معرفی
Stuart Mackenzie is Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford and a Tutorial Fellow of Magdalen College. His research spans from gas-phase metal cluster chemistry to the photochemical origins of animal magnetoreception, with a focus on developing novel spectroscopic techniques to address fundamental questions at the intersection of physical chemistry, quantum biology, and materials science.
His research interests fall into two main categories:
- Structure and reactivity of small gas-phase metal and metal-ligand clusters, where his group employs techniques including infrared photodissociation, velocity map imaging and molecular beam reaction dynamics to probe key interactions as a function of cluster size and isomeric form
- Magnetic field effects in cryptochrome proteins, where he collaborates with Professors Peter Hore and Chris Timmel to study how photoexcitation of blue-light receptor proteins generates spin-correlated radical pairs influenced by Earth's magnetic field—a phenomenon central to animal magnetoreception in migratory birds
His recent publications (2022-2025) demonstrate continued leadership in both research areas, with work spanning infrared spectroscopy of metal clusters, magnetic field effects in cryptochrome proteins, radical pair photochemistry, and the development of sensitive spectroscopic methods based on optical cavities. His group's work is highly interdisciplinary, combining experimental techniques with theoretical modeling to address complex problems in quantum biology and cluster science.
Stuart has developed unique and highly sensitive spectroscopic methods based on optical cavities that have enabled his group to move beyond model chemical systems to probe field effects in real protein samples. His work on animal magnetoreception combines quantum mechanics, photochemistry, protein expression and unfolding, and zoology to address fundamental questions about how birds navigate using Earth's magnetic field.
