Rate My Professor Nick Green

Dr. Nick Green is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Otago, leading a research group in synthetic and biological chemistry. His research explores new chemical reactions and structures pertinent to the molecules of life, including nucleosides, peptides, and lipids. Green investigates their chemical and physical properties, synthesis for applications in organic and medicinal chemistry, and potential prebiotic pathways on primordial Earth or other planets, contributing insights into the origins of life and homochirality. He earned his PhD in Organic Synthesis from the Australian National University in 2015. His postdoctoral career included positions at the Australian National University (2015–2016) and the University of Edinburgh (2016–2017), followed by a Career Development Fellowship at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge (2017–2022), and Research Associate at Homerton College, University of Cambridge (2018–2022). Green joined the University of Otago as Lecturer in 2022 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer.

Green's achievements include the 2024 Outstanding Early-Career Researcher award and Best Research Paper Academic Staff (fundamental) from the University of Otago Division of Sciences. He secured a $2 million Human Frontier Science Program grant for a three-year international collaboration investigating the genomics, biosynthesis, physiology, and chemical synthesis of fish ichthyotoxins with researchers from Okayama University and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Notable publications encompass 'Prebiotic Synthesis of N-Formylaminonitriles and Derivatives in Formamide' in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (2023), 'Total synthesis of Brevianamide S' in Organic Letters (2025), and 'Recent advances in gold and zinc oxide nanoparticles: Antibiofilm action, mechanisms beyond ROS generation, and in vivo efficacy' in Microbiological Research (2026). His group contributes to conference proceedings on spiroaspertrione synthesis, thiadiazoles, and lipid-nucleotide conjugates. Green teaches courses such as CHEM202 Organic Chemistry 1, CHEM302 Organic Chemistry 2, and CHEM305 Biological and Medicinal Chemistry 2, with expertise in organic and medicinal chemistry, nucleic acids, and origin of life studies.