Accessibility statement

Dr Beth Nelson

Email: beth.nelson@york.ac.uk

Research Interests

Air pollution remains one of the world's leading environmental health risks, contributing to millions of premature deaths each year (World Health Organisation, 2022). Ground-level ozone is (O3) one of the most widespread air pollutants, damaging human health, ecosystems and crops, yet it is not emitted directly into the atmosphere. Instead, it is formed through complex chemical reactions involving nitrogen oxides (NOₓ) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). My research aims to understand how ozone is evolving in response to changing emissions, air quality legislation and climate change by investigating the long-term behaviour of ozone and its precursor species.
My work focuses on the measurement, quality assurance and analysis of atmospheric trace gases, particularly VOCs and NOₓ. These gases play a central role in atmospheric chemistry, controlling the production of ozone and other secondary pollutants, and long-term, high-quality observations are essential for understanding changes in atmospheric composition and evaluating the effectiveness of emission reduction strategies.
A major part of my role involves the operation, quality assurance and analysis of atmospheric trace gas measurements from the Cabo Verde Atmospheric Observatory (CVAO), a Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) station within the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) network. I am responsible for processing and validating VOC measurements obtained using gas chromatography coupled with flame ionisation detection (GC-FID), managing the NOₓ instrumentation, remotely monitoring instrument performance, providing technical support, and maintaining high-quality observations through rigorous quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) procedures. 
My research focuses on investigating long-term trends in atmospheric composition, in both remote and urban environments. This includes analysing the VOC record from the CVAO, which extends back to 2006, and understanding how background atmospheric composition has changed over nearly two decades. In addition, I study long-term trends in urban ozone across different regions of the world, examining how changes in ozone precursor emissions, air quality policies and climate variability have influenced ozone mixing ratios over time.
To investigate the chemical processes that control ozone formation in polluted urban environments, I use detailed chemical box models, incorporating the Master Chemical Mechanism, constrained by field measurements and observational data from cities including Manchester, Beijing and Delhi. Through this, I can explore how VOCs and NOₓ interact to drive ozone production and how these processes may change under future emission and climate scenarios.

Selected articles and press releases

Selected publications