Rate My Professor Kasimir Gregory

Dr. Kasimir Gregory serves as a Lecturer in Computational, Physical, and Theoretical Chemistry within the School of Science and Technology at the University of New England. He completed a Bachelor of Mathematics and Bachelor of Science with Distinction from the University of Newcastle between 2013 and 2016. In 2017, he was awarded a Bachelor of Science (Honours) Class 1 along with the University Medal and Faculty Medal from the same institution. Gregory earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry from the University of Newcastle in 2022, with a thesis titled 'A quantum chemical investigation of Hofmeister effects in non-aqueous solvents,' supervised by Prof. Alister Page, Prof. Erica Wanless, and Prof. Grant Webber. Following his PhD, he held a postdoctoral fellowship in Materials Physics at the Australian National University under Prof. Vince Craig, where he developed a maximum bubble pressure surface tensiometer for studying nonaqueous electrolytes. Subsequently, he worked in the Division of Biomedical Sciences and Biochemistry in the Research School of Biology at ANU with Prof. Ben Corry, focusing on molecular dynamics simulations of salt thermodiffusion for membrane-free desalination and malarial protein transport mechanisms.

Gregory's primary research areas encompass specific ion effects, solvent properties, and computational chemistry, with additional interests in artificial intelligence, plastic degradation, and enzymes. His key publications include 'The electrostatic origins of specific ion effects: quantifying the Hofmeister series for anions' (Chemical Science, 2021), 'Understanding specific ion effects and the Hofmeister series' (Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2022), 'A first-principles alternative to empirical solvent parameters' (Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2024), 'A quantum chemical molecular dynamics repository of solvated ions' (Scientific Data, 2022), and 'Lewis strength determines specific-ion effects in aqueous and nonaqueous solvents' (The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2019). He has received numerous honors, such as the CAS Future Leaders Top 100 (2023), 7NEWS Young Achiever Awards NSW & ACT Western Sydney University Academic Achievement Award Finalist (2022), People's Choice Award at the Inaugural Australasian Colloids and Interface Society 3 Minute Thesis Competition (2020), Peter Hendry Prize in Biochemistry (2016), and Royal Australian Chemical Institute Prize in Level 3000 Chemistry (2016). Gregory is a member of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and Australasian Colloids and Interface Society, co-supervises one PhD student and several undergraduates, and contributes to research grants. He also hosts the podcast 'Anion the Future' exploring academics' novel ideas, origins, and networks.