When James Custer arrived at UNC-Chapel Hill to begin his Ph.D. in chemistry, he didn’t know he was about to launch a career that would take him from high-stakes scientific discovery to global clean energy negotiations.

Will Hemmingson, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Chemistry, presented his team’s latest work: a particle suspension reactor that uses sunlight, silicon nanowires and clever chemistry to make carbon dioxide reduction more efficient, affordable and durable than previous designs.