Dr. Michael Cotterell

Biography

Michael Cotterell is a Professor of Physical Chemistry and a Tutorial Fellow at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. His research focuses on the physicochemical properties and behaviors of aerosol particles, as well as the development of new laser-based spectroscopy tools. He completed his undergraduate degree in Chemical Physics at the University of Bristol from 2008 to 2012, followed by a PhD from 2012 to 2016 under the supervision of Professors Jonathan Reid and Andrew Orr-Ewing FRS. His doctoral work involved the development of Bessel laser beam optical traps for levitating aerosol particles and studying their optical properties using cavity ring-down spectrometers. Cotterell conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Exeter from 2016 to 2019, working closely with Dr. Justin Langridge at the Met Office to develop new laser-based spectroscopy instruments for in-situ observations of aerosol particles in the Earth's atmosphere. In 2019, he was awarded a NERC Independent Research Fellowship, enabling him to establish his own research group at the University of Bristol, obtaining EPSRC and NERC Standard Grant funding as a principal investigator. He holds a joint position between the University of Oxford and Corpus Christi College since September 2023.

Research Interests

Experience