Sonja Francis at Caltech: Make Like a Tree

From the creator

As a Resnick Prize Postdoctoral Scholar at Caltech, Sonja Francis spent two and half years reaching for a brass ring in sustainability science. Along with Caltech colleagues at the Resnick Sustainability Institute and the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, she sought to mimic the magic of plant life by efficiently turning carbon dioxide into usable fuel. Her quest for the right catalyst was personal: She worries about how pollution from burning fossil fuels is affecting living things both inland and off the coast of her native Trinidad and Tobago. After combing through hundreds of candidates, one day Francis finally found the catalyst she was looking for—a combination of nickel and gallium. In this video, Francis (who moved on to become a lecturer at Princeton in fall 2016) talks about the motivation behind her investigations, her Caltech journey, and her bubbling breakthrough moment. Visit http://breakthrough.caltech.edu to learn how Break Through: The Caltech Campaign is supporting talented, creative scholars like Sonja Francis. Video produced by Caltech in association with Smartypants Pictures. ©2016 California Institute of Technology

Published 2017-01-26 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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