University of Auckland
Events
Forensic science research showcase
The forensic science research showcase was held on Monday 8 July. The format was four talks from current and former MSc students and four talks from current and former PhD students with former students talking about what they were now doing. Topics included bloodspatter, methamphetamine synthesis, bioinformatics, wildlife crime and sperm.
Professor Gordon Miskelly gave his inaugural lecture entitled, “Every contact leaves a trace: lessons from chemistry and forensic science” on Thursday 25 July.
Chemistry careers evening
The Auckland Branch of NZIC and SCS jointly hosted a chemistry careers evening on 12 August in the Science Foyer. This is the 5th annual version of this event, although there were still companies in attendance that had not attended any previous events. Several of the company representatives were University of Auckland SCS graduates from within the past few years. The event was attended by representatives from 9 companies or organisations that employ chemists: AsureQuality, AgResearch, ESR, Mint Innovation, Watercare, Fisher & Paykel, Plant and Food Research, Hill Laboratories and the NZ Occupational Hygiene Society. This event was well attended by over 150 students from the University of Auckland, AUT, Massey University and the University of Waikato.
Media
The Centre for Green Chemical Science has been highlighted in an article on green chemistry published in the NZ Listener featuring an interview with Dr Cameron Weber.
Staff successes
Awards
Congratulations to Dr Ruth Cink on winning one of the Faculty of Science Leadership Awards for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion 2024. She has been involved in multiple projects and activities that promote and support equity, inclusivity and diversity. Her work as a Tuakana coordinator, her contributions to TFC and her support of workshops and seminars all indicate her in contributing to understanding and promoting EDI in our faculty. She is committed to supporting students to achieve success, and finding ways to make sure their experiences are as equitable as possible. She was instrumental in helping set up the Laboratory Teaching Inclusive Project (L-TIP) and is always available to offer advice and service to EDI-focused activities
Congratulations to Dr Alan Cameron for receiving an Early Career Research Excellence Award from the University of Auckland. The dominant theme of Dr Cameron’s research initiatives is chemical biology, particularly infectious diseases. His research is underpinned by developing broadly applicable and impactful new chemical methods to construct or modify biomolecules (particularly peptides and proteins), which are amongst the most rapidly growing areas of pharmaceutical development. These biomolecules have roles in drug discovery, vaccine development and as tools to unravel complex biochemical and immunological pathways: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2024/06/24/celebrating-research-excellence-awardwinners-2024.html
Funding
Congratulations to Muhammad Hanif, Ziyun Wang, Nina Novikova and Rosalyn Falconer who made it through to the second round of RSNZ Marsden Fund this year.
Student successes
Congratulations to Aljo Anand who was in Parliament in May!
In May, the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology hosted the TechWeek event in Parliament, New Zealand Science forging global cleantech and deep tech commercial solutions, where together with the Cleantech Mission Partners the NZ Cleantech Report was launched. Aljo co-authored the NZ Cleantech Report together with Kevin Sheehy and the NZ Cleantech Mission lead, Phil Anderson, of Callaghan Innovation and partners. Full details and a link to the document can be found on the Institute’s website: https://www.macdiarmid.ac.nz/news-and-events/news/news-articles/report-identifies-strength-of-local-entrepreneurs-in-cleantech-sector-and-ways-to-accelerate-this-for-global-sustainability-impact/
Aljo is currently awaiting his PhD oral. Aljo’s PhD was co-supervised by Viji Sarojini and Tilo Söhnel. Well done, Aljo!
Awards
Congratulations to Dr Kapish Gobindlal on having his thesis, “Mechanochemical reactions at solid interfaces: the destruction of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs)” selected to be one of the five recipients of the Vice-Chancellor’s Prize for Best Doctoral Thesis 2023. Out of the 490 doctoral degrees successfully awarded in 2023, 17 theses were nominated by faculties/large-scale research institutes, with five prizes available for the very best theses. The judging panel, comprising members of the Board of Graduate Studies, reviewed all nominations and ranked them according to demonstrable significance, originality, contribution and excellence of the thesis.
Congratulations to Chuanjie Chen for having his name placed on the Dean of Graduate Studies’ List for excellence achieved at a doctoral level. This is a significant achievement and a testimony to what Chuanjie has achieved in his doctoral studies.
Two of our Food Science PhD students, Yuan Wen and Jessie Lau, were recognised for their outstanding poster presentations at the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology Conference held in Hamilton in July. Yuan received 1st prize, while Jessie received 3rd prize in the poster presentation.
Publications
Congratulations to Tae Ung Na (Tony) who recently published a chapter of his PhD work in Angewandte Chemie International Edition https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202407764. Tony worked under the supervision of Dr Alan Cameron and co-supervision of Distinguished Professor Dame Margaret Brimble and is set to defend his PhD thesis soon with more exciting publications in the works.
