Amy Prieto, founder of Prieto Batteries and professor in the Department of Chemistry, works on synthesizing earth-abundant and low-toxic semiconductor nanocrystals for third-generation solar cells. In addition to exploring novel synthetic strategies, she is also interested in addressing some of the fundamental issues associated with these systems.

She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a member of the American Chemical Society, the Materials Research Society and the Electrochemical Society. Prieto has received several awards, including the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association award for Excellence in Storage Technology Commercialization, an NSF CAREER award, and CSU’s Presidential Early Career Award and the Margaret B. Hazaleus Award in 2012.

She earned her B.S. in chemistry and philosophy from Williams College and her Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.