Hannah Kruse

My hometown is Peoria, Illinois but I moved to Carbondale, Illinois to pursue my undergraduate degree in chemistry at Southern Illinois University, along with minors in forensic science and criminal justice. While there, I did an internship with the USDA working on understanding the effectiveness of different catalysts on the cyclization of oleic acid with the goal of integration into jet fuel. Additionally, I was involved with research on campus studying the metabolism of methane formation in various archaea. Student community was also important to me as an undergraduate, as I served as a mentor for the queer mentorship program as well as a transfer student transition leader.

I chose Penn State because it has small cohort sizes while retaining a vast amount of university resources. As a prospective student, I felt extremely welcome and could tell that the other graduate students, professors, and staff were very supportive. Additionally, I enjoyed how hands-on the coursework was, allowing us to understand theory as well as how our future careers will look. The program has time carved out for research, creating space for students to feel less stressed and more capable of completing projects. I have been interested in the characterization and analysis of designer drugs, so I hope to pursue research topics related to that field.