Moncrieff-Jones Society Christmas Lecture

Dr Rachael Greenhalgh (postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southampton) inspired our audience with her anecdotes about her studies and employment at the forefront of the chemical industry. She began by discussing how her interest in Chemistry had emerged during her later school years and how this inspired her to pursue a degree in it. She went on to describe her path through her degree, industrial placement year, PhD (the last of which was in New and Sustainable Photovoltaics), and her current career as a researcher.

Dr Greenhalgh also discussed the principles behind her main fields of research, including superalloy materials, X-ray diffraction, and similar methods of material characterisation. There was something for everyone in these topics, from chemists to engineers.

The most thrilling part of any Moncrieff-Jones event, though, is the Q&A after a presentation. Our audience, consisting of pupils, parents, staff, and friends of the school, was inspired to delve deeper into the science behind the PowerPoint. Dr Greenhalgh fielded questions on the metal ions that she has used in her material synthesis work, the mathematics behind X-ray diffraction, and the future directions in which her research might go.

At the time of writing, the Lower Sixth presenters for our Spring Term Moncrieff-Jones meetings have just started their research, and they will be putting together their presentations and magazine articles about their chosen non-A-Level Science topics during the Christmas break. Their articles will be published in the December 2026 issue of Quantum Ultimatum, and we were delighted to launch the December 2025 issue of this magazine at our Christmas Lecture – a terrific celebration of the Caterham Science community, and a great testament to the essential premise that all scientists should also be great writers.

I must extend my thanks to Dr Greenhalgh for her time and dedication to last week’s event; to the Science Department for their peerless support for our pupils’ work; to the Marketing and Facilities Teams for setting the event up behind the scenes; and to our Moncrieff-Jones Pupil Presidents, Soomin and Jonathan (Upper Sixth), for always being the first people to step up to the plate and represent our Society’s values of integrity, diligence, and kindness.

Finally, I must thank all our audience members for joining us on that chilly, rainswept December evening for a landmark Science exhibition. Here’s to an equally excellent 2026.

Mr R. Evans

Teacher of Chemistry, Moncrieff-Jones Society Chair