Congrats to Miriama Wilson! Miriama’s artwork was selected by the American Chemical Society for their portfolio-wide Diversity & Inclusion Cover Art Series. Her artwork appears on the cover of ACS ES&T Water. View the cover art here: https://pubs.acs.org/cms/10.1021/aewcaa.2024.4.issue-7/asset/aewcaa.2024.4.issue-7.xlargecover.jpg. Miriama Wilson is a PhD candidate in the School, working with Dr Lisa Pilkington. Her Master’s thesis work on wastewater testing for alcohol consumption was discussed in a recent article.
Congratulations to Manasweeta Angane for being the first author of a highly cited paper and for receiving the best paper award for the Foods journal. Since its publication in 2022, the paper has garnered an impressive 197 citations.
Completions
Congratulations to Dr Jordan Ashleigh Paige McIvor for completing her PhD in our School. Jordan successfully defended her PhD thesis titled, “Characterisation of intrinsically disordered protein activity in genetic transcription via experimentally-informed molecular simulations”. Her productivity has gone well beyond writing an excellent thesis, with 5 internationally peer reviewed research papers, including a first author article in Nature Communications.
AUT
New staff
In late July, Dr Debbie Jordan joined the AUT chemistry team. Debbie obtained her BSc(Hons) and PhD from Otago (2011) and then worked in industry for 2 years in water and soil quality testing. During this time, she maintained a role at Otago as a tutor for accommodation colleges, Māori, Pasifika and Equity groups. In early 2014 she joined Massey University Auckland and held a senior tutor role until April this year. Her passion is in the education of final year high school and undergraduate chemistry students with a focus on bridging the secondary-tertiary transition. She has developed extensive resources for first year students and has included a substantial amount of school outreach to better the bridging of students into the tertiary environment and the understanding of assessment differences.
Events
Dr Jack Chen was a guest speaker at the 44th New Zealand Society of Cosmetic Chemists Conference in Wellington (24th-26th July) and gave a talk entitled, “Spherelose – a journey towards sustainable cellulose-based surfactants”.
Congratulations
Dr Emma Davison, together with biomedical researcher Associate Professor Yan Li, were awarded a Maurice and Phyllis Paykel Trust Project Grant. Emma and Yan plan to investigate a novel chemical modification in RNA therapeutics targeting cancer in their project titled, "Locking up antisense oligonucleotides to advance cancer therapies".
PhD student Jessica Fredericksen, co-supervised by Professor Nicola Brasch and Associate Professor Brent Seale, was awarded the prestigious Kate Edger Trust Dame Dorothy Winstone Doctoral Completion Award.
Postdoctoral fellow Dr Julia Robertson, co-supervised by Associate Professor Brent Seale and Professor Nicola Brasch, was awarded a Category 4 Maurice Wilkins Centre travel grant to carry out experiments in the lab of Dr Hingley-Wilson in the UK.
Professor Nicola Brasch and Associate Professor Brent Seale were awarded a faculty bridging grant.
Olivia Matich Bryan, Dr Mohinder Naiya, Andres Tiban Anrango and Dr Jack Chen published the article, “Modular assembly and optimization of an artificial esterase from functionalised surfactants” in ChemCatChem, demonstrating that dynamic self-assembled systems can be effective catalysts despite the absence of pre-defined rigid binding pockets.
Outreach
Those of you outside Auckland might not be familiar with the weekly radio programme “Dear Science” on the University of Auckland station 95bFM. This show runs from noon to 12.20 every Tuesday, covering topical, interesting and quirky stories from all areas of science. It has been running for over 8 years now, having been started by Professor Steve Pointing from AUT. Allan Blackman has hosted the show since 2017, with co-hosts Marcus Jones, Joel Rindelaub and Davide Mercadante on board in the intervening years, and the show now features Allan and Cushla McGoverin alternating weekly. You don’t have to be in Auckland to listen – it’s all online at https://95bfm.com/bcasts/dear-science/1397 – and its popularity is such that MOTAT sponsors the show.
Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre
New Xstrahl X-ray irradiator
A new Xstrahl 320 keV CIX3 X-ray irradiator was recently commissioned at the ACSRC. This new instrument will eventually replace our existing Theratronics Eldorado-78 Cobalt-60 radiotherapy machine. The instrument is a fully shielded, self-contained cabinet irradiator that has a much smaller footprint and simpler regulatory provisions that the Eldorado-78. Made possible by a generous bequest from the Winn Estate through Cancer Society Auckland/Northland, the new instrument provides capability to irradiate materials, cell cultures and small animals.
The ACSRC Radiation Facility is the only such facility in New Zealand and supports a wide range of applications from materials and space science through to neuroscience and cancer research. The ACSRC has a rich research program developing novel agents that are used in conjunction with radiotherapy, such as radiosensitisers and hypoxia-activated prodrugs and the new capability will drive innovation in the radiation science space as well as support undergraduate teaching in radiation biology.
