Maricris Mayes

Maricris Mayes, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, College of Arts & Sciences. She maintains her office in Science & Engineering Building room 311B and can be reached at 508-999-8420.

Her educational background includes a PhD in Chemistry from Michigan State University (2007) and a BS in Chemistry from Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (2000).

Dr. Mayes specializes in theoretical and computational chemistry with research interests spanning quantum chemistry, computational material science, machine learning applications in chemistry, self-assembly of materials, and photochemistry. Her work integrates advanced computational methods with practical applications in energy storage and human health.

Her research portfolio demonstrates significant expertise in developing and applying ab initio electronic structure methods to solve challenging problems, particularly in energy storage systems. Current projects focus on computational studies of electrolytes for batteries, early self-assembly of peptide-based nanomaterials, host-guest chemistry, and catalytic pathways of organic molecules.

• $330,643 NSF award for Redox-Targeting Flow Batteries research
• $466,035 Office of Naval Research award for Marine Undersea Technology applications
• $650,000 NSF award for Contextualized Computing Pedagogy in STEM
• $165,431 Office of Naval Research award for Bio-Inspired Flow Batteries

Dr. Mayes teaches courses including Intro to Research, Special Topics in Chemistry, and Thesis/Dissertation Research. She actively seeks motivated undergraduate and graduate students for her research group, which maintains affiliations with computational chemistry resources including the General Atomic and Molecular Electronic Structure System (GAMESS).