I am currently a professor in the Department of Chemistry at Memorial University of Newfoundland. I am the co-founder of the Centre for Green Chemistry and Catalysis at Memorial. I was awarded the Canadian Green Chemistry & Engineering Award in 2019. I have received two Canada Foundation for Innovation Leaders Opportunity Fund (John Evan's Leadership Fund) Awards for my research in the field of Green Chemistry. Prior to joining Memorial, I was a Royal Society University Research Fellowship at the University of York in the UK and was associated with the well-known Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence there. I was also a tutor for the Clean Tech MRes course. My research group is developing environmentally benign transformations of bio-sourced molecules and materials. This involves the use of catalysts (homogeneous, heterogeneous and biocatalysts), alternative reaction media (water, ionic liquids and supercritical fluids) and microwave-assisted syntheses. In addition to authoring papers, I have contributed chapters to books and encyclopedias e.g. 'Introduction to Chemicals from Biomass'​ and I have written 2 editions of a textbook for the Royal Society of Chemistry's Green Chemistry Series called 'Alternative Solvents for Green Chemistry'​. Whilst at York, I was co-inventor of some novel expanded starch-based materials with useful separation properties. I was invited to participate in the North American New Horizons in Science meeting, 2014, http://ianas.org/newhorizonsinscience/index.html, by the National Academies of Science of the USA, Mexico and Canada. Most recently, I have co-edited a book for Wiley (Renewable Resources Series) called 'Chemicals, Materials and Fuels from Ocean and Aquatic Sources'.Specialties: Alternative Solvents, Renewable Chemical Feedstocks, Microwave-assisted Synthesis, Green Chemistry Education and Outreach