Dr Karen Parrish
FHEA, PhD (Bristol), MA (Cantab.)
Expertise
I am a teaching-focused academic with specialisms in teaching practical chemistry and organic chemistry. I am unit director of the Advanced Practical Chemistry units.
Current positions
Lecturer
School of Chemistry
Contact
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Biography
I obtained an MA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge followed by a PhD in Chemistry at the University of Bristol. I then spent 14 years as a Medicinal Chemist at Evotec, where my work focused on drug design and synthetic organic chemistry. There I was extensively involved in the training and supervision of new graduates and undergraduate placement students.
I have always had a keen interest in Education, spending a year teaching overseas between my first degree and PhD, and 8 years as a School Governor between 2011 and 2019. In 2015 I joined the University of Bristol as a Lecturer, with a particular focus on running Teaching Laboratory units. Initially I was Unit Director for the Intermediate Practical and Analytical Chemistry units and since 2022 I have directed the Advanced Practical Chemistry units. I gained Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) in 2019.
As well as my involvement with Practical Chemistry, I currently teach and/or assess in a variety of other units from first to fourth year. I supervise BSc students undertaking final year projects in areas of teaching and pedagogy. I mentor other staff working towards AFHEA and FHEA status.
I have always had a keen interest in Education, spending a year teaching overseas between my first degree and PhD, and 8 years as a School Governor between 2011 and 2019. In 2015 I joined the University of Bristol as a Lecturer, with a particular focus on running Teaching Laboratory units. Initially I was Unit Director for the Intermediate Practical and Analytical Chemistry units and since 2022 I have directed the Advanced Practical Chemistry units. I gained Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) in 2019.
As well as my involvement with Practical Chemistry, I currently teach and/or assess in a variety of other units from first to fourth year. I supervise BSc students undertaking final year projects in areas of teaching and pedagogy. I mentor other staff working towards AFHEA and FHEA status.
Research interests
My work focuses on the development of new experiments and teaching activities in Practical Chemistry, typically with a focus on sustainability, developing students as independent researchers, and/or introducing students to areas of chemistry which are a focus of research in the School of Chemistry.
Experiments which I have introduced/significantly developed include
- Biodiesel investigation - a problem-based learning experiment for second years incorporating experiment design, synthetic and physical chemistry
- Reductive amination - an introductory second year experiment requiring students to plan their own work-up and analyse their product using MestreNova
- Perovskite solar cells – a second year materials experiment creating solar cells and investigating the band gap by UV-vis spectroscopy
- Palladium coupling reaction – an inquiry experiment employing microwave chemistry and water as a solvent and using NMR to identify an unknown product
- Anti-Markovnikov addition to an alkene using photoredox catalysis – a third year experiment studying photoredox catalysis by UV-vis spectroscopy, fluorimetry and cyclic voltammetry and employing it for synthetic chemistry.
Teaching
My main area of expertise is in teaching Practical Chemistry. My teaching focusses on enabling students to develop a thorough understanding of the techniques, approaches and analytical methods which can be used for experimentation. Students are encouraged to develop their independence and problem-solving skills ready to access a research project in their final year.