Reynders was selected to present his research to an audience of professional scientists at the annual meeting. His project titled “Ionothermal Synthesis of a Novel Nickel Thiophosphate: Reproducibility and Optimization” led him to the discovery of a new compound that has never been seen before. He spent months mixing and heating nickel, phosphorous, and sulfur for various times at various temperatures and recorded the reaction products. Eventually, a new compound emerged!

Reynders started doing research in Professor Jason Cody’s lab last summer. Cody then became his thesis advisor and traveled to the conference with Reynders.

“Working closely with Professor Cody has been a great experience for me because he has allowed me to develop my own ideas and explore my own questions while offering careful guidance along the way to help me grow as a chemical researcher,” said Reynders.

Thanks to the close working relationships Lake Forest students have with their professors, passionate students like Reynders have these unique opportunities to travel to national conferences where they can speak with prominent chemists and attend poster sessions and lectures alongside them.

“I’m excited to get a better sense of current work in synthetic chemistry that I can use in my career as a chemist,” Reynders said of the conference. He plans to enroll in a graduate program, eventually earn his PhD in chemistry, and become a chemistry professor and synthetic chemical researcher.