The Canterbury branch has been playing catch up with events that were postponed due to Covid in 2022. Canterbury was particularly affected in November and December last year.
The 2022 AGM was finally held on 8 December and, as part of the proceedings, we were delighted to have Professor Dame Juliet Gerrard give her talk, “A front row seat – science advice in emergencies” which had been postponed numerous times during the year.
On 2 February we were able to host Associate Professor Michael Mucalo in person to give his 2022 President’s talk.
14 February saw 31 attendees at the IUPAC Global Women’s Breakfast. Professor Richard Hartshorn welcomed everyone by Zoom from Auckland where he was stranded by Cyclone Gabrielle. The cyclone also meant that we were unable to liaise with any other branches for this event. Professor Catherine Moran, Deputy Vice-Chancellor - Academic, talked about her journey in science which was entertaining and thought provoking and engendered a good discussion.
Chemistry Prize Winners 2022
NZIC Prize (best overall 200-level grades) - Emily Tobbell and Adam Nolan
Haydon Prize – Chemistry (outstanding 300-level grades) - Finlay Player
Ralph H Earle Jnr Seminar Prize (best 2nd year PhD seminar) - Brooke Matthews
C E Fenwick Prizes in Chemistry (outstanding 400 grades) - Daniel Chong
C E Fenwick Prizes in Chemistry (best 400-level demonstrator) - Jude Kalan
Cuth J Wilkins Prize (top MSc thesis student) - Michael Hutton
Dr Gregory S C Hii Prize in Organic Chemistry - Toby McDonald
Jack Fergusson Prize (excellence in 300-level chemistry laboratories) - Finlay Player
Professor Jim Coxon Graduate Prize in Chemistry - Alexandra Aves
Congratulations
We are delighted that Sarah Masters was promoted to Professor at the end of 2022.
Congratulations to the following on their successful PhD completions:
Lily Hermanspahn: “Synthesis of functionalised supramolecular assemblies” supervised by Professor Paul Kruger.
Nathan Harvey-Reid: “Design and synthesis of novel hybrid ultramicroporous materials for selective gas capture and separation” supervised by Professor Paul Kruger.
Pratik Solanki: “Lanthanide-doped potassium yttrium fluoride nanoparticles: spectroscopy, thermometry and crystal field analyses” supervised by Professor Jon-Paul Wells and Professor Mike Reid.
Zach Stueven: “Synthesis and biological applications of anti-tuberculosis compounds” supervised by Professor Rudi Marquez.
Congratulations to Michele Klein (supervised by Dr Jodie Johnston) who won the student communicator prize at the recent New Zealand Institute of Chemistry conference in Auckland.
Congratulations to Rifana Irfan (supervised by Professor Sarah Masters) and Joel Schuurman (supervised by Dr Paula Brooksby) who won prizes at the Materials Cluster conference held at the University of Canterbury in December 2022. This is a particular achievement for Rifana who is an offshore doctoral student and presented remotely at the conference.
