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My research is themed around the design of CO₂ reduction electrocatalysts, with the goal of finding novel catalysts that convert CO₂ to C₂₊ products under low overpotentials and high faradaic efficiencies. I model CO₂ reduction reaction mechanisms on both molecular (homogeneous) and surface (heterogeneous) catalysts, both of which involve different computational modeling techniques. These models provide fundamental insight as to how catalysts can be modified to improve their catalytic activity. My projects and ideas are supported and inspired by my experimental collaborators: Luca Group (CU Boulder), Dismukes Group (Rutgers University), and Glusac group (UIC). More recently I’ve concentrated my efforts on calculating surface catalysts, such as the 2-dimensional metal/nitrogen-doped graphene (MN_xC) and binary phosphides (M_xP) systems, using the state-of-the-art grand canonical density functional theory (GC-DFT).