About the Editors
Chief Editor: Alexandra Groves, PhD, Springer Nature, UK
Alex obtained her MChem degree from the University of York in 2017, before moving to University College London to undertake a PhD in materials chemistry, studying hydrothermal synthesis of electrocatalysts for the hydrogen economy. Upon completion of her PhD, Alex moved into the chemicals industry, researching carbon capture and utilisation before joining the editorial team of Nature Synthesis in March 2022.
Alex is based in the London Office.
Senior Editor: Peter Seavill, PhD, Springer Nature, UK ORCiD
Peter obtained his MSci degree in Chemistry from University College London in 2016, before carrying out a PhD in the interdisciplinary topic of electro-organic synthesis at the same institution. Upon completion of his studies, Peter worked at the Royal Society of Chemistry as a publishing editor on the journals, Energy & Environmental Science and Environmental Science: Nano. He then joined the editorial team of Nature Synthesis in June 2021.
Peter is based in the London office.
Senior Editor: Tom West, PhD, Springer Nature, UK ORCiD
Tom graduated from the University of Bristol with an MSci in Chemistry in 2012, before moving to the University of St Andrews to undertake a PhD in organic synthesis, studying catalytic rearrangement reactions finishing in 2016. Academic and industrial postdoctoral research roles followed at the University of Edinburgh and Syngenta, Switzerland, respectively, before joining the editorial team of Nature Synthesis in March 2021.
Tom is based in the London office.
Senior Editor: Eric Piechota, PhD, Springer Nature, USA
Eric earned his Ph.D. in physical-inorganic chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2019 where he focused on understanding the kinetics of light-initiated electron transfer reactions. He then moved to The Ohio State University as a post-doctoral researcher, before joining the Energy & Materials team at Nature Communications in 2021. He joined Nature Synthesis in August 2025.
Eric is based in the New York office.
Senior Editor: Jet-Sing Lee, PhD, Springer Nature, Japan ORCiD
Jet obtained his MChem and PhD from the University of Liverpool, synthesising porous organic materials for energy and environmental applications. Afterwards, he held a position as a research Assistant Professor at Kyoto University, working on metal–organic frameworks, followed by a JSPS postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Tokyo, focusing on supramolecular chemistry. Jet began his editorial career at Communications Materials in 2022, handling manuscripts across chemistry, energy, and biomaterials. He joined Nature Synthesis in August 2025.
Jet is based in the Tokyo office.
Associate Editor: Bei Zhang, PhD, Springer Nature, China
Bei obtained her MSc in Organic Chemistry from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2013. She received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Geneva in 2016, where she focused on metal nanoclusters and operando spectroscopy. She then undertook two postdoc positions, working on electro- and thermo-metal catalysis at University of California, Berkeley, and the Institute of Chemical Technology, Valencia Polytechnic University, respectively. Bei was an Assistant Professor at Anhui University before joining Nature Synthesis in November 2025.
Bei is based in the Shanghai office.
Associate Editor: Joel Cejas Sánchez, PhD, Springer Nature, Germany
Joel obtained his MSc in Chemistry from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in 2020. Later, he carried out a PhD in Organic Chemistry at the same institution and the University of Warsaw, as part of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship. His research focused on the synthesis of ruthenium catalysts and their immobilization on macromolecular supports. He joined the Research Cross-Journal Team in May 2025 and he is currently working with the Nature Synthesis team.
Joel is based in the Berlin office.
The Research Cross-Journal Editorial Team supports the Nature-branded research journals, with a focus on handling primary research manuscripts.
The Reviews Cross-Journal Editorial Team handles Research Briefing articles for the Nature-branded research journals.
Alumni
Former Chief Editor: Ali Stoddart, PhD, Springer Nature, UK
Ali was Chief Editor of Nature Synthesis from its launch in 2022 until 2025. Ali has an MSci in chemistry from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in polymer synthesis from Durham University. Ali joined Nature Materials in 2007 and, during this time, handled manuscripts in the areas of materials chemistry and biomaterials. In 2016, as Chief Editor, she launched the first physical sciences Nature Reviews journal, Nature Reviews Materials. Ali returned to the Nature Materials team, as Chief Editor, in July 2024 and is based in the London office.
Former Consulting Senior Editor: Stephanie Greed, PhD, Springer Nature, UK ORCiD
Stephanie received her PhD in chemistry from Imperial College London, where she researched new synthetic methods to access underexplored S(VI) functional groups with Dr James Bull. Previously, she studied at the University of Leeds during her undergraduate degree in chemistry. Her masters project focussed on the synthesis of small-molecule inhibitors of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) under the supervision of Professor Andrew J. Wilson. Stephanie joined the Nature Reviews Chemistry team in April 2022. Among other topics, she handles content in organic chemistry, synthesis and catalysis, and medicinal chemistry. Stephanie was a Consulting Senior Editor on Nature Synthesis in 2025 and is based in the London office.
Former Consulting Senior Editor: Yanfei Zhu, PhD, Springer Nature, China
Yanfei joined Nature Chemical Engineering in January 2024. She started her editorial career at Cell Press as a founding editor of Chem Catalysis in 2021. She obtained her master's degree in 2017 from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and her PhD from the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST, CAS, China). After her PhD, she also worked as a postdoctoral fellow at NCNST. Yanfei's research interests are in heterogeneous catalysis and materials science; she is particularly interested in catalysis for energy-related applications. Yanfei was a Consulting Editor on Nature Synthesis in 2025 and is based in the Beijing office.
