Role at ANSTO
Dr Emily Finch is the Co-Group Manager Spectroscopy and a Beamline Scientist on the Medium Energy X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (MEX) Beamline at the Australian Synchrotron. Emily works with scientists from all around the world to solve scientific problems like toxins in soil, how drugs are absorbed by the body, and how elements bond together in minerals.
Her research background is in geology. She completed her PhD at Monash University and has hunted for rocks in places like Scotland, Norway, and New Zealand to learn more about how metals move around Earth’s crust. These metals are crucial for green technologies like solar panels and wind turbines. By understanding how metals move around the crust, researchers like Emily can better predict where to explore for them. This work is becoming increasingly important as the known supply of minerals needed to make green technologies is shrinking and current methods of exploration cannot keep up with increasing demand.
Emily loves using evidence to solve puzzles, which she’s done in both geology and science policy. In her policy roles, Emily worked on the Women in STEM Decadal Plan: an Australian Government-commissioned project to attract more women into science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) careers and improve equity in STEM workplaces. Emily is an enthusiastic advocate for intersectional diversity and inclusion in STEM workplaces and is passionate about highlighting the amazing work of women in STEM careers.
Expertise
Metamorphic rocks, geological hydrothermal fluids, critical minerals