Ashlea Patterson

Background

I grew up in southern California and southern Utah, mostly, so I'm a big fan of deserts (and desserts, but that's another discussion). I love spending time with my gigantic family, reading books of all kinds, and playing around outside: hiking, running, biking, rock-climbing — if it's outside, I'm probably into it. I'm an environmental sustainability-oriented person, and I hope to contribute to mitigating the advancement and effects of climate change through my career.

Current Research

Reliance on renewable energy sources is key to a sustainable future, and energy storage is one of the primary bottlenecks to renewable energy reliance. I am researching energy storage materials with the goal of eventually contributing to vehicle and grid electrification. Currently, I am using a combination of traditional electrochemical techniques and solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to understand local structure and electronic and ionic diffusion in high-rate battery electrode materials.

Education

• 2020-Present – Ph.D. in Materials, UC Santa Barbara.
• 2015-2019 – B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering, University of Utah
• 2011-2014 – A.A. in English Literature, Southern Utah University