Principal Investigator
Eric McCalla, Associate Professor
B.Sc. (Mount Allison University, 2000), M.Sc. (McGill University, 2002), B.Ed. (Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2005), Ph.D. (Dalhousie University, 2013)
Postdocs at the Collège-de-France (Paris, France, 2014-2015) and the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, USA, 2015-2017)
Office: OM 426
Phone: (514) 398-1074
Full publication list available at google scholar.
eric.mccalla [at] mcgill.ca
Post-doctoral fellows
Dr. Parisa Vahdatkhah
parisa.vahdatkhah [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Dr. Janine Richter
Janine joined the group in 2024 after completing her PhD at Dresden University of Technology, where she worked with ionic liquids to find a more sustainable way of metal production and battery recycling. Her current research is focused on the synthesis and characterization of high-throughput lithium-ion battery cathode materials at the interface with machine learning. When not working in the lab, Janine enjoys hiking, reading good books, playing board games and is also an enthusiastic science communicator.
janine.richter [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Dr. Joyanti Halder
Joyanti joined the group in 2025 after completing her PhD entitled "Ni1-xCoxFe2O4 (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 1.0) Based Nanostructures for High Performance Supercapacitors" at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. Her previous work focused on developing feasible electrode materials for supercapacitors. She has also worked on electrode materials for Al-ion batteries. Now, she is working on developing halide and oxyhalide solid-state electrolytes for all-solid Li batteries. Beyond her working schedule, she likes to read story books, listening to music and travelling to new places.
joyanti.halder [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Ph.D. Students
Alex Hebert
B.Sc. (Acadia University, 2019)
Alex hails from Dartmouth NS, joining the group in fall 2019 after completing a BScH in chemistry from Acadia University. Currently, he is working on optimizing high-throughput techniques to characterize large regions of the NMC cathode space in order to uncover high performance materials for next-gen batteries. Previously he worked on investigating shuttle reactions in Li-ion cells in the Dahn group at Dalhousie University, as well as completing two internships with Tesla’s battery research division. Outside the lab, he can be found lounging in a café, taking in the classic cult comedy Community for the 7th time, or trying to find the hottest up-and-coming alt-indie tracks (follow him on Spotify).
alexander.hebert [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Ethan Anderson
B.Sc. (McGill University, 2019)
Ethan joined the group after completing his B.Sc. at McGill in 2019. Currently he is working on mapping the phase space of the Li-ion solid electrolyte Li7La3Zr2O12 and related Li-La-Zr-O compositions using high-throughput synthesis and characterization techniques developed by the group. He is also working with Dr. Khaliullin of McGill developing a force field based method of simulating lithium diffusion in the similar Li-La-Ti-O system. In his spare time Ethan can be found at the gym or playing computer or board games with friends.
ethan.anderson [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Marzieh Abdolhosseini
B.Sc. (K.N.Toosi University of Technology, 2017)
M.Sc. (University of Tehran, 2019)
Marzieh joined the group in the Fall of 2021 and is now working on making improved cathodes for Na-ion batteries.
marzieh.abdolhosseini [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Nooshin Zeinali Galabi
Office: OM 430
nooshin.zeinaligalabi [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Michael Sieffert
B.Sc. (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo)
Born and raised in California, Michael obtained his B.Sc. in 2021. Before starting at McGill, he worked in many different fields of chemistry from polymer synthesis to spectroscopy of organometallic ligands. In the McCalla lab, he works on developing new safe high power anodes relying primarily on Nb. In his free time, Michael can often be found reading, learning languages or spending time outside cross country skiing.
michael.sieffert [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Jean-Danick Lavertu
jean-danick.lavertu [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Stephanie Bazylevych
Stephanie comes from Calgary, AB and completed her B.Sc. at McGill in 2023. Previously, she held a food science internship in a Calgary-based kombucha brewery, worked on cathode coatings, and worked on mussel-inspired metallopolymers. She returned to the McCalla lab to work on high-power Nb-based anodes. In her free time, Stephanie enjoys climbing, painting, going to the cinema, and scouting new cafes.
stephanie.Bazylevych [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Masters Student
Elliot Zolfaghar
elliot.zolfaghar [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Alessandro Busa
B. Sc. (McGill University, 2023)
Alessandro is from Ottawa, ON and joined the group in 2024. Before joining the lab, he previously did research on nanocellulose pigments, marine mussel biomaterials, and banknote security features. In the McCalla lab, he is working on synthesizing new Li-ion cathodes and developing machine learning models. Outside of the lab, he enjoys kayaking, running, and watching hockey.
alessandro.busa [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Céline Narame
Céline completed her B.Sc. in 2021 at the University of Sherbrooke. Before joining McGill, she gained valuable experience working in a pharmaceutical company. In her free time, Céline enjoys spending time with others and engaging in conversations, as well as listening to music, dancing, and exploring photography.
celine.narame [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Undergraduate researchers
Nathan Wu
Currently a majoring in Chemistry and Physics, Nathan joined the McCalla lab for his Honors thesis. Originally from Denver, CO, Nathan moved to Montreal for his undergrad in 2020. Currently, he is working on adapting potentiostatic intermittent titration technique (PITT) measurements to a high-throughput scale. In his spare time, Nathan enjoys playing sports, board games, and cooking.
nathan.wu2 [at] mail.mcgill.ca