Professor Mark Lorch

Professor of Public Engagement and Science Communication. Interim Head of Department for Chemistry, Biochemistry and Chemical Engineering

+44 (0)1482 465687 | M.Lorch@hull.ac.uk

Faculty and Department

Faculty of Science and Engineering
Department of Biological and Marine Sciences

Biography Outputs Research/PhD Recognition

Qualifications

PhD (University of Bristol)

Summary

Mark Lorch is a chemist, writer and science communicator. He started his research career working on protein folding and has since delved into many other aspects of biological chemistry ranging from how organisms' signalling molecules will be affected by ocean acidification to monitoring micro-pollutants in waterways.

Alongside his research, Mark is passionate about communicating science to as wide an audience as possible. He founded and directs the Hull Science Festival and leads on widening participation projects in the region. He still finds time to contribute to various media outlets, his prose regularly appears in the mainstream press, and he pops up regularly on broadcast media. He has also provided science consultancy services to film and game production companies.

Recent outputs

View more outputs

Book

Biochemistry: A Very Short Introduction

Lorch, M. (in press). Biochemistry: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press (OUP)

The Secret Science of Superheroes

M. Lorch, & A. Miah (Eds.), (2016). The Secret Science of Superheroes

Isabel Monteiro dos Santos Pires

Journal Article

The influence of solvent representation on nuclear shielding calculations of protonation states of small biological molecules

Roggatz, C. C., Lorch, M., & Benoit, D. M. (2018). The influence of solvent representation on nuclear shielding calculations of protonation states of small biological molecules. Journal of chemical theory and computation : JCTC, 14(5), 2684-2695. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jctc.7b01020

Christina Roggatz David Benoit

Ocean acidification affects marine chemical communication by changing structure and function of peptide signalling molecules

Roggatz, C. C., Lorch, M., Hardege, J. D., & Benoit, D. M. (2016). Ocean acidification affects marine chemical communication by changing structure and function of peptide signalling molecules. Global change biology, 22(12), 3914-3926. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13354

Jorg Hardege Christina Roggatz David Benoit

Conformational photoswitching of a synthetic peptide foldamer bound within a phospholipid bilayer

De Poli, M., Zawodny, W., Quinonero, O., Lorch, M., Webb, S. J., & Clayden, J. (2016). Conformational photoswitching of a synthetic peptide foldamer bound within a phospholipid bilayer. Science, 352(6285), 575-580. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aad8352

Postgraduate supervision

Completed PhDs

Rebecca Batchelor, Drug Lipid Interactions, Studied by Solid State NMR

Rahul Saurabh, Interactions of Alzheimer's Peptides with Lipid Membranes

Yaser Alnaaam, Effect of Diet on Lipid Composition of Heart, Liver and Kidneys

Christina Roggatz, Effects of Ocean Acidification on Structure of Marine Organisms' Signalling Molecules

Current PhD supervisions

Samantha Richardson, Using Paper Microfluidics to Sample Pollutants in Water Ways

Awards and prizes

Daniell Lecture 2017

2017

Daniell Lectures are delivered by internationally renowned scientists and cover a topic of current interest and excitement. Speakers are chosen not only for their outstanding contribution to modern scientific knowledge, but also for their ability to communicate the essence of their research to a young audience. Professor Mark Lorch, from the University of Hull, whose talk was: Building nature's nano-machines.

Institute of Physics- Book of the year shortlist