Jo acknowledged for contribution to EC report on noise, air pollution and socioeconomic status

A new European Commission (DG Environment) Science for Environment Policy was published last Friday 9th September. The In-depth Report on 'Links between noise and air pollution and socioeconomic status', was produced by the Science Communication Unit at UWE with advice provided by AQMRC's Dr Jo Barnes.

Full citation for the report:
Science for Environment Policy (2016) Links between noise and air pollution and socioeconomic status. In-depth Report 13 produced for the European Commission, DG Environment by the Science Communication Unit, UWE, Bristol. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/science-environment-policy (direct link here). 

Air quality in the media

Jo Barnes has been invited to participate in interviews on BBC Radio Bristol's Breakfast programme and with ITV and BBC News tomorrow morning. The interviews are linked to the 'Smogmobile' which will be making a trip to Bristol tomorrow. In previous journeys the Smogmobile has demonstrated that air pollution levels within vehicles can be as high or even higher than those measured outside. This, together with the findings from the report from the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health released last week, encouraging walking and cycling to reduce air pollution, help to highlight the need to reduce our reliance on cars, not only to reduce emissions but also to reduce our personal exposure to pollution.

Jo interviewed on BBC Radio Bristol

Jo was interviewed alongside Julie Girling MEP on BBC Radio Bristol on 18th June. Topics included the visit of Karmenu Vella, the EU Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries to the Bristol-Bath region, sources of air pollution in the area and some strategies for reducing air pollution.

To listen again follow this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02st2kv#auto and listen from 37-45 mins

Jim, Jo and Ben at the 52nd International Making Cities Livable Conference on Achieving Green, Healthy Cities

The 52nd International Making Cities Livable Conference on Achieving Green, Healthy Cities, co-sponsored by The University of Bristol and the University of the West of England, is in Bristol this week, and the AQMRC's Jim, Jo and Ben will be ensuring that air quality features prominently. Jim will be presenting under the 'Air Pollution, Urban Noise and Health' session on Thursday afternoon delivering a talk entitled Urban Air Quality in Historical Perspective - or why we fail to learn the lessons of history, in which he will expound on the need to learn from past mistakes in order to address modern air pollution problems in urban areas. Jo and Ben will be presenting in the poster session on the same afternoon, both on the theme of 'Learning from Bristol'. Jo's poster captures research undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of local air quality action planning using Bristol as a case study, while Ben will present the findings of the Bristol European Green Capital Air Quality Masterclass that we were invited to organize by Bristol City Council on behalf of the outgoing European Green Capital City, Copenhagen.



Jo provides expert advise at Air Quality Hackathon in London this weekend

Jo will be providing expert advise at the Future Cities Catapult Air Quality Hackathon in London this weekend. The event, which has nearly 100 registrants so far, aims to get designers, data scientist and creative technologists working with a multitude of relevant datasets to come up with solutions to the following questions:

•  How could data help policymakers to make more informed decisions around air quality?
•  How could we reduce the number of short journeys made by car and encourage more active mobility?
• How could we design tools or services to help people understand the causes or effects of air pollution? 

Jo will be presenting, alongside Professor Frank Kelly (KCL) and Usman Haque (Umbrellium), on Air Quality Management and Policy to set the context for the event and will remain on-hand throughout to deal with any questions and as part of the judging panel to award the best hacks. Further details of the event can be found here: http://www.urbaninnovationcentre.org.uk/event/air-quality-hackathon

 

Jim, Jo & Huw at Air Pollution 2015

Last week, Jim Longhurst, Jo Barnes & Huw Brunt attended the 23rd International Conference on Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution 2015 in Valencia, Spain. Jim & Jo, as conference co-chairs, presented the keynote and invited presentations respectively, while Huw presented on his PhD research on air quality management and public health. The conference was very well attended with 90+ delegates registered and a very interesting range of presentations from across the field. The conference proceedings are also now published: Longhurst, J.W.S.,   Capilla, C., Brebbia, C.A.  & Barnes, J. (Editors) (2015). Air Pollution XXIII. WIT Press, Southampton and Boston. pp466, ISBN: 978-1-84564-964-7. 

New publication

Following the recent Air Pollution 2015 conference, the proceedings have been published. Professor Jim Longhurst & Dr Jo Barnes are co-chairs and editors of this publication.

 

Longhurst, J.W.S.,   Capilla, C., Brebbia, C.A.  & Barnes, J. (Editors) (2015). Air Pollution XXIII. WIT Press, Southampton and Boston. pp. 466, ISBN: 978-1-84564-964-7.

