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Auclair Group Members

Post-Doctoral Fellows, Reasearch Associates, and Visiting Professors
Dr. Blue (Chunling) Lan [兰春岭]
Hometown: Baishan, Jilin, China
Previous Degree(s) Earned: B.Sc. Chemistry
Joined Auclair Group: September 2025
Project(s): As long as there's synthesis, I'm a part of the project!
Hobbies: piano, cooking, hiking
Favourite item in the lab: Magic Stain aka Hanessian's Stain
Least favourite item in the lab: Round Bottom Flask
Dr. Alana Rangaswamy
Joined Auclair Group: October 2025
Project(s): Mechanoenzymatic depolymerization of plastics
Graduate Students
Jake Pierscianowski (he/him)
Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Previous Degree(s) Earned: Honours B.Sc. in Chemical Biology, McMaster University
Joined Auclair Group: September 2018
Project(s): Itaconate
Hobbies: Rock climbing, cooking, trying new restaurants/bars, board/video games
Favourite item in the lab: Biosafety Cabinet and our Electronic Pipettes
Least favourite item in the lab: LCMS 😤
Jane Arciszewski (she/her)
Hometown: Ardrossan, Alberta, Canada
Previous Degree(s) Earned: Honours B.Sc. Biochemistry
Joined Auclair Group: September 2020
Project(s): Mechanoenzymatic depolymerization of plastics
Hobbies: Rock climbing, journaling, embroidering & sewing
Favourite item in the lab: the big centrifuge because it sings a nice song when it's done
Least favourite item in the lab: the printer
Yuqin Xia (she/her)
Joined the Auclair Group: September 2022
Project(s): Mechanoenzymatic depolymerization of plastics
Hobbies: listening to music, planting vegetables and flowers, watching movies
Favourite item in the lab: Ball mill, oven, and eppendorfs!
Aracelli Chang (she/her)
Hometown: Colorado, USA
Previous Degree(s) Earned: BA Chemistry, BA Biology, Pepperdine University
Joined Auclair Group: September 2022
Project(s): Itaconate
Hobbies: Volleyball, knitting/crocheting, singing, bowling, skiing, exploring new restaurants
Ahmed Abdelaal (he/him)
Hometown: Cairo, Egypt
Previous Degree(s) Earned: B.Sc. Chemistry, M.Sc. Nanotechnology
Joined the Auclair Group: January 2023
Project(s): Synthesis/Itaconate
Hobbies: Running, cooking, climbing
Alec McAlpine (they/them)
Hometown: Verner, Ontario, Canada
Previous Degree(s): Honours B.Sc. in Medicinal Chemistry, University of Waterloo
Joined the Auclair Group: September 2023
Project(s): Pantothenamide-mimicking compounds
Hobbies: Beading, cooking, reading, playing Stardew Valley
Tarasha Sharma
Hometown: Windsor, ON
Previous Degree(s) Earned: Honours BSc. in Biopharmaceutical Science, University of Ottawa
Joined the Auclair Group: September 2023
Project(s): Itaconate
Hobbies: watercolouring painting, martial arts, cooking, and trying new restaurants!
Suzana Diaconescu-Grabari
Joined the Auclair Group: September 2023
Project(s): Itaconate
Natalia Munoz Patino
Joined the Auclair Group: September 2023
Project(s): Mechanochemistry
Ryan Olegario
Joined the Auclair Group: September 2023
Project(s): Mechanoenzymatic depolymerization of plastics
Nu Thuy Tu Ton
Joined the Auclair Group: September 2024
Project(s): Mechanochemistry
Kassandra Sydor
Joined the Auclair Group: September 2024
Project(s): Itaconate
Gen Krushelnycky
Joined the Auclair Group: October 2024
Project(s): Itaconate
Luis Pablo Velazquez Valdez
Joined the Auclair Group: January 2025
Project(s): Itaconate
Maya Gaylor
Joined the Auclair Group: September 2025
Project(s): Itaconate
Undergraduate Students

McGill is located on unceded lands which have traditionally served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst diverse indigenous peoples. The Kanien’kehà:ka/People of the Flint (Mohawk) who are a founding nation of the Haudenosaunee/People of the Longhouse (Iroquois) Confederacy are recognized as the traditional stewards of the lands and waters.

McGill Land Acknowledgement

We are all treaty people.