Andrea Sella (born February 1961) is a chemist and broadcaster based at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

where he is a Professor of Inorganic Chemistry. He studies

rare-earth metals The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or (in context) rare-earth oxides or sometimes the lanthanides (yttrium and scandium are usually included as rare earths), are a set of 17 nearly-indistinguishable lustrous silve ...

and collaborates with several research groups on hydrogen storage, carbonitrides, and nanotube insertion chemistry. He has been involved in numerous television documentaries, including the 2010 BBC documentary'' Chemistry: A Volatile History'', which was nominated for the 2010 British Academy Television Awards in the category Specialist Factual. In 2014 he presented "My Family and other Ibex" and "Urine Trouble: What's in our Water" on BBC Radio 4. He has been a guest on Melvyn Bragg's In Our Time and appeared regularly on radio programmes like

Start the Week ''Start the Week'' is a discussion programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 which began in April 1970. The current presenter is the former BBC political editor and the BBC's former political Sunday morning presenter Andrew Marr. The previous regular ...

, Weekend, Newshour, the

Today Programme ''Today'', colloquially known as ''the Today programme'', is a long-running British morning news and current-affairs Radio program, radio programme on BBC Radio 4. Broadcast on Monday to Saturday from 6:00 am to 9:00 am, it is produced by BBC N ...

and the Infinite Monkey Cage. He has been consultant and contributor for the BBC World Service's series "Elemental Economics" presented by

Justin Rowlatt Justin Rowlatt (born June 1966) is a British journalist, news reporter and television presenter who is currently working as Climate Editor for BBC News. In February 2015 he became the BBC's South Asia Correspondent, based in Delhi. In June 2019 h ...

Early life

He was born in Milan, Italy, in 1961, but grew up in New York, USA, and Nairobi, Kenya. He studied chemistry at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

, University of Toronto, as an undergraduate and started research for a PhD under Professor Robert H. Morris on molecular hydrogen compounds. He completed a PhD in Chemistry from 1986-90 at Balliol College, Oxford studying with Professor Malcolm Green.

Career

He was appointed Lecturer at UCL in 1990. He was awarded an EPSRC Senior Media Fellowship from 2007 to 2012. He was promoted to Professor in 2012. His research interests include the molecular chemistry of the lanthanides, the confinement of elemental phosphorus inside carbon nanotubes, and the synthesis and properties of layered carbonitrides. His monthly column in the Royal Society of Chemistry's Chemistry World, "Classic Kit", with guest contributions by his Masters student, Talitha Humphrey, explores the history of chemistry through the lens of scientific apparatus. He is also well known for science demonstrations for both school children and adults. He sits on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Cheltenham Science Festival. He was awarded the 2014

Michael Faraday Prize The Royal Society of London Michael Faraday Prize is awarded for "excellence in communicating science to UK audiences". Named after Michael Faraday, the medal itself is made of silver gilt, and is accompanied by a purse of £2500. Background ...

from The Royal Society for "his excellent work in science communication". Since February 2014, he has been a frequent guest speaker in a BBC World Service radio programme called "''Elements''". He explains how

chemical element A chemical element is a species of atoms that have a given number of protons in their nuclei, including the pure substance consisting only of that species. Unlike chemical compounds, chemical elements cannot be broken down into simpler sub ...

s behave, react, and how they are used. In the programme that aired on 16 September 2016 featuring

thorium Thorium is a weakly radioactive metallic chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. Thorium is silvery and tarnishes black when it is exposed to air, forming thorium dioxide; it is moderately soft and malleable and has a high ...

, he temporarily replaced

as the host. He has also presented several programmes on BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service.

References

1961 births Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford English chemists Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry Italian expatriates in England Academics of University College London University of Toronto alumni Living people 21st-century chemists Rare earth scientists {{chemist-stub