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NEWS RELEASEDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs |
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290/02 |
18 July 2002 | |
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AIR QUALITY EXPERT GROUP MEMBERS APPOINTED |
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The members of a new Expert Group on Air Quality, set up to help tackle air pollution, were announced today by Defra and the Scottish Executive. Professor Mike Pilling of Leeds University has already been appointed to chair the Group.
The new Air Quality Expert Group will help the Government to assess the level and sources of pollution as well as the impact of our proposed reduction strategies. Pollution levels in the UK are made up from many sources, including industry, transport, our own homes and the natural environment, as well as pollutants which have come from other countries.
The group is made up of scientists with a breadth of skills and experience. Some have already helped the UK Government and the devolved administrations in developing and implementing the Air Quality Strategy while others are joining an advisory group for the first time.
The Group's first meeting was on 17th July.
Notes for editors
1. The Air Quality Expert Group is an advisory Non-Departmental Public Body and a Jointly Established Body under the Scotland Act 1998.
2. Further information on AQEG can be found on the Group's website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/airquality/aqeg/index.htmInformation on these pages will include the dates, agendas, and minutes of meetings as they become available, a list of the members, the Register of Interests, and draft and final reports as they become available.
3. Ministers appointed Professor Pilling from the University of Leeds as the Group's chair in August 2001.
4. The Air Quality Expert Group's main functions will be:
5. All full members will be paid £145 per day up to a maximum of 20 days per year for attendance at and preparation for AQEG meetings. The Chair will be paid £185 per day for a maximum of 40 days per year. Members will also be able to claim travel and subsistence at the appropriate civil service rates.
Biographical notes
Chair
Professor Mike Pilling is the Dean of the School of Chemistry at the University of Leeds. He has been involved in atmospheric chemistry research for almost 10 years. Much of the research has been aimed at understanding chemical processing in the boundary layer and free troposphere. Professor Pilling is also interested in and committed to seeing the results of research used in the public interest. He was previously a member of the Department of the Environment's Quality of Urban Air Review Group, which produced three reports dealing with aspects of urban air quality in the UK.
Professor Pilling indicated that he had not undertaken any political activity during the past five years.
Members
Helen ApSimon is Professor of Air Pollution Studies at Imperial College London where she heads the Environmental Modelling, Measurement and Assessment (EMMA) section of the Department of Environmental Science and Technology in the Faculty of Life Sciences. Her research in air pollution developed from modelling studies of nuclear accidents, and diversified into international issues such as acid rain, and air pollution problems in Eastern Europe. Over the last twelve years she has worked extensively for Task Forces under the UN ECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, undertaking modelling and assessment of cost-effective strategies to reduce acidification, eutrophication, excess tropospheric ozone, and fine particulate concentrations. She also has strong interests in urban air pollution, particularly in London where she chairs the APRIL (Air Pollution Research in London) network. She was a founder member and Chairman, and is now President, of the European Association for the Science of Air Pollution. Professor ApSimon was a member of the Airborne Particles Expert Group, and the National Expert Group on Transboundary Air Pollution.
Professor ApSimon indicated that she had not undertaken any political activity during the past five years.
Dr David Carruthers is currently a director of Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants (CERC), specialists in small scale atmospheric flows and local air pollution. His research interests include the structure of the atmospheric boundary layer with a focus on the influence of complex topography and urban environments, and the modelling and assessment of local air quality. He has contributed to the understanding of the relative importance at local scales of atmospheric emissions from local sources and from sources on urban and regional scales. These methodologies have been applied to many cities as part of their review and assessment of air quality, a component part of the Air Quality Strategy. He has also developed models for flow over complex terrain with application in pollutant dispersion and wind energy. David Carruthers is a member of the Steering Committee for a series of workshops on the Harmonisation in Europe of Dispersion Models for Regulatory Purposes.
Dr Carruthers indicated that he had not undertaken any political activity during the past five years.
David Carslaw is a Principal Scientist with the Environmental Research Group at King's College London. He has over 10 years of experience in the public and private sectors, which spans interests in dispersion modelling, emissions inventories and mobile monitoring. His primary interests relate to the development of modelling techniques to predict current and future air pollution in London. He is involved in working closely with the Greater London Authority and Transport for London in developing the London road transport emissions inventory and air pollution modelling in support of the Mayor's Air Quality Strategy. Recently, he has been involved in the calculation of the emissions and potential air quality benefits of a low emission zone for London and quantifying the effects of congestion charging.
Mr Carslaw indicated that he had not undertaken any political activity during the past five years.
Dr Roy Colvile is SeniorLecturer in Air Quality Management in the Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Imperial College London Faculty of Life Sciences, and a convenor of the Imperial College M.Sc. in Environmental Technology. His research is concerned with the use of air quality mapping techniques, to assess the quantity of air pollution people are exposed to as they live, work, and travel in the urban environment, including how to communicate the results. Specific pollutants considered include fine particles, arsenic, and the formation of nitrates in air from oxides of nitrogen in vehicle exhaust. The research brings together fluid dynamics, air pollution exposure assessment, and traffic modelling on city streets.
