About the Environment, Sustainability and Energy Community

He is also an Honorary Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa and a Fellow­­­ of the Royal Society of Chemistry. His research is focused upon the photochemistry of materials that are useful for low-cost photovoltaic applications, with the ultimate aim of improving stability, sustainability, light harvesting efficiency and performance. He is particularly interested in the characterisation of re-manufactured devices (“photochemistry/photophysics of the re-use of materials”) and developing materials and processes to enable re-use and re-manufacture within a circular economy to develop the next generation of solar PV materials. He has been active in advising and influencing policy of the Royal Society of Chemistry and national UK Government on issues of circular economy, emerging technologies and electronic waste.

Berceste served as a member of various committees in the chemical engineering department to improve the quality of education and research activities for twelve years. She made a successful transition from a senior academic role to senior scientist with a commercial start-up company at the cutting edge of developing the technology essential to driving the green economy.

Later, she joined ZEM Fuel Systems as a Senior Technology and Commercial Officer and led the commercialisation of their technology on ammonia fuel cells to decarbonise the maritime industry. Currently, she is working as an Energy Innovation Programme Manager at the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on a £26 million Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator Programme, providing funding for innovation projects that can demonstrate end to end industrial fuel switching to hydrogen.

Berceste is also a mentor under the Destination STEMM – Chemical Sciences Programme by Windsor Fellowship & RSC.

Joshua has spent his career variously in chemical engineering, chemistry and operations management roles for a number of oil services and hazardous waste businesses.

In following the road less travelled, he has found himself confronting the challenging realities of attempting to recover value and resources from the seemingly unrecoverable, developing the technical expertise of staff in a sector where a great deal of knowledge is not formalised, and managing the interface between industry and academic research.
 
Joshua’s broader professional activities have given him significant experience in contributing to science policy as part of UN Environment Programme’s SAICM “beyond 2020” process; participating in subgroups of the UK Chemical Stakeholder Forum, and the Chemistry Council; and organising the UK Secondary Raw Materials Collaboration’s inaugural events programme; all of which have reinforced the belief that a far-reaching interdisciplinary approach is needed to meet the challenges of Sustainable Development.

Samuel's research expertise covers a broad range of areas, including works to protect hydroelectric turbines from corrosion, develop biosensors for neurotransmitter detection, and carbon sequestration and catalysis for intermittent green energy security.  

Samuel is also active in Chemical Education and outreach through University of Southampton. He was one of four UK delegates to the inaugural Commonwealth Chemistry Congress, where he forged new links between the University of Southampton and University of the West Indies. Samuel is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, provides outreach teaching with the Southampton Twilight Chemistry program and a mentor under the Destination STEMM – Chemical Sciences Programme. 

Chidinma's work involves creation of novel bioprocesses and the enhancement of pre-existing ones, designing and coordinating large-scale fermentation experiments, ensuring that lab innovations are scalable and meet rigorous quality standards. Throughout her career, she has received multiple awards, including fellowships from the Schlumberger Foundation, and has published several research papers in scientific journals. Outside of her professional life, Chidinma enjoys drawing, reading, singing, and traveling, bringing a well-rounded perspective to her work and life.

Glynn is also associated with several organisations helping to deliver the UN SDGs - particularly SDG6, and he is a WELL water advisor with the International WELL Building Institute. He specialises in sustainability issues, water/wastewater treatment technologies and environmental management.

He is currently Vice Chair of the RSC Water Science Forum interest group and, until recently, he was an elected member of the RSC's Professional Standards Board, the RSC Nominations Committee, and the Secretary of the RSC Environmental Chemistry Group.

He undertakes professional body licence reviews for both the Science Council and the Society for the Environment and recently stood down from the Registration Authority of the Science Council. He is an Associate with Energy & Utility Skills, auditing UK water company Competent Operator Schemes and continues to be an expert project evaluator for the European Commission. Before working in academe, Dr. Skerratt spent fifteen years gaining practical scientific and managerial experience in the UK water industry.

As Section Lead for Core Materials Corrosion at Rolls-Royce, Jessica is responsible for the delivery of the Corrosion and Gettering (hydriding) R&D strategy, providing data to underpin the reactor plant operational safety case.

Prior to joining Rolls-Royce, Jessica completed a PhD at the University of Manchester, Dalton Cumbrian Facility; where she developed the technical capability to both irradiate and perform post-irradiation surface characterisation on radioactive materials.

Jessica has gained experience in a diverse range of industries within the chemical sciences including the synthesis and characterisation of legal highs (mephedrone and its derivatives), synthesis and scale-up of cadmium-free quantum dots and environmental water sampling investigating tritium leaching around the Low-Level Waste Repository, Cumbria.

Jessica’s priority in joining the Energy Sector Committee in 2019 was to provide support and encouragement to other early career scientists; with her election as Chair, she will continue to advance this agenda.

Dr Megson investigates sources of legacy and emerging persistent organic pollutants and monitors them in the environment using advanced analytical techniques including multidimensional chromatography and high resolution mass spectrometry. Much of Dr Megson’s research has an environmental forensics aspect which involves identifying the sources of contamination, transport pathways and magnitude of exposure. His current research group includes 7 PhD students (3 as DoS) and he has attracted over £1 Million of research funding since his appointment in 2016. Dr Megson currently sits on committees for the Royal Society of Chemistry (ESED & INEF), British Mass Spectrometry Society (EFASIG), British Standards Institution (BSI) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO). He has an H-index of 11 and his work has received over 300 citations. He has organised 10 international conferences, published 21 peer reviewed manuscripts, 4 book chapters and acted as editor for 6 books and journal special issues.