Group Members
Postgraduate Students
Fathima Nimra Abdul Haleem
About me: I was born and grew up in Sri Lanka and moved to New Zealand to pursue my Ph.D. in Chemistry at AUT. I am a B.Sc. (Hons) Chemistry graduate from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, and right after graduation, I worked as a teaching assistant in Chemistry for two leading universities in my country. I then started my career as a research scientist, but I always had a passion to continue my higher studies in Chemistry. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to join the Brasch group. Currently, I am working on photoactive HNO donor molecules under the supervision of Prof. Nicola Brasch.
Other interests: Travelling and cooking.
Anau Lautaha
About me: Malo e Lelei, I was born and grew up on the Island of Vava’u, Tonga. I moved to New Zealand after my high school years and completed a BSc in Applied Chemistry at AUT. I started out my career as a Laboratory technician for a couple of years but took a turn to pursue teaching Science at the High School level. I completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Education at the University of Auckland and after years of teaching, I decided to further my education. I completed a Master of Science (Research) last year at AUT, working with Professor Allan Blackman on “Studying of Transition Metal Complexes Containing Pentaamine Ligands”. To further my curiosity and passion for Science and Research, I am now working with Prof. Nicola Brasch in exploring the photogeneration of HNO from photocaged molecules.
Jess Fredericksen
About me: I was born and grew up in New Zealand. I have been a student with AUT since 2009 having gained a Diploma in Culinary Arts in 2012. After some work experience in hospitality, I decided to further my education and begin studying Food Science only to discover my passion for Chemistry. I am now completing my third year in my Bachelor of Applied Sciences in Chemistry and Microbiology along with a third year research project supervised by Prof. Nicola Brasch.
Other Interests: Hockey and spending time with my two beautiful daughters.
Ben Stackpole
About me: I was born and raised in Auckland. After I finished high school, I worked in various industries for a few years before coming to AUT to study microbiology. In my second semester I found I was really enjoying the chemistry papers, and I decided to pursue a double major in chemistry and microbiology. This summer I am starting a third-year research project supervised by Dr. Nicola Brasch, focusing on ? axial chemistry of vitamin B12.
Other Interests: Cooking, gaming and hiking.
Undergraduate Students
Duan Ferreira
About me: I was born in South Africa and moved to New Zealand before starting high school. Initially, I majored in Biomedical Science, but I found Chemistry to be a much more interesting subject. I am currently working with Prof. Nicola Brasch on the HNO donor project.
Other Interests: Meditation, reading, yoga.