Geoffrey Waterhouse recognised for outstanding research

Professor Geoffrey Waterhouse has been recognised for outstanding research with the potential to help humanity.

The MacDiarmid Medal awarded by the Royal Society Te Apārangi takes in his work on low-cost nanocatalysts to aid global decarbonisation and the switch to renewable energy.

A professor in the School of Chemical Sciences, Waterhouse is also a principal investigator for the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, and an associate investigator for the Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies. 

Nanotechnology in catalysis, environmental monitoring, and therapeutics is a focus, and his group aims to fast-track a green hydrogen economy in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

Internationally, Waterhouse is known in connection with low-cost nanocatalysts that can replace expensive precious-metal catalysts in devices such as water electrolysers, fuel cells and rechargeable batteries. His work helps to enable commodity chemicals such as ammonia and hydrogen peroxide to be synthesized more sustainably and at lower cost. 

“I’m very proud of what my research group and collaborators have been able to achieve together over the past eight to nine years and look forward to the next few decades as we transition to a zero-carbon Aotearoa and a prosperous society rooted in quality education, sustainable practices and environmental responsibility,” says Waterhouse.

Recognition for Waterhouse in recent years has included numerous awards and a spot on the annual Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers List.