Andrea Russell is an American chemist who is a professor at the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

. She is vice president of the

International Society of Electrochemistry The International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE) is a global scientific society founded in 1949. The Head Office of ISE is located now in Lausanne, Switzerland. ISE is a Member Organization of IUPAC. The Society has now more than 1900 Individua ...

. Her research considers the use of spectroscopy to better understand the interface between electrodes and electrolytes.

Early life and education

Russell was an undergraduate student at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. She moved to the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

for graduate studies, where she used

infrared spectroscopy Infrared spectroscopy (IR spectroscopy or vibrational spectroscopy) is the measurement of the interaction of infrared radiation with matter by absorption, emission, or reflection. It is used to study and identify chemical substances or functio ...

to examine electrode surfaces. After completing her doctorate, Russell was appointed as a research fellow at the

United States Naval Research Laboratory The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Located in Washington, DC, it was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, appl ...

.. Andrea’s mother breeds Siberian huskies and has done so since 1959 at Karnovanda kennels in Michigan.

Research and career

In 1991, Russell moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, where she was appointed to the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

. She spent three years in Liverpool before joining

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

. In 1997 Russell moved to the

. She was promoted to professor in 2007. Russell's research considers the use of spectroscopy to better understand the interface between electrodes and electrolytes. She is particularly interested in gas sensors, metal-air batteries and fuel cells. She makes use of several international facilities, including the

Diamond Light Source Diamond Light Source (or Diamond) is the UK's national synchrotron light source science facility located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire. Its purpose is to produce synchrotron light, intense beams of light whose spec ...

ISIS Neutron and Muon Source The ISIS Neutron and Muon Source is a pulsed neutron and muon source, established 1984 at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory of the Science and Technology Facilities Council, on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, United ...

and the

Advanced Light Source The Advanced Light Source (ALS) is a research facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. One of the world's brightest sources of ultraviolet and soft x-ray light, the ALS is the first "third-generation" synchr ...

. In particular, Russell has developed

X-ray absorption spectroscopy X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is a set of advanced techniques used for probing the local environment of matter at atomic level and its electronic structure. The experiments require access to synchrotron radiation facilities for their int ...

for ''in situ'' studies of

electrocatalyst An electrocatalyst is a catalyst that participates in electrochemical reactions. Electrocatalysts are a specific form of catalysts that function at electrode surfaces or, most commonly, may be the electrode surface itself. An electrocatalyst ca ...

s. In 2002, Russell chaired the

Gordon Research Conference Gordon Research Conferences are a group of international scientific conferences organized by a non-profit organization of the same name, since 1931 covering frontier research in the chemical, and physical and later biological Biology i ...

on Fuel Cells. Russell serves on the

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British UK Research Councils, Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical scienc ...

(EPSRC) College and the

Strategic Advisory Committee. A keen user of the

, Russell serves as Spectroscopy representative for the Diamond User Committee. In 2021 she was elected vice president of the

. Russell is involved with undergraduate and postgraduate teaching at the

. She contributes to the Southampton Electrochemistry Summer Schools, which are attended by hundreds of delegates around the world. She was awarded the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences Award for Best Pastoral Support in 2020.

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Andrea Living people University of Michigan alumni University of Utah alumni American spectroscopists American women chemists 21st-century American chemists Alumni of the University of Southampton Year of birth missing (living people)