L. Robert Baker

L. Robert Baker is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at The Ohio State University (OSU). He joined OSU in 2014 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship with Stephen Leone at UC Berkeley, following his PhD under Gabor Somorjai at UC Berkeley. His research focuses on heterogeneous catalysis, electrocatalysis, and developing spectroscopic tools to study charge and spin dynamics at surfaces. He directs the NSF National eXtreme Ultrafast Science (NeXUS) Facility, a cutting-edge user facility for ultrafast science.

Baker's education includes a B.S. from Brigham Young University (2007) and a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley (2012). His awards include the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award and the DOE Early Career Award. His work spans ultrafast XUV spectroscopy, spin-selective photocatalysis, and electrochemical CO2 reduction.

Research interests emphasize energy conversion processes, particularly using surface-sensitive techniques like XUV reflection-absorption and sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy. Recent studies explore solvation effects on catalytic selectivity and spin dynamics in photoelectrochemical systems.

Publications highlight advancements in CO2 capture/conversion, plasmon-enhanced spectroscopy, and spin-polarized electron dynamics. Awards and grants support his interdisciplinary approach to bridging chemistry, physics, and materials science.

Baker advises a vibrant research group with over 25 current and former students/postdocs. The NeXUS Facility under his leadership provides state-of-the-art tools for studying chemical dynamics on attosecond timescales and angstrom lengthscales.