MOOT 36 NMR Symposium

Professor Gillian Goward is an internationally renowned Canadian scientist who studies advanced energy materials using a combination of magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging. She is a Professor and the Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. She also holds a McMaster Faculty of Science Research Chair in Magnetic Resonance of Materials for Energy Storage.
Her research focus is on characterizing the structures and dynamics of materials for lithium ion batteries, fuel cells, and other alternative energy devices. For example, the lithium ions (6,7Li) in rechargeable batteries provide excellent probe nuclei for observing the electrochemical processes directly. Strategies include ex situ and in situ spectroscopy as well as spatially resolved imaging and diffusion measurements. Her team are equipped with suite of state-of-the-art magnetic resonance tools, developed for specialty air-sensitive studies of electrolyte-electrode interface chemistry, and ion dynamics in solid and solution phases.
Prof. Goward participates actively in the Canadian and international Magnetic Resonance and Materials Chemistry communities. She is also a Senior Editor for the American Chemical Society publication, the Journal of Physical Chemistry.

Pr. Isabelle Marcotte, a chemist with a PhD from Université Laval in 2003, delved into the study of membrane systems using solid-state NMR. Her research focused on the interaction of peptides with phospholipid model membranes. After her PhD, she moved to Zurich (2003-2006) to conduct postdoctoral research under the supervision of Prof. Beat Meier at the ETH. During this period, she gained expertise in solid-state NMR of complex proteins, including spider silk. In 2006, she returned to her hometown and established her laboratory at the Université du Québec à Montréal, where she continues her research on complex biological systems using solid-state NMR. With her team, she develops model membranes and studies protein fibres like mussel byssus, commonly known as sea silk. They also develop strategies to investigate intact cells using solid-state NMR. Her lab is particularly interested in examining the interactions of antimicrobial peptides with intact bacteria and characterizing microalgae for environmental applications.

She has held the position of Full Professor in the Department of Chemistry since 2015 and she has served as Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Sciences since 2017. She recently received the Gilead Award for Excellence in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (2025).

My research aims to develop novel analytical spectroscopy-based methods to investigate the reactivity, structures, and associations of molecules or groups of molecules in the environment. In analytical environmental chemistry dealing with very complex naturally occurring mixtures is unavoidable yet there is a lack of spectroscopic approaches available or in development that can provide crucial, molecular-level information desperately required to fully understand global environmental processes. Complex systems such as soils, marine sediments and atmospheric particles are routinely treated as “black boxes”.