Curriculum Vitae - Simon J. George

Employment and Appointments

2023 - Present  Research Scientist, Carl Sagan Center, The SETI Institute, Mountain View CA

2015 - Present  Consultant and Owner, Simon Scientific, Berkeley CA

2010 - 2014       Full Project Scientist: Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis, CA

2002 - 2010       Scientist: Physical Biosciences / Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley CA

1999 - 2006       Honorary Lecturer (Honorary Faculty): University of East Anglia, Norwich UK

1998 - 2003       Senior Scientist: Department of Biological Chemistry, John Innes Centre, Norwich UK

1994 - 1998       Scientist: Nitrogen Fixation Laboratory, John Innes Centre, Norwich UK

1993 - 1998       Consultant: Structural Molecular Biology, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, Menlo Park CA

1991 - 1994       Assistant Researcher: Department of Applied Science, University of California, Davis CA

1990 - 1991       Scientist: National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton NY

1988 - 1991       Staff Chemist: School of Chemical Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

1980 - 1982       3 x 12-Week Summer Appointments
  Researcher, Propellants Explosives and Rocket Motor Establishment, Waltham Abbey, U.K.

Education

1986 - 1988       SERC Post-Doctoral Fellow: School of Chemical Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich UK

1983 - 1986       Ph.D. in Chemistry: School of Chemical Sciences University of East Anglia, Norwich UK
  Thesis: "Magnetic Circular Dichroism of Iron-Sulphur Proteins"
  Supervisor: Professor Andrew J. Thomson OBE FRS

1979 - 1983       B.Sc. (Hons) in Chemistry: University of London King's College, London UK

Skills

•    General: 

         Professional chemist accustomed to working in interdisciplinary chemistry/physics/biology/engineering environments. 

         Experienced in the use, design and construction of instrumentation and equipment as well as associated software. 

         Much of career spent working at synchrotron radiation lightsources. 

         Enjoy and skilled at solving problems and finding effective solutions with available resources 

         Achievement and problem driven focus: “what is the big picture or problem?”, “what science do we need to understand?”

•    Professional Chemist: 

         Broad knowledge of general chemistry

         Expert in chemistry of metals in biological systems. 

         Expert in chemical kinetics

•    Spectroscopist: 

         Experienced spectroscopist. 

         Expert in Infrared, EPR and X-ray techniques (including EXAFS spectroscopy) and generally familiar with other techniques. 

         Experienced user of synchrotron radiation and synchrotron lightsource beamlines.  Longstanding SSRL, ALS and SPring-8 User and have worked at NSLS and APS. 

         Good understanding of theoretical/computational approaches including DFT calculations.

•    Instrument and Application Development: 

         Experienced in the design and construction of instruments such as spectrometers and flow systems. 

         Have designed and constructed vacuum and specialized atmosphere chambers as well as specialized equipment for sample preparation. 

         Good working knowledge of electrochemical equipment use and construction.

•    Software and Algorithm development for Data Analysis: 

         Expert in developing solutions for analysis of complex data.  Development of instrument control software. 

         Can work with both modern and legacy languages and systems (such as FORTRAN, VMS) as well as mixed-language environments. 

         Knowledge of cross-platform frameworks such as wxWidgets and QT.

•    Experienced Manager and Teacher: 

         Experienced manager of research projects and laboratory teams. 

         Taught undergraduate and graduate classes in general chemistry as well as specialized spectroscopy and biological chemistry courses. 

         Mentored many graduate students on a one-to-one basis.

Memberships

•    American Chemical Society (ACS)

•    Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry (SBIC)

•    American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

•    Sigma Xi

Printable Versions (PDF)

•   Printable CV (PDF)                 

•   NIH Biosketch (PDF)