Andrea grew up in the midwest but moved to Sugar Land, TX just before starting college at Mount Holyoke College where she graduated with a BA, majoring in Chemistry and minoring in French. While at Mount Holyoke she fabricated and characterized organic solar cells based on a P3HT:PCBM active layer. She also worked at Rice during a summer REU program where she helped develop the polymer separator in a paintable battery. Before joining the Verduzco lab, she received her MA as part of the Rice Chemistry program in an ultrafast spectroscopy lab investigating the light-matter interactions of surface molecules on nanoclusters. Currently she is working towards her PhD researching conductive polymer additives for energy storage applications.
Andrea is passionate about developing and studying new materials for renewable energy applications. In her spare time she enjoys traveling and dancing!