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Alastair Charles Lewis

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Alastair Charles Lewis (Ally Lewis) is a professor of Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of York and the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS).[1] He has been Chair of the UK Government's independent science advisory body on air pollution, the Defra Air Quality Expert Group, since 2019.

Lewis became Chair of the Department for Transport Science Advisory Council[2] in 2021. He is currently a member of the Environmental Sustainability Panel of the UK Civil Aviation Authority. He holds a Royal Society Industry Fellowship (2024-2028) working with the fine chemicals company Givaudan SA on new approaches to solvent minimisation.

Alastair Charles Lewis
Born
Chatham, Kent
Alma materUniversity of Leeds BSc (Hons), PhD
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsAtmospheric chemistry, Analytical science and technology, Environmental policy
Thesis Polycyclic aromatic compounds in urban air (1995)
Doctoral advisorMike Pilling, Keith Bartle
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

Education

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Lewis attended Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School, Rochester, and then studied chemistry at the University of Leeds followed by a PhD in atmospheric and analytical chemistry supervised by Mike Pilling and Keith Bartle, awarded in 1995.

Research and career

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He is known for his development of analytical chemistry methods that are applied to air pollution monitoring and atmospheric chemistry research, and particularly the use of gas chromatography to measure volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and the composition of liquid fuels such as gasoline and diesel. He was the first person to use comprehensive gas chromatography (GCxGC) to establish the complexity of volatile organic compounds found in urban air, completed whilst on a research sabbatical at RMIT University, Australia.[3] He held a lecturer position at the University of Leeds, as a joint appointment between the Schools of Chemistry and Earth & Environment before later moving to the Department of Chemistry at University of York in 2003. He currently works in the Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories at York.

Between 2007 and 2012 Lewis worked part-time for the Natural Environment Research Council as their Theme Leader for research programmes in new technologies. Between 2008 and 2022 he was a science director at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, with specific responsibility for air pollution and atmospheric composition research.

Lewis has published a number of commentary articles on air pollution science and policy in the UK,[4] US[5] and China.[6] He has also made a number of appearances on TV and radio discussing vehicle emissions[7] and indoor air pollution.[8] He has been widely quoted as being skeptical about the value of air pollution removal technologies such as smog towers and roadside filter systems,[9][10] and the wider sustainability of air filtration.[11] He has raised potential problems associated with hydrogen for home heating, highlighting the negative impacts of emissions of NOx and the concentration of those emissions in poorer neighbourhoods.[12] With Prof. Chris Whitty and Dr Deborah Jenkins he published a future research needs strategy on Indoor Air Quality.[13]

He has collaborated with Peter Edwards at York to evaluate low cost air pollution sensor technologies[14] and with David Carslaw on diesel engine NOx emissions.[15][16] Although primarily a chemist, he was named in a 2015 list of the World's 100 most influential analytical scientists.[17] His research career was documented by the Science History Institute in 2011,[18] part of series of interviews with atmospheric scientists.

Awards and honours

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Lewis was awarded the Desty Memorial Prize in separation science at the Royal Institution in 2001, a Philip Leverhulme Prize in 'Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences' in 2004, the SAC Silver Medal in 2007 from the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the John Jeyes Award for Environment, Energy and Sustainability in 2012.[19] He was awarded the 2022 Lord Lewis prize for significant contributions to the development of science policy.[20]

References

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  1. ^ "Lewis, Prof. Alastair Charles, (born 1971), Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry, University of York, since 2006; Research Director, National Centre for Atmospheric Science, since 2006 | WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO". www.ukwhoswho.com. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U281715. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  2. ^ "DfT Science Advisory Council". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  3. ^ Lewis, Alastair C.; Carslaw, Nicola; Marriott, Philip J.; Kinghorn, Russel M.; Morrison, Paul; Lee, Andrew L.; Bartle, Keith D.; Pilling, Michael J. (2000). "A larger pool of ozone-forming carbon compounds in urban atmospheres". Nature. 405 (6788): 778–781. Bibcode:2000Natur.405..778L. doi:10.1038/35015540. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 10866195. S2CID 4388904.
  4. ^ Lewis, Alastair. "Clean air strategy: what you need to know about the UK's latest pollution policy". The Conversation. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
  5. ^ Lewis, Alastair C. (2018-02-16). "The changing face of urban air pollution" (PDF). Science. 359 (6377): 744–745. Bibcode:2018Sci...359..744L. doi:10.1126/science.aar4925. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 29449479. S2CID 206665968.
  6. ^ "Beware China's 'anti-smog tower' and other plans to pull pollution from the air". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
  7. ^ "Road emissions disparity 'was known'". BBC News. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
  8. ^ "Episode 2, Series 4, Trust Me, I'm a Doctor - Are perfumed products bad for me? - BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
  9. ^ Fuller, Gary (2018-12-20). "Pollutionwatch: why cleaning the air is like taking milk out of tea". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  10. ^ Fuller, Gary (2018-11-13). "What would a smog-free city look like?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  11. ^ EST, Alastair Lewis On 2/20/19 at 6:19 AM (2019-02-20). "Air purifiers don't remove pollution—but they could be contaminating our water and soil instead". Newsweek. Retrieved 2019-04-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Lewis, Alastair (2021-07-13). "Pollution from hydrogen fuel could widen inequality". Nature. 595 (7867): 353. Bibcode:2021Natur.595..353L. doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01926-8. PMID 34257437. S2CID 235821547.
  13. ^ Lewis, Alastair C.; Jenkins, Deborah; Whitty, Christopher J. M. (February 2023). "Hidden harms of indoor air pollution — five steps to expose them". Nature. 614 (7947): 220–223. Bibcode:2023Natur.614..220L. doi:10.1038/d41586-023-00287-8. PMID 36755167.
  14. ^ Lewis, Alastair; Edwards, Peter (2016-07-06). "Validate personal air-pollution sensors". Nature. 535 (7610): 29–31. Bibcode:2016Natur.535...29L. doi:10.1038/535029a. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 27383969.
  15. ^ Grange, Stuart K.; Lewis, Alastair C.; Moller, Sarah J.; Carslaw, David C. (2017-11-27). "Lower vehicular primary emissions of NO2 in Europe than assumed in policy projections" (PDF). Nature Geoscience. 10 (12): 914–918. Bibcode:2017NatGe..10..914G. doi:10.1038/s41561-017-0009-0. ISSN 1752-0894. S2CID 133789810.
  16. ^ Harrabin, Roger (2017-11-27). "Clean air target 'may be met quicker'". BBC News. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  17. ^ "Alastair Lewis". The Analytical Scientist. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
  18. ^ "Alastair Lewis". Science History Institute. 2016-08-02. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
  19. ^ "John Jeyes Award 2012 Winner". www.rsc.org. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  20. ^ "Lord Lewis Prize". Royal Society of Chemistry. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
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