Secretariat
The Secretariat supports the work of the Executive Board and Commonwealth Chemistry and, in turn, supports the chemical science community across the Commonwealth.
To help establish Commonwealth Chemistry, the Secretariat is currently provided by the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Andrew Shore UK 
Andrew is an environmental scientist and geochemist. After completing his BSc in Environmental Sciences at University of East Anglia in 2005, Andrew moved to University of Leicester for a PhD in selenium isotope geochemistry. He spent time at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) during his academic studies.
Andrew joined the Royal Society of Chemistry as a Publishing Editor in 2010 and primarily worked on the inorganic journal portfolio. In 2015, Andrew became Executive Editor of Dalton Transactions, CrystEngComm, New Journal of Chemistry and RSC Advances. As Executive Editor, he oversaw the conversion of RSC Advances to one of the largest open access chemistry journals in the world and increased publication frequencies for CrystEngComm and New Journal of Chemistry.
Andrew joined the RSC Global Inclusion team as Senior Programme Manager, International Engagement in June 2022. His responsibilities include managing the Pan Africa Chemistry Network, engaging with EuChemS and IUPAC, on behalf of the RSC, as the member society and UK national chemical organisation, and leading the RSC international engagement activities with our global network of partner chemical societies.
Bianca Provost UK
Bianca completed a BSc in Chemistry and MSc in Computational Chemistry at the University of Ottawa in Canada, during which she carried out a research exchange at Monash University in Australia. Following this, Bianca carried out a PhD in Physical Chemistry at the University of Cambridge in collaboration with Schlumberger to study the mechanism of aromatic corrosion inhibitors on metallic surfaces.
Bianca joined the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2019 as a Development Editor, working on the RSC’s Energy, Environment and Analytical journals. Bianca moved to a Deputy Editor role in 2020, and worked across a number of different journals in the areas of Energy, Catalysis and Engineering. As part of her role, Bianca led creation and delivery of the RSC Lectureship Desktop Seminar Series, enabling 15 of the RSC’s journal lectureship winners to deliver their award talks virtually during to the pandemic. She also served as lead organiser for the 10th Anniversary Catalysis Science & Technology Symposium, which was one of the top-attended RSC events in 2021. Bianca joined the RSC Global Inclusion Team in April 2024 as the interim Programme Manager, Commonwealth Chemistry.
Rachel Thompson UK
Rachel completed her BSc in Biochemistry and Zoology at the University of Leeds in 2008 and, as part of her degree, spent a year living and studying in Spain.
Rachel joined the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2008 and has held a number of roles including conference development, and grants and awards before moving to the events team in 2010. In 2012, Rachel was promoted to Senior Events Executive.
Rachel oversaw the delivery of the 7th EuChemS Chemistry Congress that took place in Liverpool in August 2018. In January 2020 she began a new role in the external relations team as Programme Manager, Commonwealth Chemistry. Rachel is currently on maternity leave.
