ROBIN BRIMBLECOMBE

Robin Brimblecombe

Fulbright BHP Billiton Scholar (2007- 2008)

Scholar story

In July 2007 I left for the USA, having never travelled to a country outside of the Asia-Pacific region. I travelled through LA and New York to reach Princeton University in central New Jersey (a little over one hour from New York). Princeton is a relatively small community with the University campus taking up a large part of the town. I spent nine months at Princeton living just off campus in the heart of the town working on my research program. In this time I was able to make regular trips into New York city, explore some of the New Jersey coastline, surf in the Atlantic and mountain bike in the American woods. I was also able to make a trip to Chicago for the Australian Fulbright conference and a trip to California for a research conference. During my time at Princeton I became part of the student climate charge group SURGE and supported several university initiatives towards reducing the campus emissions profile and hosting of international speakers on climate change. My visit spanned the four seasons and I was able to experience for the first time the fall of the leaves, living in snow and the beautiful period in spring when all the trees flower.

My initial motivation to apply for the Fulbright scholarship was to attend an internationally renowned University and work with one of the leading scientists in my field of research. However when I arrived I realized what an amazing experience living in the United States is. The township and people of Princeton has simply shattered my preconceptions of the United States and New York is beyond description, it really has to be seen to be believed. Thus I have really come to appreciate the true value of the Fulbright program. As part of this I have realized how diverse the people and countryside of the United States is and despite the small differences how similar our two countries are. Further I have made a diverse range of great friends for who I hope to convince at least a couple to visit Australia.

My education has also greatly developed, both in my field of research and my appreciation for and understanding of global energy resources, markets and consequences through being a part of the Princeton University community and more broadly, through experiencing life in the USA. Within my research program I had the opportunity to work with well known scientists which provided unrivalled educational benefits to my understanding of the many complex issues in the field. Further, as part of the Princeton graduate program, I was able to sit in on graduate chemistry classes, which was a great benefit in expanding my general chemistry knowledge. Beyond my field I was also able to partake in classes held by world renowned scientists such as Professor Socolow, who is well known in the study of climate change who’s work was featured in the film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’. In addition due to Princeton’s location and prestige I had the opportunity to interact with regular visitors relevant to both my research and broader interest. For example in the early 2008 I was able to attend workshops by Lord Nicholas Stern, Dr David Suzuki (probably my greatest inspiration), Amory Lovins and heard Ralph Nader speak all on campus.

From a research perspective, the collaboration between Monash University, CSIRO and Princeton University into the development of bio-inspired solar energy conversion to fuels has benefited greatly from the exchange of science, resources and knowledge facilitated by this program. The research focuses on the development of water oxidation catalysts for the solar conversion of salt water into hydrogen. At present, the most efficient catalyst able to utilise solar energy to oxidise water is the photosynthetic apparatus found in plants. Through the support of this program we have successfully developed one of the only functional mimics of the photosynthetic process. This represents a significant step forward in the field which we have just finished patenting and have several papers under review and in preparation. The current work is focusing on the integration of this catalyst into a solar device and improving efficiency of hydrogen production.

I was lucky enough to attend the 2008 Gordon Conference-Metals in Biology supported by the Gregory Schwartz Grant. This provided me the opportunity to present my work to the international scientific community, gain valuable feed back for future directions and form valuable networks to assist in my current research and future employment. It was a great experience in learning how to present scientific work and making the most out of interactions with other researchers. In particular I was able to speak directly with one of the leaders in the field of energy catalysis who has previously been apprehensive regarding our research. This provided me with an opportunity to directly address his concerns and also receive his suggestions on how to take the research forward. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet and make myself know to Professors from the US and around the world with who I may be able to pursue employment with after the completion of my PhD.

I would advise prospective Fulbright scholars to come into the program without too many preconceptions of what they want to get out of it or what life in America will be like. I came in thinking primarily about the research I could get done and although this was a great success it is only a small part of what made my experience so fulfilling.