Allan Blackman is a Professor at the Auckland University of Technology in Auckland, New Zealand. He obtained his BSc(Hons) and PhD degrees from the University of Otago, New Zealand. He has taught all levels of undergraduate chemistry, in the areas of inorganic and physical chemistry, for over 24 years. Allan’s research interests lie mainly in the field of coordination chemistry, where he studies the synthesis, structure and reactivity of coordination complexes. He has spent research periods in the US (Indiana University, the University of Minnesota), Australia (the University of Queensland) and France (Universite Joseph Fourier, Grenoble), and has also given numerous undergraduate lectures at the National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, China, where he has been appointed a Guest Professor. Allan regularly appears on TV as a science commentator, and published a monthly newspaper column concerning all things chemical. Outside science, his interests include music and sport.