Announcing the 25 prize winners from our 3rd annual online poster event
We saw over 180 posters from 31 countries presented during our 3rd Commonwealth Chemistry Posters event in September. and we were delighted to see a high level of conversation and networking over the three live sessions. The standard of presentation and research was excellent, and the judges were impressed with the enthusiasm and passion shown by the presenters.
We are proud to announce the 25 winners across our six themes:
- Biodiversity and Natural Products
- Energy and Materials
- Food and Agriculture
- Green Chemistry and Catalysis
- Health and Wellbeing
- Water and Environmental Chemistry
These 25 early career researchers from 17 Commonwealth nations show the breadth of excellent research being conducted across the Commonwealth and represent the diversity of Commonwealth Chemistry.
We are honoured to support these chemists in their future career and personal development. Scroll down to see the feedback from our presenters describing the impact of Commonwealth Chemistry Posters.
Biodiversity and Natural Products
We received 28 posters in the Biodiversity and Natural Products theme and awarded five prizes. You can view all 28 posters on our online gallery.
Biodiversity and Natural Products prize winners
The five winners in the Biodiversity and Natural Products theme are:
Dr Opeyemi Avoseh
Lagos State University, Nigeria
Dr Opeyemi Avoseh is recognised for their work establishing the chemotypes of C. citratus in Lagos coastal areas and evaluating their antibacterial effects.
Humira Karim
HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, University of Karachi, Pakistan
Humira Karim is recognised for their work designing and synthesising new dendrimeric anticancer peptides.
Dr Nehemiah Latolla
Nelson Mandela University, South Africa
Nehemiah Latolla is recognised for their work investigating the anti-diabetic activity of Eastern Cape plants Cissampelos capensis and Strychnos henningsii.
Faustina Mensah
University Cape Coast, Ghana
Faustina Mensah is recognised for their work screening the antioxidant properties of potential medicinal mushrooms in the central region of Ghana.
Zhexun Ong
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
Zhexun Ong is recognised for their work investigating different techniques for delivering wood preservatives.
Energy and Materials
We received 40 posters in the Energy and Materials theme and awarded five prizes. You can view all 40 posters on our online gallery.
Energy and Materials prize winners
The five winners in the Energy and Materials theme are:
Zeeshan Abid
Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom
Zeeshan Abid is recognised for their work designing new quinoxaline based non-fullerene electron acceptors for organic photovoltaics.
Dr Aderemi Haruna
University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Dr Aderemi Haruna is recognised for their work understanding the effect of microwave irradiation on the Jahn-Teller distortion in cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.
Fathima Rifana Mohamed Irfan
University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Fathima Rifana Mohamed Irfan is recognised for their computational study of the properties of 1,3-bis(borane)imidazolidine as an adduct for chemical hydrogen storage systems.
Masnun Naher
The University of Western Australia, Australia
Masnun Naher is recognised for their work understanding the structure-property relationships in molecular electronics.
Rishi Verma
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India
Rishi Verma is recognised for their work using plasmonic black gold-nickel in the photocatalytic hydrogenation of CO₂.
Food and Agriculture
We received 14 posters in the Food and Agriculture theme and awarded two prizes. You can view all 14 posters on our online gallery.
Food and Agriculture prize winners
The two winners in the Food and Agriculture theme are:
Avimanu Sharma
Central University of Rajasthan, India
Avimanu Sharma is recognised for their work synthesising and characterising a slow-release nitrogen fertilizer and its effect on the growth of Vigna radiata L.
Todon Wimijah
University of Goroka, Papua New Guinea
Todon Wimijah is recognised for their work evaluating and confirming insects that transmit Banana Wilt Associated Phytoplasma in Morobe Province.
Green Chemistry and Catalysis
We received 35 posters in the Green Chemistry and Catalysis theme and awarded five prizes. You can view all 35 posters on our online gallery.
Green Chemistry and Catalysis prize winners
The five winners in the Green Chemistry and Catalysis theme are:
Dr Nurul Jannah Abd Rahman
Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Malaysia
Dr Nurul Jannah Abd Rahman is recognised for their work designing a new heterogeneous catalyst for conversion of microalgae lipid to biodiesel.
Dr Aratrika Chakraborty
Lady Brabourne College, India
Aratrika Chakraborty is recognised for their work making new anchored iron complexes as catalysts for the synthesis of dihydroquinazoline-based compounds.
Bibisomaia Rezaee
York University, Canada
Bibisomaia Rezaee is recognised for their comparative study of the differences between amorphous and crystalline transition metal oxides as catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction.
Dr Satyajit Saha
Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India
Dr Satyajit Saha is recognised for their work understanding the acid-mediated dehydrative substitution reaction of benzofuryl alcohols in water to access unsymmetrically substituted triarylmethanes.
Dr Nandini Savoo-Calotte
University of Mauritius, Mauritius
Dr Nandini Savoo-Calotte is recognised for their work examining bimolecular nucleophilic substitution reactions of organophosphorus compounds.
Health and Wellbeing
We received 26 posters in the Health and Wellbeing theme and awarded three prizes. You can view all 26 posters on our online gallery.
Health and Wellbeing prize winners
The three winners in the Health and Wellbeing theme are:
Charu Deepika
The University of Queensland, Australia
Charu Deepika is recognised for their work studying microalgae as light driven cell factories for high-value products towards human health and nutrition.
Saadat Hussain
HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, University of Karachi, Pakistan
Saadat Hussain is recognised for their work designing nanoscale prodrugs of Diclofenac and their biological evaluation.
Dr Edwin Madivoli
Jomo Kenyatta University Of Agriculture And Technology, Kenya
Dr Edwin Madivoli is recognised for their work testing the versatility of cellulose stimuli responsive membranes in the detection of dimethylamine.
Water and Environmental
We received 45 posters in the Water and Environmental theme and awarded five prizes. You can view all 45 on our online gallery.
Water and Environmental Chemistry prize winners
The five winners in the Water and Environmental theme are:
Senami Anko
Lagos State University, Nigeria
Senami Anko is recognised for their work using young fish to monitor aquatic pollution in Lagos state.
Mary Mutwa
Namibia University of Science and Technology, Namibia
Mary Mutwa is recognised for their work analysing the occurrence and distribution of mercury from mining activities in Namibia.
Thamudi Niumalee
Institute of Chemistry Ceylon, Sri Lanka
Thamudi Niumalee is recognised for their work their work removing Pb(II) and Cd(II) metal ions from wastewater using sawdust.
Dr James Nyirenda
The University of Zambia, Zambia
Dr James Nyirenda is recognised for their work making and characterising an Activated Carbon-Ag-SiO₂ nanocomposite for removing heavy metals and organic waste from water.
Sofia Shah
The University of the South Pacific, Fiji
Sofia Shah is recognised for their work examining mercury concentrations in Pacific tuna and its relevance to the Minamata convention.
Feedback
For many of our presenters this was their first opportunity to present to an international audience. We are honoured to support early career researchers across the Commonwealth in their personal and professional development, and it’s great to see the impact and reach of the event increase each year.
