John Ripmeester

John Ripmeester, FRSC

Principal Research Officer, Materials Structure and Function Group, National Research Council Canada (Ottawa, ON)

July 7, 2008

John Ripmeester is Principal Research Officer in the Materials Structure and Function Group at the National Research Council Canada (NRC).

Dr. Ripmeester received his Bachelor of Science (Honours in Chemistry) and his PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of British Columbia, the latter under guidance of Basil Dunell. He subsequently took up a position as Research Associate at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) with Herbert Gutowsky, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in the Division of Chemistry at the National Research Council with Don Davidson.

Dr. Ripmeester has been a staff member at the NRC since 1974, first with the Division of Chemistry, then with the Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences upon its establishment in 1991. After leading the Materials Structure and Function Group for 10 years (1997 to 2007) he continues to work with the group with his research focusing on the chemical applications of solid state NMR spectroscopy, the development of multi-technique approaches to the characterization of materials, supramolecular chemistry, porous materials, clathrates, gas hydrates, and other guest-host materials. Dr. Ripmeester is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia, Queen’s University and Carleton University.

Dr. Ripmeester is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and has received a number of awards for his scientific contributions, including the Barringer Award in Spectroscopy (1998) and; Her Majesty the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal (2003). He has nearly 500 publications, 6 patents and is often an invited speaker at special events.


Role: Panel Member
Report: Energy from Gas Hydrates: Assessing the Opportunities and Challenges for Canada (July 2008)