the photoredox cycle and the reasons for the low turnover numbers of these catalysts are poorly understood. We use state-of-the-art quantum chemistry methods and automated workflows to delineate mechanisms of steps constituting the catalytic cycle, develop design principles, and leverage these insights to drive the discovery of viable chromophores. The driving force for the desired electron transfer (ET) step to reduce CO2 cannot be increased without simultaneously increasing that for competing deactivation via carboxylation; this indicates the existence of fundamental relationships that limit catalyst performance. Deactivation can also occur via Birch reduction of the catalyst by the radical cation form of the sacrificial electron donor. These steps are highly sensitive to the choice of solvent, as is the quenching of the excited-state catalyst. I will describe our work establishing a protocol for calculating and characterizing excited-state complexes (exciplexes) that are the result of incomplete quenching. I will also share our recent efforts towards applying structural causal frameworks to photoredox chemistry.", "occurrence_notes":null, "guid":"151929-21912474@events.umich.edu", "permalink":"http:\/\/events.umich.edu\/event\/151929", "building_id":"1000158", "building_name":"Chemistry Dow Lab", "campus_maps_id":"34", "room":"CHEM 1640", "location_name":"Chemistry Dow Lab", "has_livestream":0, "cost":"", "tags":["Chemistry","Physical Chemistry"], "website":"https:\/\/viterbi.usc.edu\/directory\/faculty\/Sharada\/Shaama", "sponsors":[ { "group_name":"Department of Chemistry", "group_id":"3761", "website":"https:\/\/lsa.umich.edu\/chem" }, { "group_name":"Physical Chemistry", "group_id":"4390", "website":"" } ], "image_url":"", "styled_images":{ "event_thumb":"", "event_large":"", "event_large_2x":"", "event_large_lightbox":"", "group_thumb":"", "group_thumb_square":"", "group_large":"", "group_large_lightbox":"", "event_large_crop":"", "event_list":"", "event_list_2x":"", "event_grid":"", "event_grid_2x":"", "event_feature_large":"", "event_feature_thumb":"" }, "occurrence_count":1, "first_occurrence":21912474 } , "151705-21912004": { "datetime_modified":"20260908T114922", "datetime_start":"20261015T160000", "datetime_end":"20261015T170000", "has_end_time":1, "date_start":"2026-10-15", "date_end":"2026-10-15", "time_start":"16:00:00", "time_end":"17:00:00", "time_zone":"America\/Detroit", "event_title":"EEB Thursday Seminar Series - Understanding adaptation to anthropogenic disturbance at a global scale", "occurrence_title":"", "combined_title":"EEB Thursday Seminar Series - Understanding adaptation to anthropogenic disturbance at a global scale: Marc Johnson, University of Toronto", "event_subtitle":"Marc Johnson, University of Toronto", "event_type":"Workshop \/ Seminar", "event_type_id":"21", "description":"Seminar Summary - Anthropogenic disturbance is a dominant force driving evolutionary change on Earth today. From global land use change, to resource extraction and consumption, to rapid and ongoing climate change, humans are fundamentally changing our planet. While the geochemical, ecosystem and ecological consequences of anthropogenic caused environmental change are well studied and increasingly understood, the impacts on evolution are less understood. In this talk I will address this problem by seeking to answer a single general question: How does anthropogenic disturbance influence the evolution of life? As a case example, I will describe our work on the the cosmopolitan plant white clover, where we are examining how various anthropogenic disturbances affect all major mechanisms of evolution. I will describe our global studies examining whether urbanization affects phenotypic and genomic evolution. I will then explore whether invasive populations can adapt to novel environments in their invaded range, including the role of functional traits and structural variants across the genome in these adaptations. Finally, I will explore whether populations can adapt to rapid climate change through time in introduced and native ranges. The results from the white clover system provide insight into when species are likely to be able to adapt to anthropogenic disturbance, and when they may be unable to adapt. When combined with studies of other systems, it is becoming clear that anthropogenic disturbance is becoming one of the most important drivers of evolution.", "occurrence_notes":null, "guid":"151705-21912004@events.umich.edu", "permalink":"http:\/\/events.umich.edu\/event\/151705", "building_id":"1005169", "building_name":"Biological Sciences Building", "campus_maps_id":"631", "room":"1060", "location_name":"Biological Sciences Building", "has_livestream":0, "cost":"", "tags":["evolutionary biology","Research","Science","symposium","Talk","Workshop"], "website":"http:\/\/www.evoeco.org", "sponsors":[ { "group_name":"Ecology and Evolutionary Biology", "group_id":"1190", "website":"" }, { "group_name":"EEB Thursday Seminars", "group_id":"3822", "website":"" } ], "image_url":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/attachments\/2026\/09\/event_151705_original-1.png", "styled_images":{ "event_thumb":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/event_thumb\/media\/attachments\/2026\/09\/event_151705_original-1.png", "event_large":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/event_large\/media\/attachments\/2026\/09\/event_151705_original-1.png", "event_large_2x":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/event_large_2x\/media\/attachments\/2026\/09\/event_151705_original-1.png", "event_large_lightbox":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/event_large_lightbox\/media\/attachments\/2026\/09\/event_151705_original-1.png", "group_thumb":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/group_thumb\/media\/attachments\/2026\/09\/event_151705_original-1.png", "group_thumb_square":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/group_thumb_square\/media\/attachments\/2026\/09\/event_151705_original-1.png", "group_large":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/group_large\/media\/attachments\/2026\/09\/event_151705_original-1.png", "group_large_lightbox":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/group_large_lightbox\/media\/attachments\/2026\/09\/event_151705_original-1.png", "event_large_crop":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/event_large_crop\/media\/attachments\/2026\/09\/event_151705_original-1.png", "event_list":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/event_list\/media\/attachments\/2026\/09\/event_151705_original-1.png", "event_list_2x":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/event_list_2x\/media\/attachments\/2026\/09\/event_151705_original-1.png", "event_grid":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/event_grid\/media\/attachments\/2026\/09\/event_151705_original-1.png", "event_grid_2x":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/event_grid_2x\/media\/attachments\/2026\/09\/event_151705_original-1.png", "event_feature_large":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/event_feature_large\/media\/attachments\/2026\/09\/event_151705_original-1.png", "event_feature_thumb":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/event_feature_thumb\/media\/attachments\/2026\/09\/event_151705_original-1.png" }, "occurrence_count":1, "first_occurrence":21912004 } }