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2025 Award Winners
Congratulations to the three winners of the 2025 CNC-IUPAC Travel Awards:
Marissa Clapson, University of Prince Edward Island
Marissa Clapson completed her PhD at the University of Calgary as an NSERC (CGS-D) scholar (2021). Her research focused on the development of cobalt PCcarbeneP complexes for small molecule activation and the gamification of learning in undergraduate chemistry. Extending from that work, Marissa founded her company ChemEscape Consulting Inc. developing gamified learning materials for STEM classrooms. Marissa pursued her postdoctoral work with Dr. Marcus Drover at the University of Windsor developing phosphine ligands bearing Lewis acidic boranes for small molecule activation. Marissa began her independent career at the University of Prince Edward Island in December 2023. She is currently Chair of the CIC Green Division and Vice Chair of the CIC Pride Resource Group. Research in the Clapson group focuses on green catalyst development through several projects: 1) Pincer ligands featuring peripheral Lewis acidic moieties for small molecule transformation, 2) Metallocages for aqueous cross coupling, and 3) Recyclable catalysts via immobilization on waste textiles. With the support of the CNC-IUPAC travel award, Marissa will be attending the International Conference on Sustainable Chemistry for Net Zero (ICSC-NZ) taking place in St. Andrews, Scotland June 10-13, 2025.
Christine Le, York University
Dr. Christine Le is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at York University. She received her BSc from Western University (2011), and her MSc (2012) and PhD degrees (2016) from the University of Toronto in the labs of Professor Vy Dong and Professor Mark Lautens, respectively. In 2017, Christine moved to UC Berkeley as an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow, working under the guidance of Professor F. Dean Toste. Dr. Le's research program focuses on the synthesis, reactivity, and application of novel fluorine-containing building blocks in organic chemistry. The Le Lab is driven by two primary objectives: (1) developing simple, practical protocols for the preparation of fluorinated building blocks, and (2) harnessing their unique fluoride-enabled reactivity to advance synthetic methodology. With the support of the CNC-IUPAC travel award, Christine will attend the 2025 IUPAC General Assembly and World Chemistry Conference in Malaysia.
Ali Nazemi, Université du Québec à Montréal
Ali Nazemi, an Associate Professor at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), leads a research program in macromolecular and materials chemistry. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Western Ontario under the supervision of Prof. Elizabeth Gillies, followed by postdoctoral fellowships with Prof. Ian Manners at the University of Bristol (2014-2016, Marie-Curie Fellow) and Prof. Cathleen Crudden at Queen's University (2016-2017). His research focuses on engineering plasmonic nanomaterials using polymeric N-heterocyclic carbenes, developing soft nanomaterials from amphiphilic Janus dendrimers for advanced theranostic applications, and designing self-healing, degradable polymers for sustainable solutions in environmental and biomedical contexts. These efforts bridge polymer chemistry with applications in nanomedicine, catalysis, and green technology. Ali will attend the European Polymer Congress 2025 in Groningen, The Netherlands, supported by the CNC-IUPAC Travel Award, to present his group's latest research and foster international collaborations.
