Prestigious award for pollution research scientist
Posted on 19 November 2004
Dr Alastair Lewis, of the University’s Department of Chemistry, has been awarded a £50,000 prize by the Leverhulme Trust for his work on analytical atmospheric chemistry. Ozone affects children and elderly people and those with breathing difficulties by irritating the lining of the lungs. In the 2003, heatwave in the UK, scientists believe that up to 600 people died as a result of poor air quality. Dr Lewis headed a team of academics in a project, financed by the Natural Environment Research Council, which showed that in hot weather plants emit an organic substance called isoprene. This helps to convert nitrogen dioxide, generated by car exhaust fumes and power station emissions, into ozone resulting in elevated pollution levels. Earlier this year, Dr Lewis led a team of 40 scientists from seven UK universities, which travelled to the Azores to take part in the largest international atmospheric field campaign of its type ever attempted.
The mission tracked a mass of polluted air as it left the United States and travelled across the Atlantic to the UK and mainland Europe. Scientists measured chemical reactions within the air-mass, quantifying the resulting pollutants delivered to Europe.
The crux of what we are involved in is trying to untangle the role played by the huge number of organic compounds that are found in the atmosphere
Dr Alastair Lewis
Dr Lewis said: "We look into how organic compounds affect atmospheric chemistry, how they affect local and regional air pollution and how they affect the atmosphere globally through interactions with climate.
"The crux of what we are involved in is trying to untangle the role played by the huge number of organic compounds that are found in the atmosphere. It is a relatively new discipline so I am thrilled with this award."
Dr Lewis will use the award to pay for teaching support to allow him to do more research.
"We do a lot of time-consuming fieldwork which involves being away from York for substantial periods. Hopefully this prize will give me two years during which I can devote more time to doing field work," he said.
Professor Paul Walton, Head of the Department of Chemistry, said "Ally's research into analytical atmospheric chemistry has shed important light onto major environmental issues and I am delighted that his work has been recognised through the award of this prestigious prize".
Notes to editors:
- The University of York’s Department of Chemistry has an excellent reputation for teaching and research. In the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise, the department was awarded a 5 rating. It has 46 full-time members of staff including many winners of international prizes, more than 380 undergraduate students, approximately 150 graduates (mainly studying for the D.Phil. degree) and 90 research fellows. Its laboratories were recently extended and modernised to provide an excellent environment for teaching and research.
- Dr Lewis moved to York in May, 2003, from the University of Leeds, where he studied for his doctorate and was later a lecturer.
- The Leverhulme Trust awards seek to recognise “research vision and quality” as well as “fresh lines of thinking and new groupings of expertise.” The award to Dr Lewis is one of 22 awarded this year for work in Anthropology, Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Economics, Maths and Statistics and Medieval, Early Modern and Modern History ·More information on the Leverhulme Trust at www.leverhulme.ac.uk/news/