Nina Notman
Science writer and editor
After finishing my organic chemistry PhD at the University of Bristol, I had come to realise that I didn’t have the patience required to be a good bench chemist. I started looking around for a career than allowed me to indulge my love for science while not being lab-based, which led me to join the journals team at the Royal Society of Chemistry with a focus on guiding papers through the peer review process. I was also given the opportunity to write magazine-style articles about some of the papers we published, something I relished. I then joined the Chemistry World team, first as a science correspondent and later as the features editor. In 2012, due to a family relocation, I went freelance and now write for a range of different chemistry and science education publications.
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- News
Gargantuan clean-up effort after Novichok nerve agent poisoning laid bare
UK government chemists spent months analysing thousands of samples and formulating new ways to decontaminate all manner of materials
- Feature
A battery technology worth its salt
With lithium-containing batteries facing constraints on many of the metals they contain, Nina Notman looks at whether its group 1 neighbour sodium can supply the answer
- Feature
Firing up an air pollution problem
Wild fires adversely affect air quality nearby and far beyond. Nina Notman investigates this escalating problem
- Feature
Taking a leaf out of plants’ books
Learning to mimic natural photosynthesis on an industrial scale might open the door to a fossil fuel-free future. Nina Notman investigates
- Feature
Accessible science education
Nina Notman hears from some of the leading lights in the quest to make chemistry education accessible to all
- Sponsored
Why you should become a Qualified Person
What it takes to assume this essential role at the heart of pharmaceutical manufacturing
- Research
Art enthusiasts leave chemical traces of gallery visits on artwork
Many of the volatile chemicals given off by visitors rapidly stick to surfaces inside an art gallery find researchers
- Research
Glass beads offer simple solution to dispensing tiny amounts of solids
Frustration drove chemists to overcome engineering challenge slowing high-throughput reaction screening set-ups
- Feature
The battle to lose weight
Losing weight – and not putting it back on – is about much more than willpower. Nina Notman reports on the drugs trying to penetrate the complex metabolic web of hunger and satiety.
- Research
Genes that make lemons sour revealed
When life gives you lemons, mutate their proton pumps to make them sweeter
- Careers
The scientists Making Our Planet Great Again
Four researchers explain why they answered President Macron’s call to come to France
- Feature
Pass the antidote
From paracetamol to pesticides – not to mention nerve agents – there are many toxic compounds that doctors need to be able to counteract. Nina Notman investigates
- Research
New tools direct reactions at specific C–H bonds in organic molecules
Elegant catalysts offer quicker routes to complex compounds
- Feature
A taste of wine chemistry
Nina Notman talks to the wine detectives uncovering the flavour molecules in our favourite tipples
- Careers
The radio telescopes exploring our universe
How astrochemists are identifying molecules light-years away from Earth
- Feature
Reaching a milestone
The decade-long process to register all chemicals used in Europe has concluded. Nina Notman takes stock of progress and looks to the next steps for chemical legislation in the region
