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Alison Rodger

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Professor
Alison Rodger
FRSC FRACI FAA
Alma materUniversity of Sydney
Moore Theological College
University of Oxford
University of Chester
Known forBiomacromolecules
Scientific career
InstitutionsAustralian National University
Macquarie University
University of Warwick
University of Oxford
University of Cambridge

Alison Rodger (born November 21, 1959) is a Scottish-Australian chemist who is a professor of chemistry at the Australian National University.[1] Her research considers biomacromolecular structures and their characterisation. She is currently developing fluorescence detected liner dichroism, Raman Linear Difference Spectroscopy and attenuated total reflectance Vibrational linear dichroism to understand biomacromolecular structure and interactions with application to the division of bacterial cells.

Early life and education

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Rodger was born in Edinburgh to John and Margaret McDougall.[2] She earned her bachelor's, PhD and DSc from University of Sydney.[3] She was awarded the University of Sydney University Medal for theoretical chemistry. Whilst a student, Roger developed Classical Selection Rule (CSR), a procedure that can be used to analyse reaction mechanisms.[4][5] In 1985 she completed a diploma in Biblical Studies at Moore Theological College. She gained a master's degree at the University of Oxford in 1988. She moved to the University of Warwick for a second DSc, and earned a bachelor's degree in theology at the University of Chester.[6] Rodger was appointed a Beatrice Dale Fellowship at Newnham College, Cambridge from 1985 to 1988.[6]

Research and career

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In 1985 Rodger joined Newnham College Cambridge as a Beatrice Dale Research fellow. 1988 Rodger she moved to the University of Oxford as a Unilever Fellow in St Catherine's College. She moved to St Hilda's College in 1991.[citation needed] She developed the UK's first Couette flow linear dichroism facilities.[7][8] In 1994 Rodger joined the University of Warwick as a Lecturer. She was made a Senior Lecturer in 1998, a Reader in 2003 and a Professor in 2005. Rodger was Head of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Warwick from 2014 to 2016.[6] She was the only woman academic in the Physical Chemistry Laboratory at Oxford and the Department of Chemistry at the University of Warwick for over 11 years.[9] She has been involved with several initiatives to improve gender balance in academic chemistry, including Athena SWAN and a European partnership, PLOTINA (Promoting Gender Balance and Inclusion in Research, Innovation and Training).[10][11][12][13] PLOTINA looked to drive cultural change by developing diverse, inclusive work environments.[10] Under Rodger's leadership, Warwick was the fourth institution to achieve silver Athena SWAN status.[11] She was the founder and Director of the Doctoral Training Centre in Molecular Organisation and Assembly in Cells.[14][15] The Doctoral Training Centre was one of the first EPSRC-funded DTCs.[15] She developed a postgraduate certificate in transferable skills to support early career researchers.[6] She moved to Macquarie University in 2017, where she established an open-access biophysical spectroscopy facility for collaborators.[16] In 2024, she joined the Australian National University.[1] as Director of the Research School of Chemistry.

Rodger is interested in how the structure and arrangement of biomolecules impact their function.[17] She developed the technology for UV- Linear Dichroism spectroscopy.[17] Her lab became the national and international hub of Couette flow Linear Dichroism, allowing scientists to obtain structural and kinetic information about several systems.[18] She demonstrated that it is possible to orient membrane systems of liposomes.[18] Rodgers developed Raman Linear Difference Spectroscopy to study the division of bacterial cells.[17] She designed a new instrument that could measure Raman optical activity and Raman Linear Difference Spectroscopy in an effort to probe the secondary and tertiary structures of biomacromolecules.[17][19] Her research in the UK was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.[20] Rodger serves on the advisory board of the Protein Circular Dichroism Data Bank.[21] In 2015 she was named on the Analytical Science Power List. She joined the council at St John's College, Nottingham in 2015.[2] Rodger completed a bachelor's degree in Theology at St John's College whilst working as a Professor of Biophysical Chemistry.[22] She serves on the Australian Research Council Science and Technology Advisory Panel.[23][24]

Alongside investigating circular dichroism of biomacromolecules, Rodger has studied molecular electronic systems.[25][26] She co-led the UK Circular and Linear Dichroism Summer School for over 10 years.[27] She was a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry Council until she left the UK in 2017. She was very involved in Athena SWAN in the UK and was part of the Athena SWAN expansion in Australia, SAGE.[28] She is a member of Barker College Council and an Honorary Member of the British Biophysical Society.

