✳ TUTORING & RESEARCH MENTORING
Patient, practical support in chemistry, geochemistry and scientific modelling. Build understanding. Ask better questions. Find your next step.
CHOOSE A STARTING POINT
Different needs call for different conversations. Start with a bounded question, then agree what support is suitable.
School and college
Work through one agreed topic and syllabus with guided practice and a short next-step note.
A parent or guardian should enquire for anyone under 18. Suitability and safeguarding arrangements must be confirmed before booking.
Explore school support ↗MSc and PhD research
Discuss one paper, dataset or model, with preparation agreed upfront and student-led next steps.
External mentoring is not university supervision or a service that produces assessed work.
Explore research mentoring ↗Professional teams
Scope a model review, data-interpretation task or team workshop through the consulting practice.
Commercial terms, technical deliverables and any preparatory work are agreed separately.
Explore professional services ↗See how a model claim can be tested: read the worked critique ↗
YOUR STARTING POINT
You don’t need to have the perfect question.
Start with where you are, and what feels difficult.
Chemistry can feel like a new language. Start with the idea behind the formula, then put it into practice with carefully chosen questions.
GCSE / IGCSE · Selected A level & IB topicsExplore chemical quantities, reactions, equilibrium and the reasoning behind calculations.
Work through your approach and spot where an explanation or a step is missing.
Share your course, exam board and topics so suitability can be checked before agreeing support.
School-level enquiries are subject to topic and syllabus review. A parent or guardian should make the initial enquiry for anyone under 18.
Move beyond memorising a method. Understand what is happening in the system, why an equation applies and how to explain your reasoning.
BSc · University modules · Independent studyWork through aqueous chemistry, geochemical processes and environmental science concepts.
Unpick calculations, interpret figures and test your understanding with worked examples.
Discuss the logic of a report or project while keeping every submission your own work.
Share the module outline and the precise topic. Support is agreed where it fits Peter’s expertise, not across every chemistry specialism.
Develop the understanding and judgement needed to connect the literature, your data and the scientific question behind your project.
MSc · Taught & research projects · Applied scienceExplore water–rock interaction, soil chemistry, contaminant behaviour and weathering.
Clarify the question, compare methods and think critically about what the evidence supports.
Discuss PHREEQC, conceptual models, inputs, assumptions and interpretation of outputs.
Mentoring supports your learning. It does not replace your university supervisor or involve writing assessed work for you.
Use a specialist discussion to examine assumptions, challenge an interpretation and identify the next useful step in your research.
Doctoral research · Early-career researchersConnect the physical system, chemistry, hypotheses and model boundaries.
Explore sensitivity, uncertainty, competing explanations and the limits of your conclusions.
Practise discussing your methods and defending scientific choices in a research conversation.
Subject-specific mentoring in geochemistry and environmental modelling. No guarantee of research outcomes, publication or examination results.
Explore an unfamiliar method or develop a clearer view of the science behind a project through focused technical learning.
Scientists · Environmental professionals · TeamsDiscuss PHREEQC and PHAST workflows, model assumptions and output interpretation.
Explore water, soil, minerals, reactive transport and enhanced rock weathering.
Shape a discussion around a problem you are authorised to share, without confidential client material.
Training and educational discussion are scoped separately from consultancy deliverables or independent technical sign-off.
IDEAS WORTH UNDERSTANDING
From the fundamentals to the bigger picture.
Support grounded in real scientific questions.
From the meaning behind an equation to a clear, step-by-step way through a calculation.
Make connections between chemical species, environmental conditions and the behaviour of real systems.
Explore minerals, water–rock interaction, weathering and environmental processes.
Develop your understanding of PHREEQC, PHAST, conceptual models and reactive transport.
Ask focused questions, read critically and assess what your results do and do not show.
Interpret scientific data, discuss analysis in R and communicate the reasoning behind a result.
A THOUGHTFUL APPROACH
A conversation, not a race through the material.
The aim is to help you think it through for yourself.
Share what you’re studying, what you’ve tried and the part that isn’t clicking. Decide together whether the support is a good fit.
Break the problem into manageable steps. Use explanations, examples and discussion to connect the ideas.
Explain the idea back, identify what is clearer and leave with a specific question or task to work on independently.
Your learning. Your work. Guidance that helps you build understanding, not a service that completes assessed work for you.
MEET PETER
years across scientific research,
academia and industry
A career exploring how scientific systems work.
A research chemist and geochemist with a particular interest in how water, minerals and the environment interact.
Peter’s work brings together laboratory experiments, field studies and hydrogeochemical modelling. His scientific experience includes soil geochemistry, reactive transport and enhanced rock weathering for carbon dioxide removal.
This educational site brings that subject knowledge into a different kind of conversation: one focused on helping you understand an idea, question an assumption or move forward with your own work.
Peter’s supplied professional profile lists these qualifications: PhD in Molecular Dynamics Modelling (1989), University of the Witwatersrand; MSc in Inorganic Chemical Modelling (1986), University of the Witwatersrand. It also lists previous roles as Science Modelling Lead at UNDO Carbon Limited; Research Associate at University of Sheffield.
Selected co-authored research. Publication links do not imply institutional endorsement of this independent educational site.
A LITTLE HELP, RIGHT NOW
Three practical resources for your next study session.
Free to read. No sign-up. No email gate.
A practical worksheet to turn “I don’t understand” into one specific, answerable question.
Open free resourceSix prompts to help you identify the question, method, evidence and limits of a paper.
Open free resourceA preparation checklist for thinking through a scientific model before building it.
Open free resourceBEFORE YOU ASK
Clarity matters here, too.
The focus is chemistry, geochemistry, environmental science and scientific modelling. Support can range from selected school and college topics to subject-specific university and postgraduate research questions. Please share your course outline and topic so suitability can be checked.
Yes. Your enquiry can be about a single concept, a difficult paper, a modelling question or a longer-term learning goal. The scope, format, fees and availability are agreed before any session; an enquiry is not a booking.
Include your preferred format and time zone in your enquiry. Online or in-person arrangements, any software requirements and availability will be confirmed individually. No location-specific teaching service is promised on this website.
No. The purpose is to help you understand the science, evaluate your approach and develop your own work. Support does not include completing assessed assignments, writing dissertations, fabricating data or taking examinations. Follow your institution’s rules on external assistance.
A parent or guardian should make the initial enquiry and take part in agreeing any arrangements. School subject coverage and safeguarding arrangements must be confirmed before teaching begins. This website does not claim qualified-teacher status or a verified DBS check.
There are no published rates at this stage. Please describe your subject, level and goal. Scope, fees, preparation, cancellation arrangements and any other terms must be agreed in advance. The resources on this website are free to use for personal study.
LET’S FIND YOUR NEXT STEP
A topic that won’t click. A model that needs thinking through. A bigger research question. Start with a few lines about it.
Include your level, the subject and what you would like to understand. Please don’t send confidential research, student records or sensitive information.
Preview: contact details are being finalised. This form prepares a draft only and does not send a message.
Opening an email app does not send the message. Review the recipient and press Send in your email app.