Team introductions: Paolo Marcazzan

Our introductions move on to the West coast, where I will be introducing you to Dr. Paolo Marcazzan, our Science, Innovation and Energy Officer.

Photo by Frank Wimart

Paolo is the only “Y” chromosome in our group (I don’t know quite how this happened – poor fellow ;P).  I think of him our the quiet, speculative team member who is (to quote him) “All about balance and evenness” (unlike myself – whom I occasionally think of as the physical embodiment of entropy!).  Paolo started shortly after I did (I think by 1 month) at the FCO, so we have had the opportunity to share several learning experiences within the Science & Innovation Network, and I’m sure will continue to do so!

By all accounts Paolo is a well rounded individual!  He enjoys cooking – sourcing local ingredients from the rich and productive BC soils, and creating his own personal twist on Italian food (I seem to see a food theme running through the SIN Canada team!). Also, having studied Classics in school, Paolo has an appreciation for language and literature, with a  particular interest in poetry.  He has a fun and quirky sense of humour and is a great deal of fun to work with! Now over to him:

Paolo Marcazzan

I joined the British Consulate General in Vancouver as their Science, Innovation and Energy Officer in May 2010. My role fits within the wider UK Science and Innovation Network, which is overseen by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) of HM’s Government. Our efforts are geared toward fostering collaborative endeavours in research science between the UK and Canada research communities, as well as informing policy making and sharing best practices.
I was born and lived in Italy, where I studied Classics in high-school, and obtained a M.Sc. equivalent degree in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Bologna – the oldest continually operating University in the world, something I take pride in. I was in my upper twenties when I decided to move to Canada to pursue graduate studies, and completed a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of British Columbia. I subsequently worked as a research chemist at various UBC departments and at the National Research Council of Canada, in areas that have included homogeneous catalysis for industrial applications (transition metal-catalysed hydrogenation of imines), fuel cells (materials, fuel processing), and chemical pulp bleaching.
In a typical egg-chicken fashion, I don’t know whether I have come to enjoy the analytical rigour of the scientific approach as a consequence of my studies, or I was born with such disposition, which the subsequent training has only helped to crystallise. Science is however only one of the things that provide me with intellectual stimulation, others being mostly literature and language, and my firm belief in their ultimately restorative power.