A chat with Dr. Chris Garvey: "My motivation is to provide solutions for a modern technological and sustainable society but also in providing tools to investigate these issues"

We have a chat with Dr. Chris Garvey, visiting guest researcher at LINXS, and scientist at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. In the summer, he will finish up his year-long visit at LINXS and Malmö University.

What are your main research interests in relation to x-rays and neutrons?

It's a good question, x-ray and neutron scattering techniques are unique and statistical perspectives on the structure of matter. My research sits at the interface between materials science and biology in understanding materials and how they respond to external stimuli such as chemical gradients, mechanical stress and electric fields. My motivation is to provide sustainable solutions for a modern technological and sustainable society but also in providing tools (instrumentation) to investigate these issues. I also find it exciting to bring other scientists, especially early career researchers, to appreciate the perspective of scattering on soft condensed matter – but that’s not really research.

What research question are you examining at the moment?

The difficulty in accessing large-scale facilities, especially for neutron scattering, means I am doing a lot of data analysis, contemplation and writing emails. So I am taking stock of current directions and developing new directions.

I have worked on the organisation of polymers in plant cell walls since my PhD. It’s a fascinating natural resource for new kinds of environmentally friendly materials as well as an important sink for stored photosynthetic energy in the biosphere. I am working currently on the molecular architecture of cell wall polymers in a special Australian native grass in collaboration with researchers at the University of Queensland and indigenous communities. This grass is adapted to climates with very high average temperatures and very low rainfalls and is an excellent crop for broad acre production in central Australia. It is excellent for making high quality and high value cellulose nanofibers that can be used in applications as diverse as reinforced latex products (gloves and condoms) and concrete. X-ray and neutron scattering and imaging have been invaluable for understanding the physiological role of this plant's unique nanostructure.

Looking at cell wall materials from another angle, together with colleagues in Lund and in Brazil, we have been exploring microbial ecologies as a new way to extract energy stored by photosynthesis in cell wall carbohydrates for fuel (ethanol).

In Malmo, I have been involved in range of interesting problems with a biomedical emphasis well as with the installation of their new XENOCS SAXS system. My expertise in small angle diffraction is being used in a team that is investigating the organisation of lipid molecules in the skin. In particular, we are looking at the changes in the transport properties of this barrier brought about by inflammatory diseased states. My previous interest in bio-lubrication, and in particular the role of mucins as boundary lubricants, has broadened into the role of structural relaxation of mucins in saliva and bio-lubrication in thin film shear.

What are your thoughts of being at LINXS?

It has brought my research career into a more international context. Prior to the current health crisis, I was able to visit and work in many European labs, building on work at the Paul Scherer Institute and Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (FRM II Reactor ) in Garching. Now I am entering a more reflective stage, I have been involved in some exciting grant applications with researchers in Lund and Malmo. LINXS has provided interesting and exciting directions for my career.

But what I have enjoyed most is the opportunity for teaching and mentorship as an experimentalist.

At home, we do not have anyting like LINXS yet. Australia is a small community, and one of the challenges is initiating multi-disciplinary research.