Research lab in @PurdueChemistry with a cohesive balance between studying nature's adhesive materials and mimicking its chemistry to create better glues.
West Lafayette, IN
Joined March 2018
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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_wilke… via @TEDTalks – at West Lafayette, IN
Last week, members of the Wilker lab visited elementary schools around Purdue to demonstrate experiments involving "Chemistry Under Construction" as a part of National Chemistry Week. Keep up the good work! 👷🧪
#acs #purdue #nationalchemistryweek
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Dr. Wilker was this year's lecturer at the Michelson Memorial Lecture Series at the U.S. Naval Academy. This is an honor bestowed to a distinguished scientist to discuss important research and scientific developments. See the article for more:
defense.info/re-shaping-defe…
#purdue
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Congratulations to Olivia and Jasmine on being inducted into the national honorary chemical society Phi Lambda Upsilon! Great job guys!
#PhiLambdaUpsilon #graduate #chemistry #purdue
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New mussels! The Wilker lab just received a fresh shipment of mussels. They have been welcomed to their new home where they will make adhesives for the lab to study.
#purdue #chemistry #mussels
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Check out this new article from Popular Science about the lab's research into cement inspired by the natural binder created by oysters!
popsci.com/technology/concre…
#popularscience #oysters #chemistry #purdue
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Congratulations to Aaron Mena for winning a Certificate of Excellence for his poster presentation at the 2026 Office of Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs’ Spring Reception. Great job Aaron!
#presentation #graduate #chemistry #Purdue
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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
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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
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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
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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/s41893-0…
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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/acs…
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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
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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.…
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Check out the following article on innovations in designing environmentally friendly high school stadiums, in which Jon was interviewed!
jconline.com/story/sports/20…
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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/248…
woodcentral.com.au/new-adhes…
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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/Period…
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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!
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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.
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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!
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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/clima…
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