Rate My Professor Emma Pearson

Dr. Emma Pearson serves as a Lecturer in the School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering at Curtin University, where she holds a full-time position as a teaching and research academic in the discipline of chemistry. She obtained her PhD in synthetic organic chemistry in 2007 from the Australian National University, working with Professor Michael Sherburn on projects including intramolecular Diels-Alder reactions. During her time as a PhD student at ANU, she received a prize for the best student lecture on a computational and experimental investigation into intramolecular Diels-Alder reactions. Following her doctorate, Pearson returned to Curtin University in 2016 as a teaching-focused lecturer, contributing to both research and education in chemistry.

Pearson's research focuses on synthetic organic chemistry, computational chemistry, and innovative undergraduate laboratory curricula. Key publications include 'Revisiting the Conformational Isomerism of Dihaloethanes: A Hybrid Computational and Experimental Laboratory for the Undergraduate Curriculum' (ACS Physical Chemistry Au, 2022, co-authored with Blake Armstrong, Meg Willans, Thomas Becker, Mark J. Hackett, and Paolo Raiteri), which introduces hybrid computational and experimental methods for teaching conformational isomerism. Earlier work features 'Intramolecular Diels-Alder Reactions of Ester Linked 1,3,9-Decatrienes: Cis/Trans Selectivity in Thermal and Lewis Acid Promoted Reactions of Ethylene-Tethered and Benzo-Tethered Systems' (2007). She has co-authored on topics such as supramolecular gelation and metal-organic frameworks. In teaching excellence, Pearson, alongside Dr. Reva Ramiah, earned a Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning in the 2023 Australian Awards for University Teaching for integrating Indigenous knowledges and cultures into a novel core first-year science unit, enhancing student engagement. Her scholarly impact includes 127 citations across five publications listed on ResearchGate. Pearson supports gender equity through participation in Curtin University's Panel Pledge and maintains an ORCID iD 0000-0002-7481-9006.