Nicola Gaston
Gaston in 2023
NationalityNew Zealand
Alma materUniversity of Auckland, Massey University
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry, Physics
InstitutionsAuckland University, MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Victoria University of Wellington
Websitehttp://macdiarmid.ac.nz/, http://whyscienceissexist.wordpress.com/

Nicola Gaston is a Professor and a former President of the New Zealand Association of Scientists. She is a materials scientist who has worked on nanoparticles, and has spoken out on sexism in the scientific research establishment. In 2023 she was awarded the Thomson Medal.

Academic career

Gaston was born in England to New Zealand parents.[1] She has a PhD from Massey University.[2]

Gaston is a Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Auckland.[3] She was previously a Senior Lecturer in the School of Chemical and Physical Sciences at Victoria University of Wellington.[4][1]

After being a Principal Investigator at the MacDiarmid Institute since 2010, she was appointed co-director in 2018.[5]

Her research interests include understanding how and why the properties of clusters of atoms, such as their melting points, depend on size and electronic structure.[6] For example, adding an extra atom of gallium to a cluster can change its melting point by 100 Kelvins.[7][8]

Awards

Gaston was awarded the CMMSE prize in 2016 for important contributions in the developments of numerical methods for physics, chemistry, engineering and economics.[9] In 2023, she was awarded the Thomson Medal by the Royal Society Te Apārangi in recognition of her leadership in highlighting and addressing gender equity issues in the science sector, in supporting researchers to speak out for the public good, as well as for her work as co-director of the MacDiarmid Institute and president of the New Zealand Association of Scientists.[10]

Public profile

Gaston has been a strong advocate for women in science, arguing that science is sexist in national media.[4][11][12] She argues that women are well-represented in junior university positions, even forming the majority in some scientific disciplines, but through unconscious bias or stereotyping are lost to academia, which ends up dominated by men in senior positions.[1] One reason is the unforgiving nature of the research establishment to gaps in a CV caused by child-rearing.[1] Gaston explored these impediments to the participation of women scientists in her blog, "Why Science is Sexist", and in 2015 published a book of the same name with Bridget Williams Books.

As President of the New Zealand Association of Scientists Gaston publicly criticised the adoption of the National Science Challenges, due to the possible conflicting roles of the Prime Minister's Science Advisor and the marginalisation of Māori.[13] She has however praised the stability of funding provided for the National Science Challenges as well as the development of the National Statement of Science Investment in mitigating some of the concerns surrounding the adoption of the National Science Challenges.[14]

Selected publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Tuckett, Graeme (26 February 2015). "The Interview: Nicola Gaston". Fishhead: Wellington's Magazine. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  2. ↑ Gaston, Nicola (2003). Mercury clusters from van der Waals to the metallic solid (Doctoral thesis). Massey Research Online, Massey University. hdl:10179/1840.
  3. ↑ "Professor Nicola Gaston – The University of Auckland". unidirectory.auckland.ac.nz. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  4. 1 2 Morton, Jamie (10 March 2014). "Women in science". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  5. ↑ Webb-Liddall, Alice (20 June 2018). "Nicola Gaston on taking the wheel at the MacDiarmid Institute". The Spinoff. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  6. ↑ "The science of stuff used to make things | Nine To Noon, 11:31 am on 10 August 2016 | RNZ". Radio New Zealand. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  7. ↑ "Nothing but 100 percent positive experiences from start to finish | New Zealand eScience Infrastructure". nesi.org.nz. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  8. ↑ "Gallium nanoparticles and better chips | Science Interviews | Naked Scientists". www.thenakedscientists.com. June 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  9. ↑ "Schedule & CMMSE Prize | CMMSE'17". cmmse.usal.es. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  10. ↑ Morton, Jamie (9 November 2023). "'Tenacious boldness': Top honour for change-making NZ scientist". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  11. ↑ "On The Spot | Nights, 8:12 pm on 26 July 2013 | Radio New Zealand". radionz.co.nz. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  12. ↑ "Sunday Morning: Nicola Gaston". Radio New Zealand. 14 June 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  13. ↑ Gaston, Nicola (2014). "New Zealand: Free up systems for funding and advice". Nature. 508 (7494): 44. Bibcode:2014Natur.508R..44G. doi:10.1038/508044b. PMID 24695303.
  14. ↑ Flahive, Brad (17 November 2018). "More transparency wanted around Government's national science challenges". Stuff. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
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