Philippa is based in the UK, and her expertise is primarily in the areas of organic and analytical chemistry.

Philippa gained an MChem in chemistry from the University of Southampton in 2008, then a PhD in organic chemistry working with Professor Steven Ley at the University of Cambridge in 2012. After completing her PhD she moved to ETH Zurich for postdoctoral studies, working with Professor Erick Carreira. She then returned to the UK to an academic position at the University of Reading, where she was promoted from Teaching Fellow to Associate Professor. During this time she was heavily involved with teaching students, programme leadership including designing and implementing two degree programmes (one entitled Chemistry with Cosmetic Science), project supervision, admissions, publishing research and internationalization. She was also the University Director of Foundation Studies, expanding foundation year provision from 9 programmes across 3 Schools to 22 across 6 Schools, increasing enrolment from 80 to ~250 students over a 2 year period. In 2022 she moved to become head of research at a local SME, working with external customers and preparing marketing material and case-studies, while maintaining Senior Visiting Fellow status at the University of Reading. In October 2023 she took the plunge to become a freelance writer, supporting TRI Princeton with preparation of technical articles and marketing materials for the website.

Philippa has published extensively within organic chemistry and chemistry education, written three textbooks, presented work at numerous national and international conferences, has been an External Examiner, was a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry Committee for Accreditation and Validation, assessed CREST awards, and was Crowd Review Editor for SynOpen, a journal hosted by Thieme. She is currently a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Professional Standards Board and an active member of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists Education Committee.