Dr. Natalia V. Plechkova attained her BSc and MSc in chemical engineering at the Russian Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology, Moscow, and her PhD in chemistry, under the guidance of Professor Seddon. Since then she has been a research fellow and project manager in the QUILL (Queens University Ionic Liquid Laboratories) Research Centre, focusing on various aspects of ionic liquids, including their synthesis, characterization and applications.

Prof. Kenneth R. Seddon is Chair of Inorganic Chemistry at the Queens University of Belfast, and director of the QUILL Research Centre, a world-leading industrial-academic consortium which was awarded the 2006 Queens's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education and has just been involved with implementing a full-scale process for removing mercury from natural gas streams with Petronas Chemicals.