Education

        Ph.D Candidate in Chemistry: The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

                    Advisor: Prof. Paul S. Weiss

                    2004-present, expected graduation: May, 2009

        B.S. in Chemistry (ACS): Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN

                    May 2004

        Research Experience

        2004-present, The Pennsylvania State University

                    Advisor: Prof. Paul S. Weiss

        - Operation and maintenance of an extreme-high vacuum low temperature (XHV-LT)   

           scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and performing experiments at 300, 77, and 4 K

        - Measuring electronic properties of metal clusters using scanning tunneling   

           microscopy and spectroscopy (STS)

        - Subsurface imaging of organic thin films

        - Catalysis of organic reactions via a single crystal metal surface

        2003-2004, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN

                    Advisor: Prof. S. Alex Kandel

        - Assembly and operation of an ambient scanning tunneling microscope

        - Imaging alkanethiolate self assembled monolayers on Au{111}

        - Imaging fullerenes on Au{111}

        Teaching Experience

        Supervising Teaching Assistant, The Pennsylvania State University, August 2006 - May 2007

                    General Chemistry Laboratories

        Teaching Assistant, The Pennsylvania State University, January 2006 - May 2006

                    General Chemistry Laboratory

        Teaching Assistant, The Pennsylvania State University, August 2004 - May 2005

                    General Chemistry Laboratory

        Undergraduate Preparative Teaching Assistant, Saint Mary's College, August 2003 - May 2004

                    General Chemistry Laboratories

        Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, Saint Mary's College, August 2002 - May 2004

                    General Chemistry Laboratories

        Awards

        Roberts Graduate Fellowship, The Pennsylvania State University, 2004

        Sigma Xi Undergraduate Research Award and Membership, Saint Mary's College, 2004

        Affiliations

        American Chemical Society

        Sigma Xi

        Publications

        1.  "Long-Range Electronic Interactions at High Temperature: Bromine Adatom Islands on  

             Cu{111}", S. U. Nanayakkara, E. C. H. Sykes, L. C. Fernández-Torres, M. M. Blake, and P. S.  

             Weiss, Physical Review Letters 98, 206108 (2007)

        2.  "Spectral Diffusion in the Tunneling Spectra of Chemically Precise Ligand-Stabilized Undecagold  

             Clusters", R. K. Smith, S. U. Nanayakkara, G. H. Woehrle, T. P. Pearl, M. M. Blake, J. E.

             Hutchison, and P. S. Weiss, Journal of the American Chemical Society 128, 9266 (2006).

        Presentations

       "Tunneling spectroscopy of precise, ligand-stabilized undecagold clusters", M. M. Blake, R. K. Smith, S. U.   

        Nanayakkara, G. H. Woehrle, T. P. Pearl, J. E. Hutchison, P. S. Weiss, 5^th International Symposium on 

        Theory of Atomic and Molecular Clusters, Richmond, VA, United States, May 13-17, 2007

        "Study of the arrangement of alkanethiols on a Au(111) surface using STM", M. Blake, A. Deering,

        D. P.  Fogarty, A. Beck, S. Guo, S. A. Kandel, 227th ACS National Meeting, Anaheim, CA,

        United States, March 28-April 1, 2004.

        References

        Prof. Paul S. Weiss

        Departments of Chemistry and Physics

        The Pennsylvania State University

        104 Davey Laboratory

        University Park, PA 16802

        Prof. S. Alex Kandel

        Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

        University of Notre Dame

        Notre Dame, IN 46556