Nicole Schauser, PhD

Nicole Schauser is a Senior Product Development Scientist at Leeta Materials, developing an inorganic materials manufacturing platform for more rapid materials innovation and energy efficient production.

Nicole gained an appreciation for nature and the environment from a young age. Combining her love for the environment with her passion for electrochemistry and materials science, Nicole has made it her life’s mission to make an impact in the renewable energy transformation that our society needs to mitigate climate change.

Specifically, she is interested in the development of affordable, safe, and reliable energy storage solutions. Her motivation to pursue energy storage came after traveling to Australia for the World Solar Challenge, a 1,900-mile solar car endurance race through the Australian outback. After witnessing another university team’s lithium ion battery pack catch fire, she realized that current energy storage is not good enough.

Nicole earned her BS from the University of California, Berkeley. During her undergraduate career at UC Berkeley, Nicole became heavily involved in research on rechargeable solid state lithium metal anode batteries and, with the support of a UC Regents’ and Chancellor’s Fellowship and Goldwater Fellowship, published a first-author paper detailing the link between dendrite growth in liquid and solid polymer electrolyte systems. Nicole earned her Ph.D. from the University of California Santa Barbara in Materials Science.

When not working in the lab, Nicole spends her time outdoors hiking, biking, backpacking, surfing, and traveling to explore the natural wonders our world has to offer and immerse herself in cultures from around the world.