Photos · Jeffrey Research Group

Photos · Jeffrey Research Group

Jeffrey Research GroupUNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO

Photos

The lab, the field and the people. Click any photo to enlarge it.

In the lab

From nature to molecule

Extraction, chromatography, NMR and synthesis in Reno.

Hand-drawn workflow from leaf collection through extraction, NMR and LC-MS to new molecules — Field to formula: a handful of leaves becomes a molecular fingerprint, then a new molecule

Green plant extract being filtered into a round-bottom flask — Filtering a fresh leaf extract

Orange reaction mixture in a heated round-bottom flask — Scaling up a synthesis

Chromatography plate with yellow, orange and green pigment bands — Scytonemin separation using prep-TLC

Champagne bottle with the structure of scytonemin drawn on it — Celebrating Garrett Larson’s scytonemin synthesis, July 16, 2024

Hand-drawn notes on scytonemin structures and isomerization — Working out scytonemin tautomers and photochemistry

TLC plates glowing green under UV light — Checking column fractions by TLC under UV light

Printed 400 MHz proton NMR spectrum with hand-drawn structures — Working through a ¹H NMR spectrum by hand

Glass chromatography column with colored bands — Column chromatography of a plant extract

Potted Piper plant behind a sign reading Toxic, caution I make, with a chemical structure — A Piper reticulatum in the office, with its own warning label

In the field

Where the questions start

Field sites in Ecuador, Costa Rica, Brazil and beyond.

Cloud-covered mountains above dense forest — A montane forest field site at Yanayacu, Ecuador

Researcher looking up into a misty cloud forest — Cloud forest canopy in Ecuador, with Prof. Jeffrey examining a large Piper kelleyi plant

Student holding a large leaf over his head on a muddy trail — Celso Oliveira Jr. improvising rain cover in a Costa Rican rainforest

Three researchers crouched over a plant taking notes — Prof. Lora Richards collecting plant and herbivore data in the Ecuadorian rainforest with Ecuadorian scientists

Three researchers reviewing notes at the forest edge — Profs. Lee Dyer and Lora Richards discussing a field experiment in a Brazilian forest

Orange hairy caterpillar on a dry leaf — A hairy caterpillar in the Cerrado outside Brasília, Brazil

Leaf with many holes from insect feeding held up to the light — Herbivore damage by an Eois caterpillar on Piper in a Brazilian forest

Researcher in a red hat with a machete among ferns — Prof. Jeffrey working through dense understory at Yanayacu, Ecuador

Selfie of two researchers in hats on a forest trail — At Itatiaia National Park, Brazil, with Prof. Kevin McMahon (Carroll University)

Two researchers standing in lowland rainforest at La Selva — At La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica, March 2025, being interviewed by Kat Fulwider of KUNR (listen to the story)

Three researchers among large Piper leaves in the forest — Examining Piper in the understory with Profs. Lora Richards and Lee Dyer

Two researchers smiling in the rainforest — Prof. Jeffrey with field collaborator Humberto “Beto” Garcia

Misty river lined with rainforest at dawn — Rainforest river at dawn, La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica

Group life

The people

Posters, defenses, commencements and collaborations.

Student and Prof. Jeffrey beside a research poster — Lexi Canas with her Nevada Undergraduate Research Award poster on the chemical annotation of Piper

Four people standing in front of research posters — At a poster session

Prof. Jeffrey and a new Ph.D. in doctoral robes — Commencement with Garrett Larson, Ph.D.

Graduate in cap and gown with Prof. Jeffrey — Celebrating a bachelor’s degree

Student holding a champagne bottle with a structure drawn on it — Garrett Larson celebrating the completion of the total synthesis of scytonemin and scytonemin imine

Two researchers smiling at a lab bench with balances and sample racks — Undergraduate researcher McKenzie Shipman (now at Untamed Wines) and Prof. Tara Massad in the laboratory of collaborator Prof. Massuo Kato at the University of São Paulo

Three colleagues laughing in the lab office — Megan Burroughs, Ph.D., celebrating her defense. She is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Missouri–St. Louis

Collaborator giving two thumbs up at an outdoor barbecue — Barbecue with collaborator Prof. Massuo Kato (University of São Paulo)