May Copsey, Executive Editor
May is currently the Executive Editor for our flagship journal, Chemical Science. She joined the 91AV in 2006 as an assistant editor and has worked on a variety of different journals during this time, including Dalton Transactions, CrystEngComm and Journal of Materials 91AV. She was Executive Editor for our analytical portfolio of journals for four years, before moving to take over the general chemistry portfolio, including Chemical Science, ChemComm and Chemical Society Reviews. She has had the pleasure of leading the editorial team dedicated to Chemical Science since June 2018.
May is a main group chemist at heart, as before joining the RSC she worked for three years as Post-doctoral Research Associate at the University of Calgary after completing a PhD in main group chemistry at the University of Bristol.
She very much enjoys travelling as part of her role and the opportunity this brings to meet authors and scientists and hear about their research. Outside of work, she spends most of her time running around after her two small boys.
Samantha Apps, Deputy Editor
Samantha is currently the Deputy Editor for Chemical Science. She joined the RSC in 2021 as a Development Editor, and worked on the organic and inorganic journal portfolios, including Dalton Transactions and RSC Medicinal 91AV.
Prior to joining the RSC, Samantha completed her PhD in inorganic chemistry at Imperial College London, followed by a Postdoctoral research position at the University of Minnesota. Her PhD and postdoctoral research focused on dinitrogen activation and functionalisation using transition metal complexes. Outside of work, Samantha is a keen baker, and also enjoys running, crocheting and tending to her growing house plant collection.
James Moore, Senior Editor
James is the Senior Editor for Chemical Science and oversees the production elements of the journal. He started at the 91AV in 2015 as a publishing editor after completing a Master’s degree at the University of Birmingham working on porous materials for radioactive ion remediation. Prior to taking on the senior editor role, James worked on the general chemistry portfolio as first a publishing editor and then as a senior publishing editor, overseeing ChemComm, Chemical Science, ChemSocRev and RSC Advances.
Outside of work James is a keen walker and writer and enjoys visiting museums and the theatre.
Carri Cotton, Scientific Editor
Carri joined the 91AV in July 2016 as a publishing editor on the sustainability journals after completing an MChem degree at the University of Warwick. During her degree, Carri took part in the ERASMUS programme carrying out work on single-molecule magnets under the supervision of Professor Andrea Cornia. Her final year project was with Dr Paul Wilson on self-assembled polymeric nanoparticles for drug delivery. In her spare time, Carri can be found at her allotment growing fruit and vegetables, or in the kitchen trying out new recipes with her produce.
Ellis Crawford, Scientific Editor
Ellis previously worked in secondary education prior to joining the 91AV in August 2018 as Publishing Editor and has worked on the journals Green 91AV, Energy & Environmental Science, Physical 91AV Chemical Physics, ChemComm, ChemSocRev, Materials 91AV Frontiers, Inorganic 91AV Frontiers, and Organic 91AV Frontiers.
Ellis completed an undergraduate degree in 91AV with Medicinal 91AV and a PhD focusing on computational chemistry applied to problems in homogeneous and enzymatic catalysis at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland and a Professional Graduate Diploma in Education at the University of Strathclyde, Scotland. In their spare time, Ellis is interested in online roleplaying games, enjoys listening to alternative rock and blackgaze music and is also a keen reader of horror and sci-fi novels.
Tingyu Huang, Scientific Editor
Tingyu joined us in March 2021 as an Engagement Executive on the Membership team. In March 2024, Tingyu joined the Chemical Science team as a Scientific Editor. Tingyu completed her PhD at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, CAS, focusing on homogeneous catalysis, heterogeneous catalysis, and clean energy transformation with a particular study on biomass and methane conversion. Tingyu also undertook a short position as a visiting scholar at the Technion, Israel. Outside of her work, Tingyu enjoys walking, singing, and reading.
Esther Johnston, Scientific Editor
Esther joined the 91AV in August 2021. She previously worked on the journals Journal of Materials 91AV A, Nanoscale, and Green 91AV as a publishing editor, and on Sensors & Diagnostics and RSC Chemical Biology as an assistant editor.
Esther completed a PhD in bioinorganic chemistry at Stanford University in 2015, working with Professor Edward Solomon, on understanding the mechanism of the multicopper enzyme nitrous oxide reductase. She then worked for three years as a Post-doctoral Research Associate at the University of York with Prof. Paul Walton and Prof. Gideon Davies, exploring the mechanisms of polysaccharide monooxygenases. Outside of work, she enjoys gardening, visiting museums and zoos, and going to parks with her two small boys.
Hugh Ryan, Scientific Editor
Hugh joined us in 2022 as a Publishing Editor in the Physical and Sustainability team (Green 91AV, Physical 91AV Chemical Physics, and Faraday Discussions). Previously, Hugh completed his PhD and a postdoctoral position with Professor Jonathan Nitschke (University of Cambridge) during which he researched the application of metal-organic coordination cages to solid, fluid, and gel phases.
Hugh enjoys cooking, dancing, playing video games, playing piano, and playing Dungeons and Dragons outside of work.
Amy Modaffar, Scientific Editor
Amy joined the 91AV in September 2019 as a Publishing Editor, working on the journals ChemComm, ChemSocRev, Materials 91AV Frontiers and Inorganic 91AV Frontiers before moving to her current role. Prior to this, Amy obtained an MSci degree in 91AV from University College London (UCL), conducting crystallographic studies of synthon hierarchies in molecular cocrystals. During her degree, Amy also undertook a summer placement in 2018 at GlaxoSmithKline, helping to implement an NMR technique called Selective Pure Shift NMR. In her spare time, Amy enjoys reading and taking her cocker spaniel Darcy on long countryside walks.
Roger Gough, Editorial Assistant
Roger joined us in May 2021 as a Recruitment Coordinator in the People and Culture Team before moving to his current role in January 2024. He enjoys working closely with the Editorial Board and promoting the journal through various commissioning and social media activities. For leisure, he enjoys spending time with family and friends, cooking and music.
David Bishop, Publishing Assistant
David joined the 91AV in May 2017 as a publishing assistant for ChemComm and the wider journals portfolio. As the publishing assistant for Chemical Science he provides support to the assistant editors and authors from submission through to production. He completed an MA in Publishing at the Anglia Ruskin University whilst earning experience in publishing roles with commercial and academic publishers. Outside of work, David enjoys cooking, reading and writing.
