Monthly Mind - Dr. Paul Duchesne

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Queen’s University, where I study catalytic processes using X-ray spectroscopy and teach (mostly) physical chemistry.  

Growing up in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, meant that much of my young-adulthood was spent adapting to life in a series of ever-larger schools and cities. Meanwhile, my academic career led me on a meandering journey from my first studies of bimetallic metal nanoparticles and synchrotron X-ray spectroscopy in the laboratory of Prof. Peng Zhang (during my Honours and PhD studies at Dalhousie University), through electrocatalysis and energy storage (with collaborators too numerous to name here), a brief foray into the world of small startups (with Prof. Keith Brunt and NB BioMatrix), and (eventually) unto heterogeneous catalysis and in situ characterization during my postdoctoral fellowship with Prof. Geoffrey Ozin (at the University of Toronto). Most recently, joining Queen’s University as an Assistant Professor has allowed me to work with incredibly talented students and colleagues, and to continue my growth as both a researcher and a teacher.  As a lifelong learner, I am truly grateful to be here, but this is not where I originally pictured myself as I was graduating high school.  

I first enrolled at Dalhousie University intending to complete my first-year requirements (in the Dalhousie Integrated Sciences Program) and applied for early entry to the Pharmacy program. I was a strong student seeking a challenge and pharmacists were in high demand, so the plan was a simple one: complete five years of intensive undergraduate study, secure my degree, and start earning a sound living.  

Instead, I found myself struggling to keep up with my heavy first-year workload, which eventually took a significant toll on both my mental and physical health. Adding insult to injury, I also failed to gain entry to the Pharmacy program, which meant no longer taking classes with some of my closest friends. I spent that summer working as a mall janitor in my hometown, despairing whether I could recover from the year’s disappointments. Eventually, putting the summer’s difficulties behind me, I returned to university the following year and selected Chemistry as my major, little knowing what this path would have in store for me.  

As I gradually acclimated to the challenges of my degree, I was fortunate to secure NSERC USRA funding and gain valuable summer research experience before completing my Honours thesis. After graduating, though, I found myself again beginning the familiar pattern of initial struggle and eventual growth that would also come to define my PhD studies, postdoctoral fellowship, and even my time as an Assistant Professor. During none of these stages did I know in advance which of the branching paths ahead would be right for me, but I continued forward, one step at a time. I believe that it is only with the perspective of hindsight that one’s path appears linear. Over time, however, this journey has taught me the importance of knowing when to challenge yourself and when to rest, how to embrace opportunity when it arrives, and how to learn as much from your peers as you do from your mentors.