Rate My Professor Drew Parsons

Drew Parsons serves as an Adjunct Professor and former Senior Lecturer in the School of Engineering and Energy at Murdoch University, where he has been affiliated since January 2015. He specializes in theoretical and computational approaches to colloid and interface science within the Physics & Nanotechnology discipline. Parsons holds a Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours and the University Medal from the Australian National University in 1994, majoring in physics, mathematics, and theoretical chemistry. He earned a Graduate Diploma of Education from the University of New South Wales in 2003 and a Doctor of Philosophy (Kandidat Nauk) from the Karpov Institute of Physical Chemistry in Moscow, Russia, in 1998, with a thesis on the nonlocal electrostatic theory of ion solvation accounting for the ion cavity, majoring in chemical physics.

His career trajectory includes postdoctoral fellowships at Université Henri Poincaré in Nancy, France (1998-1999), the University of California, Davis (1999-2000), and the Australian National University (2004-2014), progressing to Research Fellow, where he conducted research on ion specific effects, surface adhesion, nanobubbles, ionic dispersion forces, and polymer conformations using advanced simulations. At Murdoch University, he taught courses in programming, extractive metallurgy, quantum mechanics, mineral processing, financial management, and process design for metallurgical engineering students; supervised honours and PhD students on topics like saltwater flotation, ion effects in electrolytes, and spodumene ore optimisation; chaired the implementation committee of the Metallurgical Education Partnership under the Minerals Tertiary Education Council; and negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding with East Kazakhstan State Technical University. Parsons' research interests encompass theory of electrodes for electrowinning and energy storage, surface forces and roughness, complex van der Waals forces, ion specific effects, dielectric properties of solvents and biological membranes, soft-matter and polymer physics, supercritical fluids, and zeolite catalysis. Notable publications include 'Hofmeister effects: interplay of hydration, nonelectrostatic potentials, and ion size' (Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2011), 'Why direct or reversed Hofmeister series? Interplay of hydration, non-electrostatic potentials, and ion size' (Langmuir, 2010), 'Surface forces: Surface roughness in theory and experiment' (Journal of Chemical Physics, 2014), and 'Charge reversal of surfaces in divalent electrolytes: The role of ionic dispersion interactions' (Langmuir, 2010). He has delivered plenary lectures, such as at the 16th Russian Conference on Surface Forces (Kazan, 2018), keynote at the European Colloid and Interface Society conference (Bordeaux, 2015), and invited talks at international symposia. Awards include the Australian National University University Medal (1992) and representation for Australia at the XX International Chemistry Olympiad (Helsinki, 1988). His contributions extend to international collaborations across Italy, Germany, Sweden, Brazil, and India, with applications in desalination, supercapacitors, batteries, and mineral processing.