Summary
Chris Jeffrey is a Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Hitchcock Center for Chemical Ecology at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Research interests
Research in the Jeffrey laboratory focuses on understanding the chemistry of biological interactions and translating these discoveries into applications that benefit society and the environment. Our interdisciplinary approach bridges chemical ecology, natural products chemistry, and synthetic biology to reveal fundamental principles governing life's resilience and adaptation.
Honors and awards
- Harold Walter Siebens Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship (2025-Present)
- Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentorship Award (2018)
- Mousel-Feltner Award for Excellence in Research and/or Creative Activity (2015)
- ACS Young Investigator Symposium (2015)
- Senior Scholar Mentor Award (2013)
- CNPq Science without Borders Award (2012-2015)
- Princeton University’s Council of Science and Technology Postdoctoral Fellowship (2007)
News features
- UNR Scientists Study Connections Linking Nevada to Rainforests of Costa Rica (2025)
- A Discipline in Which Discovery is Still Very Much in Order (2024)
- Desert Lichen Offers New Evidence for the Possibility of Life on Other Planets (2025)
- NSF Research Traineeship Program to Support Graduate Students in Chemical Ecology (2023)
- NASA Grant Funds Research for Sunscreen on Mars (2021)
- Hitchcock Center for Chemical Ecology 2024 Symposium (2024)
- Indigenous Knowledge Could Inform Sustainability Efforts in Amazon (2022)
Education
- Council on Science and Technology Postdoctoral Fellow (2007-2010), Princeton University (Erik J. Sorensen)
- Ph.D. (2007), University of Minnesota (Thomas R. Hoye)
- B.S. (2002), Carroll College
Selected publications
- Singh, T.; Georgiou, C.; Jeffrey, C. S.; Tucker, M. J.; Philbin, C. S.; Mahmud, T.; McKay, C. P.; Sun, H. J. "UVC-Intense Exoplanets May Not Be Uninhabitable: Evidence from a Desert Lichen." Astrobiology 2025, DOI: 10.1089/ast.2024.0137.
- Richards, L. A.; Glassmire, A. E.; Smilanich, A. M.; Dodson, C. D.; Leonard, M. D.; Jeffrey, C. S.; Forister, M. L.; Dyer, L. A. "Phytochemical diversity drives plant-insect community diversity." PNAS 2015, 112, 10973-10978.
- Larson, G. E.; Mahmud, T.; Moore, D. T.; Tucker, M. J.; Jeffrey, C. S. "Structure revision of scytonemin imine and its relationship to scytonemin." Scientific Reports 2025, 15, 25630.
- de Oliveira, C. R.; Leonard, M. D.; Dodson, C. D.; Jeffrey, C. S. "Isolation of New Neolignans and an Unusual Meroterpenoid from Piper cabagranum." Frontiers in Natural Products 2024, 2.
- Philbin, C. S.; Dyer, L. A.; Jeffrey, C. S. "Structural and Compositional Dimensions of Phytochemical Diversity in the Genus Piper Reflect Distinct Ecological Modes of Action." Journal of Ecology 2022, 110, 57-67.
- Uckele, K. A.; Glassmire, A. E.; Dyer, L. A.; Jeffrey, C. S. "Phytochemistry reflects different evolutionary history in traditional classes versus specialized structural motifs." Scientific Reports 2021, 11, 17247.