Dr Tim Gregory

Nuclear chemist Dr Tim Gregory is a Chemical Analyst at the National Nuclear Laboratory at Sellafield. He spends his workdays in a lab measuring the chemical and isotopic composition of nuclear materials on a variety of different projects. His love for science shines through in his day job, public speaking, and media activities.

Tim’s background is in academia. After completing a PhD at the University of Bristol researching the formation of the Solar System using meteorites, he became a postdoctoral researcher at the British Geological Survey in Nottingham. His background on the cutting edge of academic research prepared him perfectly for his sideways career step into the nuclear industry. He discovered his love for cosmochemistry during a ten-week internship at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where Tim investigated the history of water-rich asteroids.

In his debut book Meteorite: How Stones from Outer Space Made Our World, Tim tells the story of the stones from outer space scattered across our planet.

He surpassed thousands of applicants for a place in the six-part BBC2 series Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes?, where Tim was put through the full rigours of astronaut selection and reached the final three. Since then, he has gone on to present a segment about meteorites on The Sky at Night and has appeared on BBC Breakfast, BBC Look North, and BBC Points West. He frequently features on local and national radio to talk about events in the world of space, and nuclear science.

Tim shares his love of science and the wonders of the natural world and regularly speaks to audiences of all sizes and ages on nuclear science, planetary science, and the importance of science in society. His talks consider why net zero is impossible without nuclear and how nuclear science can change the world.