Interviews
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OpinionMary Virginia Orna: ‘It felt like I was coming home to something I never knew existed’
The 90-year-old colour chemist on overcoming discrimination and the three loves of her life; Latin, chemistry and Italian opera
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OpinionPaul Anastas: ‘I’m proudest of being part of a global green chemistry community’
The father of green chemistry on his love of the environment, striving for unattainable perfection and breathing life into an old town library
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OpinionYvonne Perrie: ‘Good research culture is about being able to learn and fail without judgment’
The drug delivery expert and multidisciplinary researcher on the importance of learning from failure and how a summer in a margarine factory influenced her career
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OpinionCarol Robinson: ‘I really wanted to wave the flag about technicians’
The mass spectrometry trailblazer on leaving school at 16 and waving the flag for technicians
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OpinionIjeoma Uchegbu: ‘My approach is always to be kind’
The innovative nanoscientist on the power of kindness and how she scrubbed eugenicists from campus buildings
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OpinionEmmeline Edwards: ‘I connect the dots’
The Haitian-American neurochemist on her journey from Haiti to the US as a teenager, and her journey from chemistry to brain science
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OpinionGregory Robinson: ‘We were members of the last generation to attend segregated schools’
The synthetic inorganic chemist on attending a segregated school in Alabama, balancing football and chemistry, and tennis as a muse
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OpinionCatherine Ngila: ‘I am very passionate about empowering my students’
The environmental chemist on adapting to different cultures and empowering others
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OpinionJani Ingram: ‘We have seen wells with uranium levels higher than the drinking water standard’
The environmental chemist on addressing pollution of Navajo waterways from legacy mining, her life off the reservation and a puke green Datsun
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OpinionBin Liu: ‘Breakthroughs always need patience’
The materials expert on deciding to become a scientist, collaboration and fishing
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OpinionShirley Meng: 'I think science is as beautiful as art'
The materials science pioneer on her Chinese heritage, experience as a female scientist, and the actual measure of success
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OpinionJulia Kornfield: ‘I’ve often followed an instinct about a person’
The polymer expert on power imbalances and following her instinct
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OpinionMaria Augusta Arruda: ‘Poetry is my refuge’
The Brazilian research leader on thinking differently and supporting Black researchers
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OpinionMorten Meldal: ‘I made some of the most beautiful fireworks’
The click-chemistry pioneer on research funding, fireworks and getting the band back together
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OpinionKarin Markides: ‘I didn’t follow the rules’
The analytical chemist who runs a preeminent Japanese research institute discusses her childhood in Sweden and how she came to chemistry
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OpinionValerie Mizrahi: ‘There’s no control to the experiment of life’
The world-leading tuberculosis researcher on switching specialities and living in a racially divided nation
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OpinionWunmi Sadik: ‘I still see myself as the young girl explaining chemistry to my mother’
The interdisciplinary innovator on moving beyond silos and communicating the real-world impact of chemistry
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OpinionSteven Chu: ‘I’m in the process of learning chemistry’
The Nobel-winning physicist on learning chemistry, staying informed and speaking out
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OpinionMargaret Faul: ‘Stand for what you think is right’
The pharmaceutical executive on why chemistry clicked for her, and life as a female organic chemist in the drug industry
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OpinionJean-Marie Lehn: ‘Science or music really can take up all your life’
The supramolecular innovator on the importance of different cultures in research, working like a pianist, and being shocked by an opera