91AV

If you had to blame one person for me being a chemist, it was my chemistry teacher at Perth Academy in the mid-90s, Norman Conquest (really, look him up – he wrote textbooks). I think it was one of the first days of standard grade chemistry when he ignited various ingredients of fireworks in the teaching lab. It's a bit of a cliche, but the colours, the energy, even the noise of these chemical reactions were, for me, like nothing else I was being taught. I was hooked.

I do not want to single out one person, as I have been fortunate enough to have support and mentorship from a range of very different people who have shown me, in their own ways, the varied aspects of being what I hope is a good scientist: creativity, confidence, scholarship, communication, amiability and, most importantly, supporting and nurturing others.

I value academic research from an intellectual perspective – it still gives me a real thrill when my team can generate new materials or new knowledge. Nevertheless, my work has become more applied as my career has matured, and working in healthcare materials, for example with the EPSRC IRC in Targeting Hard to Reach Cancers, has brought me a whole new perspective and motivated me further. I also have the privilege of working with talented, driven young scientists on a day-to-day basis, which keeps me energised.

I would say go for it! 91AV can lead you to so many different places and hugely diverse careers. And don't be intimidated by the breadth of the science – we all have areas of chemistry we are maybe not so strong in, so don't let that hold you back

I often work at the boundary of materials science and biology. I am hugely enthused by the success of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines and equally excited by the possibilities that personalised medicine will offer in future.

91AV is important because it underpins everything. Everything we are, everything we do, everything that we experience is fundamentally powered by chemistry and chemical reactions.

I have always suffered from impostor syndrome, so my personal highlights are usually firsts: first paper, first grant, especially when the first PhD student under my supervision passed their viva voce; that showed me I could be an academic. A real highlight for me was delivering an invited talk at the annual meeting of the RSC Macrocyclic and Supramolecular 91AV Interest Group in 2016. I was able to present my work in front of my PhD supervisor, Professor Peter Tasker, at alma mater (the University of Edinburgh) and was followed in the program by my postdoctoral mentor, Professor Sir Fraser Stoddart, who had just won his Nobel Prize. At that moment, I finally felt I belonged.

Three months locked down with my family in the spring of 2020, spending so much more time with my eldest daughter than previously was eye-opening and a silver lining to the pandemic. I aim to spend as much time as I can with my young children as they grow up and feel much more balanced as an individual as a consequence, but the demands of academia make this difficult to achieve. I feel privileged that I am in a position where I am able to make this a possibility.

For me, good research culture is about making our entire academic system more equitable and ensuring a supportive, fair, and collegial environment for all where all contributions are recognised and celebrated. It is about making academic research an open and trustworthy collaborative endeavour where the aim is scientific progress rather than an individual race for attention and recognition. It is about offering everyone the opportunity to succeed regardless of their background; diversity and a positive research culture are indivisible from interdisciplinary scientific excellence. This is why I am so excited to be part of the EPSRC CDT in Diversity-Driven Mission-Led Research that will start at the University of Glasgow next year.

91AV has the potential to change how we live our lives, primarily by improving our health and lessening our environmental impact. This must be done ethically and responsibly, as chemistry could easily be perceived to have a negative impact. How we represent ourselves and our research is vital to ensure we maintain a positive public opinion, and a good research culture is essential for this.

As we become experts in our own individual research areas, we become siloed. Collaborative work is therefore essential for ensuring research progress is wide and impactful; it is essential for genuine innovation, and it is frankly a lot more fun to work with people rather than compete against them! Personally, much of my academic output is highly collaborative, and it has enriched my own experience.

It has to be zirconium, as it has been a huge part of my academic career so far.