Dr Colvile indicated that he had not undertaken any political activity during the past five years.
Professor Dick Derwent OBE has spent much of his research career studying atmospheric chemistry. Initially, this work was carried out in the Air Pollution Division, Warren Spring Laboratory, Stevenage where he set up monitoring networks for ozone, NOx, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. He then spent a period of 16 years at the Harwell Laboratory building models of stratospheric ozone depletion, tropospheric ozone build-up, acid rain and ground level ozone formation. Having had a three year spell as a research manager in the Department of the Environment, he joined the Meteorological Office. His main task there has been to build a global three-dimensional model to describe acid rain, photochemical ozone formation and the build up of greenhouse gases. Dick is the joint author of over 310 published papers dealing with acid rain, urban pollution, photochemical smog and global atmospheric chemistry. He is Honorary Professor in School of Geography and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham and Visiting Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Technology at Imperial College London Faculty of Life Sciences. He was awarded the OBE in January 2001 in recognition of his contribution to atmospheric chemistry research at the Met Office.
Professor Derwent indicated that he had not undertaken any political activity during the past five years.
Dr Steve Dorling is a Senior Lecturer and Researcher in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia (UEA), following previous positions at the Canadian Atmospheric Environment Service and the UK Meteorological Office. He also holds a non-executive position as Research Director of WeatherQuest Ltd, a weather forecast company based at UEA. As a Chartered Meteorologist, he is particularly interested in the role of weather and climate in impacting day to day, year to year and longer term variability in air quality. His current research embraces observational, empirical and modelling work. Steve is a member of the Council of the Royal Meteorological Society and chairs the RMS Education Committee. He is a non-active member of the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) and the National Trust.
Dr Dorling indicated that he had not undertaken any political activity during the past five years.
Professor Bernard Fisher is currently an air quality forecaster with the National Centre for Risk Assessment and Options Appraisal at the Environment Agency. His interests lie in on air pollution modelling, dispersion models, air quality management, acid rain and environmental assessment, with special interest in energy generation and road transport. The focus of current research is to quantitative techniques to air pollution models for decision making. Recent experience has involved methods for implementing local air quality management. He has previously been a member of the Review Group on Acid Rain and the Airborne Particles Expert Group. Professor Fisher was until recently a member of the NERC Atmospheric Sciences Peer Review Committee and was chair of the Air Quality Committee of the National Society for Clean Air
Professor Fisher indicated that he had not undertaken any political activity during the past five years.
Roy Harrison is Professor of Environmental Health at the University of Birmingham, a position he has held since 1991. He is Head of the Division of Environmental Health and Risk Management where he leads a large research group focussing mainly on air pollution issues, from emissions, through atmospheric processes, to effects on human health. He also sits as a member of the DEFRA Advisory Committee on Hazardous Substances and the Department of Health Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants. His major interests in the air pollution field lie in the areas of atmospheric particles and nitrogen compounds.
Professor Harrison indicated that he had not undertaken any political activity during the past five years.
Dr. Mathew Heal is a lecturer in Environmental Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh. His general research interests are in atmospheric chemistry and cover laboratory studies and modelling of the kinetics of tropospheric processes; measurement of atmospheric trace species and their exchange with the surface; urban air chemistry, and the link with human exposure and impact on health. More specific research projects relevant to AQEG include: quantification of metal content of airborne PM10 PM2.5 and PM1 particles in relation to local and long-range sources and for application to epidemiological exposure assessments; linking chemical composition of urban aerosol and biological toxicity assay; application of time-of-flight mass spectrometry to analysis of single aerosol particles; the measurement and spatial variability of urban NO2; modelling the coupled chemistry and exchange fluxes of gases such as NO2, O3 and PAN between surface and boundary layer.
Dr Heal indicated that he had not undertaken any political activity during the past five years.
Professor Duncan Laxen is an environmental scientist with over 25 years experience of both research and consultancy work in the field of ambient air quality. He runs his own company Air Quality Consultants Ltd, and has provided consultancy services for a wide range of public sector organisations, including DEFRA, the Highways Agency, the Environment Agency, the Scottish Executive Development Department and a number of local authorities, as well as for a wide range of private sector companies. He has extensive experience of air quality measurement and assessment and has frequently acted as expert witness at Public Inquiries. Professor Laxen represents the interests of Non-Governmental Organisation on the Steering Group set up by the European Commission to help with the implementation of the Daughter Directives arising from the Framework Directive on ambient air quality monitoring and assessment. He also sits on various of the Commission's working groups. He is a member of the Council and the Environment Committee of the National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection. He has a visiting professorship in air quality management and assessment at the University of the West of England.
Professor Laxen indicated that he had not undertaken any political activity during the past five years.
