Erica Wanless received her BSc(Hons) in Chemistry (1987-1990) and PhD in Surface Science (1991-1995) from the Australian National University in Canberra. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Otago, New Zealand before joining the Department of Chemistry at the University of Newcastle, Australia as a lecturer in 1996. At Newcastle she has risen through the ranks to the position of Professor and now Head of Chemistry. She has conducted extensive research on polymers and colloidal particles at interfaces with focus areas being stimulus responsive polymers, specific ion effects, and particle stabilised foams and emulsions. For the past decade Erica’s research into responsive polymer brush coatings has been heavily reliant on neutron reflectometry with experiments conducted at ANSTO in Sydney. Erica is the immediate past president of the Australasian Colloid and Interface Society.