In 2021 she received the accolade of election as Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.[29]

Books

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  • 2017 Circular Dichroism and Linear Dichroism[7]
  • 2014 Molecular Geometry[30]
  • 2010 Linear Dichroism and Circular Dichroism: A Textbook on Polarized-light Spectroscopy[31]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Prof. Alison Rodger". ANU Chemistry. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Alison Rodger". stjohns-nottm.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  3. ^ "Linear Dichroism and Circular Dichroism av Alison Rodger, Tim Dafforn, Bengt Norden (Bok)". Bokus.com (in Swedish). Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  4. ^ Rodger, Alison; Schipper, Pieter E. (1 February 1988). "Symmetry selection rules for reaction mechanisms: application to metal-ligand isomerizations". Inorganic Chemistry. 27 (3): 458–466. doi:10.1021/ic00276a006. ISSN 0020-1669.
  5. ^ E, Schipper Pieter (22 April 1994). Symmetry And Topology In Chemical Reactivity. World Scientific. ISBN 9789814502696.
  6. ^ a b c d "Alison Rodger". warwick.ac.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  7. ^ a b Rodger, Alison; Rodger, University Lecturer Department of Chemistry Alison; Norden, Bengt; Nordén, Bengt; Norden, Professor of Physical Chemistry Department of Physical Chemistry Bengt (1997). Circular Dichroism and Linear Dichroism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198558972.
  8. ^ Marrington, R.; Dafforn, T. R.; Halsall, D. J.; Rodger, A. (September 2004). "Micro-Volume Couette Flow Sample Orientation for Absorbance and Fluorescence Linear Dichroism". Biophysical Journal. 87 (3): 2002–2012. Bibcode:2004BpJ....87.2002M. doi:10.1529/biophysj.103.035022. PMC 1304603. PMID 15345576.
  9. ^ "Athena SWAN at Warwick especially in Chemistry where we are going why we bother. - ppt download". slideplayer.com. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Warwick becomes founding member of new international partnership focused on women's research careers". warwick.ac.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Warwick Achieves Silver Athena SWAN status". warwick.ac.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  12. ^ "Human Resources: Athena SWAN Event - Women, Science, Success". www.bbk.ac.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  13. ^ "Athena SWAN Good Practice Workshop | Chemistry | University of Southampton". www.southampton.ac.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  14. ^ "Human Resources: Athena SWAN Event - Women, Science, Success". www.bbk.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  15. ^ a b Beall, Abigail. "Doctorate with a difference". New Scientist. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  16. ^ "Alison Rodger — Macquarie University". researchers.mq.edu.au. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  17. ^ a b c d "Details of Grant: A new Raman instrument for polarized spectroscopy of biomacromolecular systems". Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  18. ^ a b "Polarised spectroscopy to probe biomacromolecular structure and function: Alison Rodger" (PDF). Warwick. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  19. ^ "NSW One-day Symposium on Analytical & Environmental Chemistry - Event Management - The Royal Australian Chemical Institute Incorporated". www.raci.org.au. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  20. ^ "Portfolio Analyser". bbsrc.ukri.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  21. ^ "Protein Circular Dichroism Data Bank". pcddb.cryst.bbk.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  22. ^ "Take remote control". www.churchtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  23. ^ Council, Australian Research (30 May 2018). "EI 2018: Science and Technology Panel". www.arc.gov.au. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  24. ^ "Australian Research Council names engagement and impact panels | Campus Morning Mail". 8 August 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  25. ^ "The future of electronics is chemical". phys.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  26. ^ Rodger, Alison (2018), "Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy of Biomacromolecules", Encyclopedia of Biophysics, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 1–3, doi:10.1007/978-3-642-35943-9_638-1, ISBN 9783642359439
  27. ^ "Circular and Linear Dichroism Summer School 2017". www.rsc.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  28. ^ Administration. "Women in STEM". Macquarie University. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  29. ^ "Twenty-two Australians recognised among our nation's most distinguished scientists | Australian Academy of Science". www.science.org.au. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  30. ^ Rodger, Alison; Rodger, Mark (16 May 2014). Molecular Geometry. Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 9781483106038.
  31. ^ Nordén, Bengt; Rodger, Alison; Dafforn, Tim (2010). Linear Dichroism and Circular Dichroism: A Textbook on Polarized-light Spectroscopy. Royal Society of Chemistry. ISBN 9781847559029.
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