Associate Professor of Chemistry, UTSC
http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~asimpson

Biography

Andre J. Simpson was born in 1974. He obtained his BSc, 1995, and PhD, 1999, at Birmingham, UK. He spent his career on the development of NMR spectroscopy for environmental applications. He co-founded the Environmental NMR Center in 2004 at the University of Toronto and currently acts as the center’s Director.

He has received numerous prestigious international awards in both analytical chemistry and environmental chemistry, including the Joseph Black Medal (RSC), SETAC/RSC Environmental Science Award, Fred Beamish Award (CSC), W.A.E. McBryde Medal (CSC) and in 2011 was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). He has published over 130 papers in the area of environmental NMR spectroscopy.

Research Statement

Professor Simpson’s research interests centre on understanding structure and interactions in complex environmental samples including the development of novel NMR technology to achieve this goal. He has worked closely with a range of scientist at Bruker in the development of comprehensive multiphase NMR spectroscopy a globally unique technology that can be applied to study and differentiate all components (liquids, gels and solids) in natural unaltered samples, including plants and soil. Professor Simpson will combine this and other NMR technologies to study the molecular mechanisms of plant growth both in-vitro and in-vivo to help better understand molecular processes behind plant growth and root-soil interactions.