Viola Birss

Prof. Viola Birss is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Calgary and Scientific Director of the Calgary Advanced Energy Storage and Conversion Research Technologies. She has held a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Fuel Cells and Related Clean Energy Systems and leads the pan-Canadian Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Canada organization.

Research Interests: Developing nanoporous carbon scaffold materials for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, applying mixed conducting perovskite catalysts in solid oxide electrolyzers for water splitting and CO₂ conversion, and designing structurally ordered nanomaterials for clean energy/environment applications. Her work bridges electrochemistry, materials science, and sustainable energy technologies.

Scientific Awards:

• Fellow of the Royal Society (UK)
• Fellow of the Royal Society (Canada)
• Fellow of the Canadian Society for Chemistry
• Fellow of the Electrochemical Society

Labs & Teams: Leads the Calgary Advanced Energy Storage research group and the pan-Canadian Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Canada organization.