About MWD

The drover group
WESTERN UNIVERSITY, LONDON, ON

BIOGRAPHY

Marcus was born in St. John's, Newfoundland (Canada) and began his chemistry career at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), completing a B.Sc. (Hons.) degree in 2012 with Prof. Francesca M. Kerton in main group coordination chemistry with an emphasis on ‘green polymer’ applications. In 2016, he was granted his doctorate in chemistry from the University of British Columbia (UBC) under the co-supervision of Profs. Laurel L. Schafer and Jennifer A. Love. At UBC, Marcus was an NSERC Vanier scholarship holder and studied organometallic chemistry related to N,O-chelated Group 9 transition metals, which included the development of new reactions aimed at the synthesis of phosphorus-containing agrochemicals. As a PhD student, Marcus was also a Michael-Smith visiting scholar at the University of Oxford under the supervision of Prof. Andrew S. Weller working on amine-borane chemistry. As a result of his thesis work, Marcus was awarded the 2016 Canadian Institute for Chemistry’s inorganic division award for graduate research (AGWIC). In 2017, he was co-chair of the Organometallics Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) in Salve Regina, RI, USA. In 2017, he began work as a joint Resnick Prize Fellow in Sustainability Science and NSERC Banting fellow at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) under the guidance of Prof. Jonas C. Peters. At Caltech, Marcus' efforts were devoted to the synthesis of new open-shell iron compounds for proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET). On July 1, 2019 Marcus began his independent career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Windsor. After four years, Marcus and team moved 2 hours north, relocating to Western University in London, Ontario.

In 2020, Marcus was awarded a prestigious John C. Polanyi Prize in chemistry for his contributions as an early-career researcher in the province of Ontario. In 2021, he was awarded the University of Windsor's Outstanding Community Engagement, Knowledge Transfer, and Knowledge Mobilization Award (University Wide) as well as the Faculty of Science's Outreach and Engagement Award for his work with the Global Inorganic Discussion Weekdays symposium, amongst other endeavours. In 2023, Marcus joined the editorial advisory boards of the ACS journal, Organometallics as well as the Taylor and Francis journal, Journal of Coordination Chemistry for 3-year terms. In 2024, Marcus joined the Early Career Advisory Board (ECAB) of JACS Au and Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers (RSC). As of July 1, 2025, Marcus will be promoted to Associate Professor with tenure.

Outside of lab, Marcus enjoys handling dogs - his family breeds and shows Golden Retrievers under the Goldiemay prefix and he currently owns two French Bulldogs, named Merlot and Cookie. In addition, he enjoys board games, bowling, good food, and travel/exploring new things with his partner, Nicole.

**Selected for an Angewandte "Introducing" Profile DOI: 10.1002/anie.202501753

APPOINTMENT

Western University, London, ON (CAN)
Associate Professor (July 1, 2025 - )
Assistant Professor (July 1, 2023 - July 1, 2025)

University of Windsor, Windsor, ON (CAN)
Assistant Professor (July 1, 2019 - June 30 2023)

education

The California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California (USA)
NSERC Banting & Resnick Postdoctoral Fellow in Sustainability Science, 2017-2019
Advisor: Prof. Jonas C. Peters

The University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, BC (CAN)
Ph.D., Chemistry (NSERC Vanier Scholar), 2012-2016
Advisors: Profs. Laurel L. Schafer and Jennifer A. Love
Thesis title: 1,3-N,O-Chelated complexes of rhodium and iridium: harnessing metal-ligand cooperativity for bond activation processes DOI: 10.14288/1.0340548

The University of Oxford, Oxford, England (UK)
NSERC Michael Smith Visiting Scholar (MSFSS), 2014
Advisor: Prof. Andrew S. Weller

Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL (CAN)
B.Sc. (Hons.), 2008-2012
Advisor: Prof. Francesca M. Kerton

EDITORIAL ACTIVITIES

2024 Early Career Advisory Board (ECAB), Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers (2024-2026)
2024 Early Career Advisory Board (ECAB), JACS Au (2024-2025)
2023 Editorial Board Member, Journal of Coordination Chemistry (2023-2026)
2023 Editorial Advisory Board, Organometallics (2023-2026)
2022 Youth Editorial Board, Chemical Synthesis (2022-2024)

Selected awards & Honours

2024 Govt. of Ontario, Early Researcher Award (ERA-R19)
2024 Elsevier, Polyhedron, Emerging Investigator in Inorganic Chemistry
2023 Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), Chemical Communications, Emerging Investigator
2023 Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), RSC Advances, Emerging Investigator
2023 American Chemical Society (ACS), ACS Organic Inorganic Au, 2023 Rising Star in Organic & Inorganic Chemistry
2022 Wiley, European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, "EurJIC Talent"
2022 Taylor & Francis, Journal of Coordination Chemistry, Emerging Leader in Coordination Chemistry
2022 Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), Chemical Society Reviews, Emerging Investigator
2021 UWindsor Outstanding Community Engagement, Knowledge Transfer & Knowledge Mobilization Award
2021 UWindsor Faculty of Science Outreach and Engagement Award
2020 John C. Polanyi Prize in Chemistry
2020 Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), Dalton Transactions, New Talents: Americas
2019 UWindsor Office of Human Rights, Equity & Accessibility (OHREA) Award (Team Award for Organizing LGBTQ+ Conf.)
2017 NSERC Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship
2017 NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship (PDF)
2017 Resnick Postdoctoral Prize Fellowship in Sustainability Science
2016 CSC Award for Graduate Work in Inorganic Chemistry (AGWIC)
2015 Dr. Arnold By Travel Fellowship
2014 UBC Graduate Student International Research Mobility Award
2013 NSERC Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement
2013 NSERC Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship
2013 NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS-D3)
2012 Gladys Estella Laird Research Fellowship
2012 UBC Four Year Fellowship (FYF)
2012 NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS-M)
2012 Sepracor Award
2012 The Society of Chemical Industry Merit Award
2012 University Medal for Academic Excellence in Chemistry
2012 Lou Visentin Award
2012 NSERC-USRA
2011 Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC) Silver Medal
2011 Dr. H.J. Anderson Memorial Scholarship
2011 NSERC-USRA
2011 Dr. Douglas L. Cooper Memorial Scholarship
2011 C.D. Howe Memorial Scholarship
2010 Jeanne F. Sanger Memorial Scholarship
2009 Robert Gillespie-Reid Memorial Scholarship
2008 Governor-General’s Bronze Medal for Academic Excellence

The drover group WESTERN UNIVERSITY, LONDON, ON

BIOGRAPHY

APPOINTMENT

education​

EDITORIAL ACTIVITIES​

Selected awards & Honours​

The drover group
WESTERN UNIVERSITY, LONDON, ON

education

EDITORIAL ACTIVITIES

Selected awards & Honours