Wilker Lab

Jon's #TEDx talk from @TEDxPurdueU was just posted on TED.com! #TED What sticky sea creatures can teach us about making glue (Jonathan Wilker | TEDxPurdueU) ted.com/talks/jonathan… via @TEDTalks

A very happy congrats to Jasmine for winning the John J. Nash Instructional Development Award and Isabelle for being awarded a Women in Science Program Travel Grant! Way to go guys! #award #chemistry #purdue

We would like to welcome our 2 first year graduate students to the lab! Jasmine and Olivia joined the lab during the end of last year and have been doing amazing research since. Keep up the great work! #graduate #PhD #purdue #chemistry

It's salt day! Yesterday, the Wilker lab received a large shipment of aquarium salt for the mussel and oyster tanks within the lab. They will be set for a while to come! #mussels #oyster #aquarium #research #chemistry

What’s one of the biggest environmental issues that you can’t see? Adhesives. Mostly invisible, these materials have outsized environmental impacts. We just published a perspective in Nature Sustainability about relevant issues and potential solutions. nature.com/articles/s4189…

Congratulations to Dr. Mitchell Meger and Collin Scott for their recent publication in Chemistry of Materials! Check out the paper on "Mimicking Oyster Reefs to Generate Cements with Enhanced Performance". #materials #chemistry pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ac…

Congratulations to Dr. Nevin Naren on his successful Ph.D. defense! We are very proud of him and are looking forward to his future! #graduation #PhDdefense #materials #polymers #chemistry

Check out the following article on the prevalence of microplastics released from paint and glues, in which Jon was interviewed! #biobased #alternativematerials #glues #chemistry #microplastics christopherschwarz.substack.com/p/78452937-9f0…

Check out the following article on innovations in designing environmentally friendly high school stadiums, in which Jon was interviewed! jconline.com/story/sports/2…

Check out the following articles published by New Scientist and Wood Central regarding a new xylan-based adhesive from Lv et al. (Jon is quoted in both articles!) newscientist.com/article/248303… woodcentral.com.au/new-adhesives-…

The field of biological adhesives continues to excite! Check out this graphic designed by Andy Brunning for C&EN which discusses the chemistry behind mussel and oyster adhesives: cen.acs.org/materials/Peri…

Congrats to Aidan, who is graduating this week! He’s been an undergraduate researcher in our lab since Summer 2023, and we've been so fortunate to have him on the team. Wishing you all the best in your next chapter, Aidan!

Huge congratulations to Myah Webb, who’s graduating this semester with a master’s degree! We were thrilled to celebrate with you yesterday and we wish you all the best in your career ahead.

We're thrilled to welcome Dr. Alex Lancelot back to the lab! After 3 amazing years as a postdoc with us, Alex spent the past year in Zaragoza finishing his Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship. He’ll be with us for the next 2 weeks. It’s great to have you back, Alex!

Inspired by oysters and mussels, we create biomimetic adhesives and cements. That’s why we love this: A shell recycling program in Connecticut is helping restore marine habitats. Check out this @nytimes article to learn more: nytimes.com/2025/04/21/cli…

During the @PurdueChemistry’s 150th anniversary celebration, several of our own were recognized! *Dr. Jon Wilker – Grist 50 Fixer Award *Edison Browne – Ross Fellowship *Cindy Atencio-Martínez – WISP Travel Grant *Aaron Mena – Nanoartography Award Congrats to all!

Congrats to Bodhi Scott for successfully defending his master’s thesis in Materials Engineering earlier this week! Bodhi joined our lab 3 years ago as an undergrad and completed the 4+1 program, earning both an undergrad and master’s degree in just 5 years. Huge congratulations!

Our lab was featured in @cenmag’s latest article on sustainable adhesives. Don’t miss Jon’s interview on how we're pushing the boundaries of green glue technology! Read more: cen.acs.org/materials/adhe…

Check out our most recent publication!

Congratulations to Cindy and Dr. Lancelot for their paper in Science & Technology of Advanced Materials! See the following paper on "Formulation of catechol-containing adhesives for enhanced underwater bonding and workability" #purduechemistry #materials #abstract" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…

Jon and Cindy presented at the 48th Annual Adhesion Society Meeting! Jon gave two talks, including the plenary talk "Developing Sustainable Adhesives and Bringing them Beyond the Research Laboratory". Cindy presented her research at a poster session. #adhesives #sustainability