Ben Brekke

Graduate Student (Summer 2024-present)

Ben is from Burnsville, Minnesota. He obtained his Bachelor's degree in chemistry from Concordia College at Moorhead. Ben conducted research with Kadarikasmy Mariappan at the University of South Dakota on the synthesis of Ruthenium complexes for their application in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. He also conducted research with Prof. Courtney Roberts at the University of Minnesota on the synthesis  of electronically biased boryl-aryl triflate arynes. Ben joined the Thomas Group in the Summer of 2024, where he is currently working on the development of asymmetric Negishi cross-coupling reactions. In his free time, Ben likes to watch and play all kinds of different sports