Dr Chris Wedge MRSC

I first became involved in the RSC ESR Spectroscopy Group as a DPhil student, helping my supervisor to host the 40th Annual International Conference in Oxford in 2007. Since then, I’ve only missed two of the RSC ESR conferences (both in London), and it is one of my favourite meetings. Having been warmly welcomed into the friendly ESR community and enjoyed so many wonderful conferences, I was delighted to be nominated to serve on the committee in 2015, little realising I would still be involved almost a decade later.

A persuasive former colleague can take credit for me joining the local section committee at Huddersfield. I’d always thought of the local sections as mostly arranging lunches for retired members and tried to say I was too busy with my interest group work. Then, the opportunity came up to be involved in running heats for Top of the Bench and the obvious importance of inspiring the next generation of chemists motivated me to get involved, working with a diverse and committed team on the committee.

There were a few ups and downs through COVID that were particularly memorable. In March 2020, the committee debated whether to cancel our forthcoming conference, with our local organiser in Manchester, Professor Eric McInnes taking the brave decision to prioritise our health over group finances, little knowing that a fortnight later the first UK lockdown would be announced to come into force just days before the conference's scheduled start.

Just a couple of months later, we managed to run a very successful online version of the JEOL student prize talk competition, ensuring those already selected to compete at the conference didn’t miss out. That was a foretaste of an amazing online conference the following year attracting 52 delegates from 24 countries, by far the biggest reach the conference has ever had.

Pre-recorded video lectures exceeded 7,000 views, and despite many of the winners being in the US, we managed to arrange the scheduling over time zones to enjoy the Bruker Prize and Bruker Thesis Prize lectures from the 2020 and 2021 winners. As webmaster at the time, everything running smoothly was a huge relief to me, but the credit for the organisation has to go to Dr Emma Richards from Cardiff, who made such an impact we subsequently recruited her as treasurer.

Knowing how to manage your time is important and volunteering will inevitably make you more busy, but it is also refreshing to have a break from your routine to do something different. Socialising with volunteer colleagues also means it isn’t all hard work.

I’ve met some amazing people on RSC committees, made some very good friends and important professional connections.

I would definitely encourage potential volunteers to get involved. The RSC member networks run a lot of great events, but we can’t continue to do so without new volunteers. The more volunteers we have, the easier it is to spread the load across different people. I’ve been fortunate enough to be actively involved in organising Top of the Bench while letting others use their local knowledge and contacts to arrange local section social events such as walks and beer-tasting evenings. If you do volunteer, the RSC networks team are very supportive whenever you have a question or problem, and if you read the member networks handbook your committee colleagues will revere you as a fount of all knowledge!

I’m looking forward to the next RSC ESR group meeting, which is returning to London again in 2025; hopefully, this time, I will finally make a London meeting. In science, I’m excited to already be seeing photoexcited ESR being used more widely to investigate organic electronics and photovoltaics, and hope our community can continue to contribute to the much-needed technologies necessary to tackle climate change.