Jill Chipman first became involved with Prof. Shakhashiri’s group when she was offered the position of TA for his course, Chemistry 350: Communicating Science to the Public via Demonstrations. She enjoys working with WISL because it allows her to approach science in a different way than she approaches research. Talking to people and getting them to a space where they can ask questions about the world is something she finds incredibly rewarding. Jill was born and raised in East Aurora, NY. She took her first chemistry class sophomore year of high school, when her teacher challenged her to understand science on a more complete level, rather than just enough to pass her exams.

Jill came to UW-Madison after earning her undergraduate degree at Hamilton College in central New York. She is in the Berry research group, where she works on heterometallic chains of three metals (two of the same, one different). She makes the chains and studies their behavior as potential magnets or wires. After graduation, she plans to pursue work at a national lab working with actinides, specifically the radioactive elements.