Dr Sarah Lindley is Lecturer in Geographical Information Systems in the School of Geography, University of Manchester. She has nearly ten years experience in the development of spatially resolved emissions inventories and the wider use of Geographical Information Systems and Science for air quality management applications. Following her doctoral studies, she spent three years as a Research Fellow in the Atmospheric Research and Information Centre where she also gained practical expertise in carrying out applied air quality research, principally for local authority clients. In addition to her specific interests in the air quality field, she is a member of the University of Manchester's Centre for Urban and Regional Ecology and has worked on a variety of multi-disciplinary projects related to GIS, modelling and sustainable development.
Dr Lindley indicated that she had not undertaken any political activity during the past five years.
Dr Ian McCrae is a Principal Scientist working at the TRL Limited (Transport Research Laboratory) within the air pollution and emissions team of the Environment Group. He is responsible for carrying out a programme of research investigating exhaust emissions from surface transport and their impact on air quality. This has involved both the monitoring and modelling of exhaust emissions and air pollution. He has been concerned with the investigation of the impact of traffic management and control on emissions and air quality, studies of inspection and maintenance procedures for the control of in-use emissions, development of local and strategic environmental impact assessment methodologies for transport and the development of exhaust emission factor databases.
Dr McCrae indicated that he had not undertaken any political activity during the past five years.
John Stedman is a Principal Air Quality Consultant at netcen (part of AEA Technology plc) and leads a team responsible for data analysis, pollution climate mapping and air quality policy analysis. He has a BA in Chemistry from Wadham College, Oxford. John has worked in the air quality field since joining Warren Spring Laboratory in 1988 and joined AEA Technology in 1994. His research interests include urban and rural air quality, air quality policy, pollutant mapping and assessment of the health benefits resulting from the measures proposed to improve air quality. John has previously been a member of the Photochemical Oxidants Review Group and the Airborne Particles Expert Group.
Mr Stedman indicated that he had canvassed on behalf of the Labour Party and helped at elections during the past five years.
Ex Officio member for the Central Management and Control Unit of the automatic urban and rural networks:
Stephen Moorcroft is the Managing Director of Casella Stanger, an independent environmental consultancy. He has over 25 years experience, predominantly within the field of ambient air quality. He is currently responsible for a number of major DEFRA contracts related to air quality, including management of the UK Automatic Urban and Rural Network, research into particle numbers and concentrations, and monitoring of heavy metals. He has been closely involved with the process of local air quality management since its' inception, and has drafted technical guidance for review and assessment, has been responsible for the operation of a Helpdesk for dispersion modelling, and is currently responsible for the appraisal of local authority action plans. He has served on previous Government expert advisory panels and EC Working Groups, and is currently the Chair of NSCAs Air Quality Committee.
Ex Officio member for the Quality Assurance and Quality Control of the automatic urban network and the Non-automatic monitoring networks:
Ken Stevenson is Head of Ambient Air Quality Monitoring at netcen (part of AEA Technology plc). Ken has a BSc in physics from Imperial College and worked for 19 years in the Air Pollution Division of Warren Spring Laboratory before joining AEA Technology in 1994. Ken has detailed specialist knowledge of air pollution issues, including monitoring, development of monitoring strategies, air quality assessment and quality assurance. Ken works closely with the EC and the UK Government on air quality issues and policy development and has contributed to the EC Working Groups on particle monitoring and air quality network design. Ken manages large programmes for the UK government and private industry and is also an experienced international consultant with extensive project work throughout Europe, Asia and Africa.
Ex Officio member for the Quality Assurance and Quality Control of the automatic rural and London networks and the Hydrocarbon monitoring networks:
Dr Paul Quincey is a Principal Research Scientist in the Analytical Science Group at the National Physical Laboratory. He joined NPL in 1986 with a technical background in physics and materials science, joining the Environmental Standards Section in 1994. He currently manages two major contracts for DEFRA: the QA/QC Unit for the UK Rural and London Networks, and the UK Ambient Hydrocarbon Non-Automatic Air Quality Network. He is also responsible for a major project within the DTI's Valid Analytical Measurement Programme covering low concentration gas measurements, including air quality, which involves practical knowledge of the available technologies and issues affecting good measurements. Previously he has worked on large scale field measurement campaigns and the establishment of the MCERTS instrument certification scheme for the Environment Agency. He has a good current knowledge of European Commission requirements for air quality measurements, partly through being an active member of the CEN working groups for benzene, PM2.5, and diffusive sampling (CEN TC 264 WGs 13, 15 and 11).
Ex Officio member for the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory:
Dr Tim Murrells is a Principal Environmental Consultant at Netcen, a part of AEA Technology. Since 1995, he has worked on the UK's National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory Programme, where his main role has been providing the inventory for road transport emissions. His emission forecasts for different transport and technology scenarios have been used by DEFRA and DTLR to formulate Government policy on transport and environment issues. Key areas he has contributed to recently include the Government's Ten Year Transport Plan and the nation's Air Quality Strategy, as well as the UK positioning during negotiations on European directives on vehicle emissions and fuel standards. Tim was a member of the Airborne Particles Expert Group (APEG). He also has a research background in atmospheric and combustion chemistry at Netcen and previously undertook laboratory research into atmospheric chemical processes in the U.S. at the NOAA Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado.
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