Kristina Closser

Kristina Closser is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at California State University, Fresno (since 2017). She holds a B.A. in Chemistry and Mathematics from Smith College and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. Her postdoctoral research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory focused on theoretical condensed matter physics.

Education:

• B.A., Chemistry and Mathematics, Smith College
• Ph.D., Theoretical Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley

Research Interests:

• Computational and theoretical studies of electronic excited states and photodegradation mechanisms, particularly for pesticides and pharmaceuticals.
• Development of ab initio methods for modeling reaction critical points and excited states.
• Applications to nanoparticles, van der Waals interactions, and plasma precursors.
• Integration of computational chemistry into undergraduate curricula.
• Machine learning for excited-state analysis.

Collaborations & Teaching: Active in collaborative research projects with other institutions. Teaches courses including Chem 1A, 108, 110A, 111, 128A/B, 129A, 140T, and 240T. Directs the Closser Research Lab.

Awards/Grants: No specific awards or grants listed in the provided text.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Closser Research Lab, focusing on interdisciplinary computational chemistry projects.