User:TimClicks/sandbox/Nicola Gaston

Nicola Gaston is Senior Lecturer in chemistry at Victoria University of Wellington and Principal Investigator at the MacDiarmid Institute. Her research interests include understanding how and why the properties of clusters of atoms, such as their melting points, behave. For example, adding an extra atom of gallium to a cluster can change its melting point by 100 degrees Kelvin.

Alongside her academic contributions, she has been a strong advocate of women in science. She has argued that science is sexist in national media and explores the role of women scientists in her blog, "Why Science is Sexist".

In her role as President of the New Zealand Association of Scientists, she has publicly criticied of the adoption of the National Science Challenges, due to the possible conflicting roles of the Prime Minister's Science Advisor and the marginalisation of Māori.