Thomas Speak
I am a new astrochemist with my prior experience being mainly in the fields of atmospheric and combustion chemistry. My experience is in bringing together ab-intio calculations, chemical modelling and experimental observations to improve current understanding of complex gas phase processes.
I grew up in the countryside near Manchester in England and ventured over the other side of the country to the University of Leeds for my undergraduate and post-graduate studies. At the University of Leeds I worked under Mark Blitz and Paul Seakins in atmospheric and combustion chemistry. This involved studying reactions in both atmospheric simulation chambers (HIRAC, EUPHORE) and pulsed laser photolysis laser induced fluorescence experiments. This work was supported by ab-initio calculations and master equation simulations. This work was primarily funded through my PhD funding through the NERC Spheres DTP program along with the funding for a short post-doctoral position through EUROCHAMP 2020. I then moved to the University of Sheffield under Peter Portius and Andrew Tyas where I worked on modelling the near field behaviour during the decomposition of energetic materials (EPSRC MACE). This involved combustion and detonation modelling and the direct detection of gas phase and solid phase detonation products. I now look forward to bringing the experience I have in high-temperature and high-pressure gas phase reactions and applying them to the low-temperature low-pressure conditions of the interstellar medium (ISM). Beyond science I enjoy hiking, camping, water sports and visiting historic places.