About me
I am an interdisciplinary academic with around 20 years of experience in mineral and materials chemistry, passionate about driving sustainability through innovative research. My work explores mineral-fluid reactions using cutting-edge laboratory experiments and advanced characterization techniques—including synchrotron and neutron studies under non-ambient conditions—to unravel ore deposit formation and to develop sustainable metal extraction methods through roasting and leaching. My current projects focus on critical minerals (e.g., rare earth elements, nickel, and copper) and mineral carbonation for carbon dioxide sequestration, alongside materials innovation for sustainability-enhancing technologies.
With over 100 published journal papers, I hold an h-index of 35 and a Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) of 1.85 (2021–2024), indicating that my publications have significantly higher impact and are cited considerably more often than the global average for similar work. I’ve secured AUD$9.2 million in research funding, including seven Australian Research Council (ARC) projects (3 x Discovery Projects, 1 x Linkage Project, and 3 x Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment, and Facilities (LIEF) Projects). My work is further supported by partnerships with CSIRO, AINSE, and MRIWA, as well as industry consulting projects for Australia’s minerals sector. I’ve also earned over 40 competitive beam time grants from world-class facilities like the Australian Synchrotron (Melbourne), Australian Centre of Neutron Scattering (ACNS, Sydney), European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF, France), Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL, France), and Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI, South Korea).
I’ve mentored 25 research students from 13 countries, guiding 10 PhD candidates to completion in Mineral Sciences, Geochemistry, Extractive Metallurgy, and Materials Chemistry. Currently, I teach Mineral Processing in the Graduate Diploma in Extractive Metallurgy and Sustainable Industrial Chemistry in the Bachelor of Science.