Dr Amanda Barnard's work is increasing our understanding of how nanoparticles interact with the environment.
Current activities
Dr Amanda Barnard has made a number of important contributions to the field of nanoscience. In particular, she has undertaken ground-breaking research into how nanoparticles interact with the environment and how environmental changes may affect their stability.
This work has earned her invitations to write an article for Nature Materials and a chapter on predicting the risks and hazards associated with nanomaterials for a book on nanotechnology due for publication later this year.
Dr Barnard’s current focus is leader of the Virtual Nanoscience Laboratory (VNLab) for CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering.
Her current projects include:
-
nanomorphology (investigating the structure, shape and phase of materials at the nanoscale)
-
developing a new thermodynamic theory to describe nanoparticles shape as a function of size
-
size-dependent phase transitions (identifying and examining the factors affecting phase transitions of polymorphs at the nanoscale)
-
investigating the thermodynamic stability of metal and metal oxide nanomaterials
-
modelling the stability, properties and interactions of multifunctional diamond nanoparticles for use in biomedical applications
-
exploring the social implications of nanotechnology and consumer decision making surrounding the use of nanomaterials.
Nanomorphology
Using first principles or semi-empirical computer simulations, Dr Barnard's research focuses on the fundamental science of 'nanomorphology', a term used to describe the structures, shapes and solid-phase of materials at the nanoscale.
Her ground-breaking computational studies have explained why certain shapes are observed in nanomaterials (while others are not), and enabled new predictions of the physical conditions required to make specific shapes without the need for costly trial-and-error experimentation.
Below is a computer model of an icosahedral shape, often observed in nanoparticles but not at the macroscale.
Computer simulated nanoparticle shapes. Background
Dr Barnard graduated with Honours from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University, Victoria, Australia, in 2001 and gained her Doctorate in 2003, with a thesis in computational modelling of carbon nanostructures. The thesis resulted in 17 journal publications and one book chapter.
Since graduating, Dr Barnard has held Postdoctoral Fellow positions at several distinguished research institutions including:
-
Distinguished Research Fellow at the Center for Nanoscale Materials in Argonne, Illinois, USA
-
Violette and Samuel Glasstone Fellow at the University of Oxford and the Queen’s College, Oxford, United Kingdom
-
Inaugural Future Generation Fellow at The University of Melbourne, Australia
-
Australian Research Council Queen Elizabeth II Fellow (current)
-
modelling the stability, properties and interactions of multifunctional diamond nanoparticles for use in biomedical applications
-
exploring the social implications of nanotechnology and consumer decision making surrounding the use of nanomaterials.
At CSIRO, Dr Barnard is leader of the Virtual Nanoscience Laboratory for CSIRO Material Science and Engineering.
Awards
In 2009, Dr Amanda Barnard has been awarded the:
-
Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year
-
Mercedes-Benz Australian Environmental Research Award (Banksia Environmental Foundation)
-
International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) Young Scientist Prize in Computational Physics
-
JG Russell Award from the Australian Academy of Sciences
-
Australian Davros Connection Future Summit Leadership Award.
Dr Barnard’s most recent award, The Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year for 'her early career achievements in modelling nanoparticles,' confirms her status as an internationally recognised physicist and world leader in nanomorphology. Much of her work focuses on how nanoparticles react with the environment and how environmental changes may affect their stability.
One of Dr Barnard’s other awards, the IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Computational Physics, will be presented to her in mid-December this year at the 2009 Conference on Computational Physics in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Dr Barnard has also been invited to present a paper at this conference.
Her recent awards follow Dr Barnard receiving numerous Australian and international awards including the 2008 L’Oreal Australia for Women in Science Fellowship and the RMIT University 2008 Alumnus of the Year.
Within the physics community, Dr Barnard is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Computational and Theoretical Nanoscience, has been invited to speak at several international conferences and has co-chaired symposia in the USA, Australia and Europe.
Find out more about CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering overview.
Site Map | Legal Notice and Disclaimer | Privacy | Copyright | Last updated: 30 July 2009
