Hello, I’m Tiffany.

I’m an independent scientist who loves understanding how the world works through the lens of materials science and analytical chemistry. I also happen to have ADHD, which has proven to be a surprisingly wonderful asset in my pursuit of knowledge and understanding.

Rather than confining myself to a single, narrow topic of study, I thrive on delving down deep, hyper-focused "rabbit holes." My research is driven by an intense curiosity to understand and visually document how the physical world behaves at the microscale. Because I’m a self-funded researcher, I use relatively simple tools to accomplish this - currently my home lab is equipped with a couple optical microscopes and a handful of simple analytical tools to help me characterize the systems I’m interested in exploring.

I love sharing what I learn, and making content to help others develop a greater appreciation for the beauty of everyday things as seen under the microscope. Sometimes I post videos of the cool things I see to Instagram or Tiktok when I have time.

Grounded in Rigorous Science

My unique perspective and approach arise from a solid foundation of formal training and wonderfully varied work experience.

• Academic Foundations: I earned my BS in Chemistry from the College of William and Mary. During the summers of my junior and senior year, I interned at NASA Langley Research Center in the Advanced Materials & Processing division, where I helped synthesize and characterize novel nanohybrid materials. This experience led me to pursue my PhD at Cornell University in Materials Science & Engineering. There, my research focused on the synthesis and characterization of novel porous materials using freeze-casting—a process that relies on controlling ice crystal growth to template unique material microstructures.

• Post-PhD Journey: Since earning my PhD, I have built a broad, cross-disciplinary career spanning semiconductor manufacturing, scientific consulting, and national lab-based polymers research. Through these experiences, I have found that I love applying specialized knowledge and skills I’ve developed in one area to help solve seemingly dissimilar problems in different fields.

This broad set of experiences fostered my curiosity toward the underlying principles governing seemingly mundane phenomena. They have also allowed me to hone my communication skills so that I’m more able to effectively communicate scientific concepts and findings in ways that are engaging and accessible to my audience.

As an independent scientist, I use my analytical toolkit to help me contextualize the microstructures and behaviors I observe under the microscope. My curiosity has been piqued by a number of everyday observations that have ballooned into full-on investigations over the years.

Selected Research Rabbit Holes:

• The Ink + Paper Deep Dive (Current): Investigating the physical chemistry of specialty inks—exploring crystallization, sheening, and capillary wicking behavior across diverse paper substrates.

• Liquid Behavior & Micro-Phenomena: Capturing the dynamic, microscopic world of mixing, dissolution, and crystallization in real-time fluid systems.

• Disinfectant Efficacy Study: Testing how various disinfectants such as isopropanol, hypochlorous acid, and quaternary ammonium compounds (QATs) disrupt bacterial colony growth on nonporous surfaces.

• Mechanical Properties of Seed Germination: Formulating growth gels with precise, varying mechanical strengths to observe and characterize how root systems physically navigate physical resistance over time.

• "Dinner Under the Microscope": A holiday micro-study analyzing the changing microstructures of Thanksgiving dinner ingredients—comparing their raw states, structural changes during cooking, and final prepared textures.

My Approach & Toolkit

These days, I largely perform optical microscopy and quantitative image analysis (such as HSB/RGB color thresholding and profile plots in ImageJ) to characterize microstructure and observe phase transitions/physical processes, since that’s what I have available in my home lab. I am well-versed in a variety of other characterization methods (e.g. SEM, TEM, FT-IR), but as an independent scientist I do not currently have access to shared laboratory facilities/equipment.

Because I am not bound by traditional institutional requirements and boundaries, I am free to follow my interests wherever they lead. My portfolio is a living record of where deep focus, meticulous experimentation, and a love for the microscopic world collide.

If you’re interested in my work and would like to chat or possibly collaborate, please feel free to send me an email!

Scanning electron micrograph of a freeze-cast hierarchical porous carbon.