Born and raised in India, Saikat came to the US to pursue graduate studies. He received his PhD in Chemistry from University of Rochester where he worked on the generation of carbon-free solar fuels from water. Saikat is passionate about undergraduate education, often employing diverse resources such as popular science books to pizza labs to memes in order to facilitate understanding of chemical principles in our daily lives.
When he is not in class teaching Chemistry, he can be found outside with Moose, the dog, and his camera. Being an international transplant in the Adirondacks with a background in scientific education, he is able to experience the natural world in a uniquely delightful way and is passionate about sharing his outpourings with the broader community. To this end, Saikat also employs expressive photography and creative writing to speak about the environment at the intersection of science and the arts.
Academic Background
- PhD, University of Rochester 2020
- MS, University of Rochester 2015
- MSc, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India 2012
- BSc, Scottish Church College, University of Calcutta, India 2010
Courses Taught
- CHM 106 Fundamentals of Chemistry
- CHM 110 Chemistry I
- CHM 112 Chemistry II
- CHM 250 Organic Chemistry I
- CHM 251 Organic Chemistry I lab
- CHM 311 Environmental Chemistry
- CHM 330 Biochemistry
- CHM 399 The Sound of Molecules
- HUM 399 Travel Photography: Create in National Parks
Academic Publications
Wiltse, B.; Mates, B.; Navitsky, C.; Chakraborty, S.; Stager, J. C.; Buell, E.; Rose, K.C. Persistence of florpyrauxifen-benzyl in sediments following application to a large oligotrophic lake to control Eurasian watermilfoil bioRxiv (preprint posted September 2025)
Chakraborty, S.; Burke, R.; McClelland, K.P.; Jelusic, J.; Fertig, A. A.; Mattson, E.; Bren, K. L.; Krauss, T.D. Light-Driven Hydrogen Production with CdSe Quantum Dots and a Cobalt Glutathione Catalyst Chemical Communications 2021, 57, 2053-2056.
Edwards, E.H.; Jelusic, J.; Chakraborty, S.; Bren, K. L.; Matson, E. Photochemical Hydrogen Evolution from Cobalt Microperoxidase-11 Inorganic Biochemistry 2021, 217, 11384.
Edwards, E.H.; Fertig, A. A.; McClelland, K. P.; Meidenbauer, M. T.; Chakraborty, S.; Krauss, T. D.; Bren, K. L.; Matson, E. Enhancing the activity of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from CdSe quantum dots with a polyoxovanadate cluster Chemical Communications 2020, 56, 8762-8765.
Chakraborty, S.; Edwards, E. H.; Kandemir, B.; Bren, K. L. Photochemical Hydrogen Evolution from Neutral Water with a Cobalt Metallopeptide Catalyst Inorganic Chemistry 2019, 58, 24, 16402-16410.
Karmakar, S.; Chakraborty, S.; Gautam, S.; Chowdhury, P. K. Exploring the potency of the naturally occurring polyphenol curcumin as a probe for protein aggregation in crowded environments International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 2019, 141, 1088-1101.
Kubie, L.; Amori, A. R.; Chakraborty, S.; Bren, K. L.; Krauss, T. D. Photoinduced charge separation in single-walled carbon nanotube/protein integrated systems Nanoscale Horizons 2017, 2, 163-166.
Kandemir, B.; Chakraborty, S.; Guo, Y.; Bren, K. L. Semisynthetic and Biomolecular Hydrogen Evolution Catalysts Inorganic Chemistry 2016, 55, 467-477.
Artistic Publications
- Photographic work featured in Adirondack Explorer as part of larger peatland study at Shingle Shanty Preserve and Research Station (2025)
- Photo-essay published in the digital publication Poetic Visuals, Volume 2: Resonances (Autumn 2025)
- Photographic work from Adirondacks featured in Blueline Literary Magazine, Volume XLV (2024)
- Featured in Climate Voices of the Adirondacks in the Adirondacks Explorer (2024)
- Photographic work published in LensWork publications (Trilogies 2022 and Our Magnificent Planet- 2021 and 2020)
Invited Talks
- Environmental Planning Capstone, SUNY Plattsburgh (February 2026)
- Saranac Lake Art and Science Series (April 2026 and April 2025)
- Falconer Lecture Series, Atmospheric Sciences Research Center at Whiteface Mountain Field Station (July 2025)
- North Country Homeschooling (March 2025)
- Science Alliances, Adirondack Research Consortium (May 2024)
- Biology Seminar Series, SUNY Potsdam (November 2023)