Chair of the Electron Microscopy Section
Dr Pippa Hawes, Institute for Animal Health, UK
Pippa is based at the IAH in Pirbright, Surrey as part of the Bioimaging Department. Projects centre around investigating the interactions between animal pathogens and host cells. Bioimaging is dedicated to using and developing confocal and electron microscopy techniques to study viruses, bacteria and parasites of farm animals. Pippa has extensive experience in the field of electron microscopy and is an active member of the RMS EM section committee. She believes the RMS has an important role to play in the promotion and teaching of microscopy and is consequently the co-organiser of the EM Summer School and heavily involved in co-coordinating the Cell Imaging Techniques course.
Chair of the Cytometry Section
Mr Ricardo Morilla, Royal Marsden Hospital, UK
Chair of the Life Sciences Section
Prof. Michelle Peckham, University of Leeds, UK
Michelle is Professor of Cell Biology in the Faculty of Biological Sciences. She obtained a BA in Physiology of Organisms at the University of York, and a PhD in Physiology at University College London. In 1990 she was awarded a Royal Society University Research fellowship, and began working on the cell and molecular biology of muscle development. She collaborated to use Digitally Recorded Interference Microscopy with Automatic Phase Shifting (DRIMAPS) to investigate cell crawling behaviour. She moved to Leeds in 1997 and has continued to use a wide range of both light and electron microscopy approaches to investigate the molecular motors and the cytoskeleton.
Chair of the Materials Sciences Section
Dr Rebecca Higginson, University of Loughborough, UK
Rebecca is a Senior Lecturer in Metallurgy in the Department of Materials. She attained her PhD from the University of Birmingham. Her current research considers the study of microstructural development in metals and composites. Her group has carried out extensive studies on the high temperature oxidation of ferrous alloys. She co-ran an RMS one day meeting “Microstructure of High Temperature Oxidation” in 2007. Other work includes microstructural development in hologramatic laser welding, interpenetrating composites, energy materials and ultrasonic consolidation.
Chair of the Light Microscopy Section
Dr Peter O'Toole, University of York, UK
Peter heads the Imaging and Cytometry Labs within the Technology Facility, University of York, which includes an array of confocal microscopes, flow cytometers and electron microscopes. He gained his PhD in the Cell Biophysics Lab., University of Essex. Research is currently focused on both technology and method development of novel probes and imaging modalities. He has ongoing collaborations with many leading microscopy and cytometry companies. Peter organises and teaches on the RMS LM Summer School and RMS Practical Flow Cytometry courses.
Chair of the Corporate Advisory Board
Mr Rod Shipley, FEI
Rod is a Metallurgist who spent 13 years working in a number of metal based Industries in the Midlands during the late 1970’s & 1980’s. His final Industrial position was as a Senior Metallurgist responsible for carrying out Residual Stress Analysis on Aerospace Bearings using a Philips X-Ray Diffractometer. He then joined Philips Analytical X-Ray Company in April 1991 as a local area Account Manager for the Midlands and South West of the UK. Rod moved into the position of X-ray Diffraction Product Manager with Philips before joining FEI Company in October 1998 as the UK Sales Manager and joining the RMS Trade Advisory Committee (renamed Corporate Advisory Board) in 2001. Within FEI Company Rod is currently the Vice President, in charge of Sales & Servicing.
