Veronica Berns

Veronica Berns is an Associate Professor of Instruction in the Chemistry Department at Northwestern University. She serves as Co-Director of the General Chemistry Laboratory and teaches large-enrollment general chemistry lecture and lab courses. Veronica is passionate about connecting with her students and graduate student teaching assistants to help everyone reach their goals. While writing her Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she authored, illustrated, and self-published a comic book version of her thesis, written for a non-scientist audience. Veronica enjoys finding creative ways to use comics and other materials in her classroom to make challenging concepts accessible to all.

Veronica Berns is a Research Assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, specializing in Solid State Chemistry. Her research focuses on understanding atomic size effects and chemical pressure through first-principles calculations, particularly in materials like Ca36Sn23 and Tsai-type quasicrystals. She explores structural responses to chemical pressure, including the synthesis of new dodecagonal quasicrystals and quasicrystalline approximants. Her work also includes the study of MgCu2-type clusters, such as Mg11Cu6Al12, to uncover trends in structural chemistry. Berns' research contributes to the theoretical framework for targeted synthesis of complex materials with unique atomic arrangements.