Daniela Plana

Biography

I was born in Venezuela, where I graduated with a Chemistry degree from the Universidad Simón Bolívar in 2006. I then moved to the UK to study for a PhD at the University of Manchester, later taking up a postdoctoral position at the University of Bristol. I joined Keele in 2015 as a Teaching Fellow in Chemistry. I was heavily involved in the 3+1 joint degree between Keele University and Nanjing Xiaozhuang University (China), serving as School Internationalisation Director until 2019. In 2019, I became a Lecturer (E&S) and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2023. I am involved in teaching and scholarship across all areas in the School - Chemistry, Physics and Forensic Science.

Research and scholarship

During my career I have specialised in Electrochemistry, mainly involving work related to Electrocatalysis and Materials for Energy and the Environment. I have worked on a variety of topics such as generation of fuels from greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide reduction and methane oxidation), electrocatalysis for fuel cells, diamond electrochemistry, metal deposition, materials for energy and electrochemical water remediation.

Over the last few years I have increasingly become involved in educational research, particularly regarding international students, transnational education, team-based learning, feedback and the use of technology for teaching. I hold SFHEA status and am part of the Keele TBL Group, with whom we won the RSC 2021 Team Prize for Excellence in Higher Education and an AdvanceHE Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) in 2022.

Teaching

• CHE-10061: Practical and Professional Skills Chemistry Skills
• CHE-10063: Chemical Structure and Reactivity (Module Lead)
• FSC-10013: Forensic Chemistry: Molecules under Investigation
• PHY-10038: Fundamental and Applied Mathematics for Physics (Module Lead)
• CHE-20093: Chemical Characterisation and Transformations
• CHE-20099: Practical and Professional Chemistry
• CHE-30070: Chemical Analysis: Instrumentation and Evaluation (Module Lead)
• CHE-30066: Independent Research Project
• CHE-30068: Scientific Literature Review
• FSC-30055: Forensic Chemical Analysis: Instrumentation and Evaluation