Soapbox Science Success

Jo was one of 12 female scientists (though the only one from UWE) selected to participate in the Soapbox Science event in Millennium Square in Bristol yesterday afternoon. Blessed with warm sunshine and an engaged and interested audience, the event was a huge success and a lot of fun! The aim of Soapbox Science is to raise the profile of women in science, however Jo's primary goal was to raise public awareness about air pollution. Armed with a arsenal of props, an hour's worth of spiel and the mandatory white coat, Jo talked, atop her box, about what air pollution was, where it came from and what it did to us, as well as getting the audience to think about how they could reduce their own exposure as well as reduce their emissions. Given that Bristol was selected for European Green Capital status in 2015 in part for its track record on air quality management, it was apt that this subject seemed to strike such a chord with the public.

Air Quality in the media

Air quality has featured heaviliy in the media this month, thanks in part to some excellent coverage from the BBC, sparked by their School Report. BBC News School Report gives UK secondary school students the opportunity to make and broadcast their own news. In February 2015, students from Oasis Brightstowe Academy, near Shirehampton, investigated their exposure to air pollution on their commute to and from school. AQMRC's Dr Jo Barnes advised on the monitoring and data analysis and was invited to participate in a number of interviews for TV and radio:

• Recorded radio interview with BBC Radio 4 Costing the Earth (3 Feb 2015)
• Recorded interview with BBC Radio Bristol (9 Feb 2015)
• Recorded TV interview with BBC Point West (12 Feb 2015)
• Recorded TV interview with CBBC Newsround (12 Feb 2015)
• Recorded interview with BBC World Service (12 Feb 2015)
• Live telephone interview with BBC Radio Bristol (23 Feb 2015)
• Live studio interview with BBC Points West (23 Feb 2015)
• Recorded TV interview with Made in Bristol (26 Feb 2015)

Many of these are available on the BBC iPlayer but here are a few additional links:

• BBC School Report: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolreport/31608825
• BBC World Service: http://t.co/XyXSMD1CAW
• BBC Radio 4 Costing the Earth: http://t.co/KfaO9Rj6GH
• CBBC Newsround: http://t.co/pBhwvEjOvY
• BBBC Radio Bristol Breakfast show podcast http://tinyurl.com/n6sz5fn (40:00-44:00 and 1:42-1:46)

Jo Interviewed for BBC Radio 4's Costing the Earth

This morning Jo was interviewed by the producer of BBC Radio 4's Costing the Earth on air quality in Bristol and the potential legacy of the Green Capital year for air pollution. The programme will be featured on February 24th.

Jo attended Public Health England Air Quality Event

Yesterday Jo attended the Public Health England 'Air Pollution and Pulic Health' stakeholder workshop. The purpose of the meeting was to help develop a Public Health England programme in support of national and local government to reduce mortality attributable to air pollution. The meeting was well attended by around 100 delegates from national and local governement and academia, primarily from air quality, public health and transport backgrounds.The workshop provided an opportunity to get wider feedback on the draft PHE work programme on air pollution for 2015/16 developed in conjunction with the PHE's Air Pollution and Public Health Advisory Group on which Jo also sits. Details of the meeting can be found online: https://www.phe-events.org.uk/hpa/frontend/reg/thome.csp?pageID=179225&ef_sel_menu=1416&eventID=458&eventID=458 and the presentations can be viewed here: https://www.phe-events.org.uk/HPA/media/uploaded/EVHPA/event_458/Onsitenew.pdf

Jo awarded 2013/14 FET DGEM Researcher of the Year

Congratulations to Jo who was this week awarded the accolade of 2013/14 Faculty Researcher of the Year for the Department of Geography and Environmental Management. Jo is a Research Fellow in the Air Quality Management Resource Centre who has recently defended, effectively, her part-time PhD. She has shown remarkable determination and collegiality working in a small team environment to progress significant externally funded projects in research and knowledge exchange as well as developing her leadership potential as an eaarly career researcher. Jo will be awarded £1000 of staff development funding to used during 2014/15.

Jo and Huw present at Public Health England Air Quality meeting

Jo and Huw both attended and presented at the 'Public Health England Annual Review Meeting on Outdoor and Indoor Air Pollution Research in the UK' in Solihull last week. Jo gave an oral and poster presentation on 'A Study Of Ozone Concentrations And Trends Across Europe: 1996-2010' and 'A Study of Ozone Exposure Across Europe: 2004-2010' based on work undertaken on behalf of the European Commission, and Huw presented a poster on the initial stages of his PhD, entitled '"Back to Basics" – a call for Local Air Quality Management to return to its public health roots'. The event was very well-attended by academics and practitioners in the fields of public health and air quality, presenting an opportunity for both sides to gain valuable insight into the fundamentals of air pollution epidemiology as well as the wider application and implications of this research.

