Scott Kable

Professor Scott Kable is a leading academic at UNSW Sydney, serving as President of the Academic Board and Head of the School of Chemistry from 2015–2023. With a PhD from Griffith University and postdoctoral experience at Cornell University, he transitioned from industry (Procter & Gamble) to academia, holding positions at the University of Sydney before joining UNSW as a Research Professor in 2014.

• Research Areas: Atmospheric chemistry, reaction dynamics, radical spectroscopy, and science education.
• Teaching Excellence: Recipient of multiple Vice Chancellor’s and Carrick teaching awards.

Research Focus: His work in the Molecular Photonics Laboratories (co-led with Prof Tim Schmidt) addresses:

• Discovery of roaming pathways in chemical reactions.
• Photo-tautomerization mechanisms for organic acid formation in the troposphere.
• Identification of free radicals in atmospheric, combustion, and interstellar chemistry.

He also co-founded the ASELL Project (Advancing Science by Enhancing Learning in the Laboratory) to improve science education through experimental design and instructor training.

Recent Publications highlight his expertise in:

• Photodissociation dynamics of fluorinated aldehydes (CF3CHO) and their climate impacts.
• Quantum mechanical studies of roaming and triple fragmentation reactions in carbonyls.
• Spectroscopic analysis of dicarbon and phenalenyl radicals in extreme environments.
• Development of the POPTARTS method for quantum yield determination.

Scientific Awards:

• Le Fevre Medal (Australian Academy of Science, 1996)
• Physical Chemistry Medal (RACI, 2016)
• Fulbright Senior Fellowship (2010)
• Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW (2016)

Grants:

• ARC Discovery Grant DP190102013 ($520k, 2019–21): Ground-state chemistry in atmospheric processes.
• ARC LEIF Grant LE180100060 ($983k, 2018): Shared laser infrastructure for spectroscopy.
• UNSW Strategic Education Fund (2018–19): Mastery learning in chemistry education.

Collaborations span institutions like University of Sydney, Sandia National Labs, University of Leeds, and University of Wollongong. His lab’s experimental work is complemented by atmospheric modeling with A/Prof Jenny Fisher (UOW) and computational chemistry with Prof Meredith Jordan (USyd).