IMPACT's featured student this issue is Justin Pagano, a graduate student from upstate New York who is in the Chemistry program. Justin won a Suiter Prize this year to attend the American Chemistry Society (ACS) National Meeting in Dallas, and he was just awarded a prestigious fellowship to conduct research at Los Alamos National Laboratories in 2015.

IMPACT: Justin, thanks for joining us. Tell our readers where you're from originally and how you got interested in chemistry?

JP: I grew up in Oswego, New York, where I went to high school, and then I attended Lafayette College in Easton, PA, to do my undergraduate studies. I originally started out as a biology major, but quickly switched to chemistry once I realized it was much more my style. Organic chemistry was the impetus for me switching: I thought it was really cool that I could directly apply the things I learned in class and make something new in the laboratory. I then did research as an undergraduate for Dr. Chip Nataro at Lafayette, and that really sparked my interest in inorganic chemistry.

IMPACT: We hear often from our students that undergraduate research is what sparked their career interests. What then inspired you to go to graduate school at UVM?

JP: I was in my second semester of undergraduate inorganic chemistry and we had a semester-long assignment that had us all focus on a notable inorganic chemist. Not knowing many chemists outside Lafayette at the time, I picked the last name that was on the list: Dr. Rory Waterman, who just so happens to now be my graduate adviser. After researching Rory's work and finding it to be incredibly interesting, I made sure UVM was on my short list of schools to apply to. My undergraduate adviser also knew Rory and gave him rave reviews, which certainly helped!

I visited a few other schools in addition to UVM, but none could really compare in my mind. Everyone seemed extremely friendly, the research was top notch coming from everyone I met, and Burlington is a wonderful place to live. I sent in my formal acceptance of the offer to enter graduate school at UVM before I drove away from the visit.

IMPACT: Tell us about your experiences in graduate school -- what is it like to work with faculty members and do your own scholarship or research?

JP: Grad school is really pretty amazing. I get to go in every day and do what I love... what more could I ask for? The faculty members in our department are all very close, and it definitely shows. Everyone talks to each other about chemistry: the faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates are never afraid to help each other out. It's really rewarding to be in such a collaborative environment.

In particular, it's obvious to me that I made the right choice to come to UVM and work for Rory. Every day is a new experience, and those of us who know him know that Rory isn't just a great chemist, but an excellent adviser as well. I have had the opportunity to really develop my projects and study my interests with a freedom I never thought I would have, and I think that has led us to some pretty cool discoveries. We have a great relationship, and that has only helped me excel as a student and live a happy life.

IMPACT: That is very good to hear. Have you published any papers and have you gone to any conferences or other professional events?

JP: I hope to have two papers submitted very, very soon, so that's been very exciting and exhausting getting those prepared for publication. I am third author on one paper that came out of our group in 2013, and I have a first author publication based on my undergraduate research. In addition, I presented one of my projects on the iron catalyzed synthesis of phospholes at the national ACS meeting in Dallas this past spring, which was a great experience as well.

IMPACT: We wish you the best of luck with those papers. Tell us where you are in your graduate education and what you plan to do after graduating.

JP: I'm in the middle of my third year of my PhD program here, so about halfway through. I'll be spending the majority of next year at Los Alamos National Lab working on some uranium and thorium chemistry with Dr. Jaqueline Kiplinger as a DOE SCGSR [U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research] fellow, which I'm very excited for. After that, I'm planning on being a postdoctoral fellow somewhere and then getting into academia.

IMPACT: After spending time in upstate New York and Pennsylvania, how do you like living in Vermont?

JP: Being in Vermont is great for a lot of reasons. The craft beer scene is arguably the best in the world here, so I haven't been shy about exploring that. I also enjoy listening to music and reading when I'm away from the lab. Sleep is always a plus, too!

Of course, no one gets through anything tough in life alone. My family, my friends, fellow graduate students in chemistry, Rory and my group-mates (past and present!) have been there for me all of the way and made my time as a graduate student some of the best of my life. I'm looking forward to the rest of the time I have here.