About
After completing my BSc and MSc in Manchester (University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University respectively) I returned to Sheffield where I worked in the Department of Engineering Materials at The University of Sheffield as a research Technician working on Chalcogenide Glasses. After this I moved to the Electro ceramics labs and began a part time PhD in Materials Science (Structure Property relations in CaTiO3 based microwave dielectric resonators), which I completed at the end of 2006. During the course of my studies I worked in the Sorby Centre for Electron Microscopy where I gained experience in analysis of many different types of samples using various techniques and associated preparation methods using a variety of different instruments and EM methods.
After completing my PhD I worked as Experimental Officer for two years assisting other researchers with their work before moving to Trinity College Dublin in 2009 for 6 years. Whilst in Dublin I was involved in assisting\training researchers and students with their Electron Microscopy research requirements in addition to providing lectures and a commercial analysis service to a number of industry sectors. Also working with the National Gallery of Ireland I assisted painting conservators analysing paint fragments to study the materials\pigments used in their construction and to facilitate restoration. Initially working on a Claude Monet: “Argenteuil basin with a Single Sailboat (1974),” which had been vandalised. As a result of our work the painting was successfully restored and returned to the exhibition and by analysing the paint fragments we also learnt a lot about the types of paint and artistic process used by Monet. Collaborative working led to contributions to a number of publications\presentations.
In 2015 I moved back to the UK as Senior Experimental Officer in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Manchester where I helped run the Williamson Research Centre for Molecular Environmental Science assisting researchers in a mutli-disciplinary environment (Geology, Geo Microbiology, Materials) to obtain appropriate and reliable analysis of their materials\processes. I also provided TEM analysis for a number of different groups in the whole school which led to collaborations resulting In a number of publications and these collaborations still continue.
In March 2019 I moved to Liverpool to take up my current post. As manager I look after the day to day running of the Electron Microscopy instruments and associated sample preparation equipment providing research and technical assistance for the Albert Crewe Centre for Electron Microscopy and its users. I am open to work collaboratively to assist research and method development. I have a number of ongoing inter University collaborations and am a Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society.