Jennifer "Jenni" A. Garden is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow in the Department of Chemistry at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, where she leads a research group investigating how catalyst design and

organometallic chemistry Organometallic chemistry is the study of organometallic compounds, chemical compounds containing at least one chemical bond between a carbon atom of an organic molecule and a metal, including alkali, alkaline earth, and transition metals, and so ...

can be used to develop sustainable and degradable plastics using renewable sources.

Early life and education

Garden carried out her undergraduate studies in

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

at the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

, obtaining a Master of Science in 2010. She was awarded the Andersonian Centenary Medal Prize for most outstanding final-year chemistry student. She continued at the

for her doctoral studies in chemistry, investigating the development of new

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

and

zincate In chemistry the term zincate may refer to several substances containing the element zinc: * usually the anion ZnO22−, more properly called tetrahydroxozincate or salts thereof, such as sodium zincate . * the polymeric anion n(OH)3−and its s ...

complexes for applications in metallation reactions and obtaining her PhD in 2014. She was awarded the Hamilton-Barret Prize for her first-year PhD research (2011), and the Ritchie Chemistry Prize for best PhD thesis (2015).

Research career

Garden joined the Department of Chemistry at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

as a postdoctoral researcher in 2014, where her work investigated the synthesis and design of new heterometallic catalysts for applications in copolymerisation reactions between carbon dioxide/epoxide. In 2016, Garden was awarded the inaugural

Christina Miller Christina Cruikshank Miller FRSE (29 August 1899 – 16 July 2001) was a Scottish chemist and one of the first five women (also the first female chemist) elected to the Royal Society of Edinburgh (7 March 1949). Christina Miller was deaf from chil ...

Fellowship by the

, where she currently leads a research group in the Department of Chemistry. Her research interests lie in combining approaches from

and catalyst design to develop sustainable polymer materials (plastics) that can be effectively recycled and generated from renewable sources. Her research has been funded and recognised by the British Ramsay Memorial Trust (2017), the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science UK & Ireland Fellowship and the

UK Research and Innovation UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom that directs research and innovation funding, funded through the science budget of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Str ...

Future Leaders Fellowship (2020). Garden is also part of the editorial advisory board of the American Chemical Society's

Macromolecules A macromolecule is a very large molecule important to biophysical processes, such as a protein or nucleic acid. It is composed of thousands of covalently bonded atoms. Many macromolecules are polymers of smaller molecules called monomers. The ...

journal.

Awards and honours

Garden has won numerous prizes and fellowships for her contributions to the field of homo- and hetero-metallic catalysis and the advancement in developing such catalysts for applications in polymerisation chemistry and sustainable plastics. * Dalton Fellowship early career award:

Sir Edward Frankland Sir Edward Frankland, (18 January 18259 August 1899) was an English chemist. He was one of the originators of organometallic chemistry and introduced the concept of combining power or valence. An expert in water quality and analysis, he was ...

Fellowship from the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...

(2021) *

UKRI UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom that directs research and innovation funding, funded through the science budget of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial St ...

Future Leaders Fellowship (2020) * L'Oréal-UNESCO International Rising Talents Award (2020) * Macro Group UK Young Researchers Medal (2020) * L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science UK & Ireland Fellowship (2019) * British Ramsay Memorial Trust Fellowship (2017) *

Research Fellowship from the

(2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garden, Jennifer Anne 20th-century births Living people Alumni of the University of Strathclyde Academics of the University of Edinburgh Polymer scientists and engineers British chemists British women chemists Year of birth missing (living people) UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship