PLANT BIOCHEMIST · METABOLIC ENGINEERING
Designing the chemistry of life.
Biochemist by training, endlessly curious by nature. I engineer plant metabolic pathways by day and spend the rest of my time making content, dancing tango, learning languages, and exploring the world.
Welcome to my corner of the web. I'm Charlay — a biochemist with a PhD in plant biochemistry, a passion for discovery, and a firm belief that curiosity doesn't stop at the lab door.
I study how plants build specialised metabolites and how those pathways can be redesigned for practical use, from sustainable materials to natural products. I've led and contributed to projects spanning enzyme discovery, pathway characterisation, and translational crop engineering, presenting internationally and collaborating across academia and industry.
This site brings together my research, writing, and broader projects — a record of what I've built so far, and where I'm heading next.
Science, life, and everything in between — on TikTok and YouTube.
Short-form science, behind-the-scenes lab life, and whatever else catches my eye.
Long-form dives into plant science, research explainers, travel vlogs, and more.
Science sharpens my thinking. Everything else keeps me human.
Dancing since 2014. Former President of Warwick University Tango Society, instructor at York's Northern Tango Academy, and now resident instructor at UW-Madison Tango.
Read more →Yes, it's football — not soccer. A recent passion of mine to play, but a lifelong Arsenal supporter. The beautiful game in every sense.
Read more →An aspiring polyglot on a mission. Follow my journey learning Mandarin, Spanish, Greek, Arabic — and whichever language grabs my interest next.
Read more →Thoughts, ideas, and musings that don't quite fit into a scientific journal. Science communication, life observations, and the occasional tangent about plants, tango, or travel.
Read my Blog →I'm open to collaborations, speaking invitations, media enquiries, science communication, and the occasional tango.