Jo presented at Air Quality Conference in Germany

Jo presented a 'Study on Ozone Concentrations and Trends in Europe: 1996-2010' at the 9th International Conference on Air Quality - Science and Application in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany on 27th March 2014. A pdf of the presentation can be downloaded here http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/22820/. This was a presentation of research undertaken by Dr Tim Chatterton as part of a consortium contract for the European Commission to assess the reasons for non-compliance of ozone target value set by Directive 2008/50/EC and potential for air quality improvements in relation to ozone pollution. The summary report for this project is now available on the European Commission website as supporting documentation to assist in their review of the implementation of the Directive and can be accessed here: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/pdf/review/Final_ozone_report.pdf.
Jo commented: "This was an excellent conference, very well organised by Hertforshire University and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), with some fantastic presentations and posters. It was a great networking opportunity with nearly 300 delegates in attendance and plenty of opportunities for mingling and socialising. I would also like to thank the organisers for the opportunity to chair the final day's sessions on Air Quality Management and Policy."

Jo fields media enquiries about air pollution episode

In response to the media interest in the elevated pollution experienced over much of the UK today (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26844425), Jo made the following statement (http://info.uwe.ac.uk/news/UWENews/news.aspx?id=2791), which has been followed up in interviews including with the Daily Mail and the Bath Chronicle as well as tweeted and retweeted by UWE News and others (https://twitter.com/uwebristolnews/status/451329543698006016).

"While the high levels of air pollution that we are seeing this week across England and Wales are as a result of a combination of short-term meteorological factors and continental and Saharan sources, it is important to recognise that this is simply adding to and exacerbating existing long-term poor air quality experienced in many of our towns and cities much of the rest of the time. There are already more than 60% of UK local authorities with Air Quality Management Areas declared for exceedances of air quality objectives for nitrogen dioxide (NO­₂) and particulate matter (PM₁₀), primarily for traffic-related sources. In February 2014 the European Commission launched legal proceedings against the UK for its failure to cut excessive levels of NO₂. Technological solutions (e.g. Euro standard vehicles) have not delivered the expected reductions in pollutant emissions and resulting concentrations and behavioural changes (e.g. driving less) are difficult to bring about without greater public awareness and education about the effects of individual’s actions. It is therefore good to see that this week’s extreme pollution has made it onto the media and public consciousness, but I hope that it doesn’t give the false impression that once the rains come everything will be fine!"

Jo presented at IAQM meeting

Jo gave a very well-received presentation at the IAQM AGM in London yesterday, entitled "Wither LAQM?" - a pun (if one was necessary) on the status of LAQM following the recent LAQM consultation. The Chair gave a verbal overview of IAQM's concerns prior to Jo's talk, and a Defra representative presented Defra's response. The Chatham House rule prevents a more detailed disclosure of persons or events, but needless to say, the feedback from Defra on the consultation responses so far was very interesting...

Jo presenting at IAQM meeting tomorrow

Jo has been invited to speak at the IAQM AGM, entitled: 'Where now for LAQM'. The members' only meeting is being held in London tomorrow afternoon. Jo will be presenting, in addition to IAQM, in response to Defra's feedback on the LAQM Consultation. Further details about the meeting are available on the IAQM website http://iaqm.co.uk/event/iaqm-agm-where-now-for-laqm/. 

Jo presents at EPUK Autumn Conference

Environmental Protectection UK held their first national conference since its rise from the ashes, yesterday at Aston University, Birmingham. Covering the range of EPUK's core interests, the day provided an interesting and diverse series of talks on issues such as hydraulic fracturing with shale gas, noise policy and action plans, life-cycle analysis of steel production, and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. Addressing the recent LAQM consultation, Jo Barnes was invited to speak on the 'Implementation of Defra's Air Quality policy'. The talk, which outlined UWE's reponse to the consutlation, was well-received and was welcomed by the chair of EPUK's Air Quality Committee, Sarah Legge, as a key issue that they had also responded to on behalf of EPUK.

Rose and Jo present ECO Stars toolkit

Dr Rose Bailey and Jo Barnes presented their work on the Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment of the South Yorks ECO Stars scheme at the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, Sheffield last Wednesday.  The presentation and toolkit demonstration were very well received by an audience including the ECO Stars steering group, fleet operators, and David Pryke (DfT) and Robert Vaughan (Defra). This Q&QA work builds on one of the key recommendations from an Evaluation study that UWE undertook on the South Yorks ECO Stars scheme in 2011. For more details about the ECO Stars scheme visit their website http://www.care4air.org/archive/ecostars/index.html.

Jo chairs session at Air Pollution 2013

Jo chaired the Monitoring and Measuring session at the Air Pollution 2013 conference in Siena last week.  The session included a keynote address from Dr Paulo Zannetti and two invited presentations from Professor Dr Olf Herbarth and Dr Myrium Lopes and an additional presentation from Mr Shaikh Abdullah.