Professor Jenny Nelson FRSC

Both my parents were inorganic chemists, so I was aware of some aspects of chemistry, such as the vocabulary and the smells, from a young age. I remember trying (and failing) to pronounce thiocyanate when I was little. Now I work with it. By the time I started to study chemistry at school I was quite familiar with it, and that made it easy to find it interesting.

Apart from my school science teachers and my parents, there were many inspirational figures. I would particularly like to acknowledge Donal Bradley, who not only hired me into a faculty position but was the first physicist I worked with who regarded interest in and fluency with chemistry as something positive for our subject. I also want to thank Michael Graetzel and James Durrant, who strongly encouraged my interest in chemical photovoltaic systems when I was a postdoc.

My number one motivation is to use science to tackle the causes and consequences of climate change and help bring about a more sustainable future than the one we are currently heading for. This motivates me to work on the science and application of renewable energy and also to try to support younger scientists and students who share these concerns.

The research students, post-docs and collaborators that I have had the privilege to work with (far too many to name!).

Listening, critical thinking, common goals and respect.
Taking time and care to understand a problem properly.
Really wanting to help and develop others, really believing that others have things you can learn from.

We don’t solve difficult challenges without them. Collaboration is how we grow and learn.