Helen Mary ApSimon, (born 28 April 1942) is an English air pollution scientist and academic. She is a Professor of Air pollution Studies at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

. Her research includes the impact of

acid rain Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but acid ...

nuclear accidents A nuclear and radiation accident is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "an event that has led to significant consequences to people, the environment or the facility. Examples include lethal effects to individuals, lar ...

and fine

particulates Particulates – also known as atmospheric aerosol particles, atmospheric particulate matter, particulate matter (PM) or suspended particulate matter (SPM) – are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. The ter ...

on human health and ecosystems.

Early life and education

Helen Mary Hollingsworth was born on 28 April 1942 in

Ashby-de-la-Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sometimes spelt Ashby de la Zouch () and shortened locally to Ashby, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The town is near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire ...

, Leicestershire, England. She was educated at Northampton High School, an all-girls

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, Northamptonshire. She went on to study Mathematics at

Somerville College Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

, Oxford, graduating MA in 1963. She completed a PhD in astrophysics under Dick Carson at the University of St Andrews in 1966. In 1967, Helen Hollingsworth married Hugh ApSimon. He died in 1998.

Research

ApSimon is a founding member and Chairman of the European Association for the Science of Air Pollution. ApSimon is well known for her research into the transport of radioactivity from the

Chernobyl disaster The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is one of only two nuc ...

. In the immediate aftermath, Russia issued a

media blackout Media blackout is the censorship of news related to a certain topic, particularly in mass media, for any reason. A media blackout may be voluntary, or may in some countries be enforced by the government or state. The latter case is controversial in ...

and ApSimon was one of few European scientists to detect rising radiation levels. She modelled the nuclear fallout, calculating Chernobyl released 15 – 20 megacuries of Iodine-131 and 1 – 2 megacuries of caesium-137. During the first few weeks after the disaster, ApSimon calculated the radioactive plum covered Scandinavia and the North coast of Europe. She travelled to Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria in 1988. ApSimon has also 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 Acidification may refer to: * Ocean acidification, decrease in the pH of the Earth's oceans * Freshwater acidification, atmospheric depositions and soil leaching of SOx and NOx * Soil acidification, buildup of hydrogen cations, which reduces the ...

eutrophication Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytopla ...

, excess

tropospheric ozone Ground-level ozone (O3), also known as surface-level ozone and tropospheric ozone, is a trace gas in the troposphere (the lowest level of the Earth's atmosphere), with an average concentration of 20–30 parts per billion by volume (ppbv), with c ...

and fine particulate concentrations. ApSimon is interested in the impact of urban air pollution on human health and ecosystems. In 1995, she calculated the cost of building damage due to acidic European atmospheres. In 1998, the UK

Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions was a United Kingdom Cabinet position created in 1997, with responsibility for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). The position and department ...

commissioned ApSimon to study investigate the cost-effectiveness of controlling the shipping emissions in the North Sea.

Publications

* O'Driscoll R, Stettler MEJ, Molden N., et al., 2017, Real world CO2 and NOx emissions from 149 Euro 5 and 6 diesel, gasoline and hybrid passenger cars., ''Science of the Total Environment'', Vol:621, , Pages:282–290 * Aristodemou E., Boganegra L. M., Mottet L., et al., 2017, How tall buildings affect turbulent air flows and dispersion of pollution within a neighbourhood, ''Environmental Pollution'', Vol:233, , Pages:782–796 * O'Driscoll R., ApSimon H., Oxley T., et al., 2016, A portable emissions measurement system (PEMS) study of NOx and primary NO2 emissions from Euro 6 diesel passenger cars and comparison with COPERT emission factors, ''Atmospheric Environment'', Vol:145, , Pages:81–91 * Dore A., Reis S., Oxley T., et al., 2016, ''Calculation of Source-Receptor Matrices for Use in an Integrated Assessment Model and Assessment of Impacts on Natural Ecosystems'', 34th International Technical Meeting on Air Pollution Modelling and its Application (ITM), SPRINGER-VERLAG BERLIN, Pages:107–112 * Dore A., Reis S., Oxley T., et al., 2016, ''Calculation of Source-Receptor Matrices for Use in an Integrated Assessment Model and Assessment of Impacts on Natural Ecosystems'', 34th International Technical Meeting on Air Pollution Modelling and its Application (ITM), SPRINGER INT PUBLISHING AG, Pages:107–112

Memberships

ApSimon has been a member of several expert groups, including the National Expert Group on Transboundary Air Pollution, and the Air Quality Expert Group of

DEFRA DEFRA may refer to: * Deficit Reduction Act of 1984, United States law * Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom government department {{Disambiguation ...

. In 1999, ApSimon was a member of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

Global Environmental Research Committee. In 2004, she contributed to the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

National Emission Ceilings Directive Review. ApSimon was invited to chair a new

Heathrow Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...

air quality expert review group in 2017.

Honours

In the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours, Helen ApSimon was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) for services to air pollution science.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ApSimon, Helen Academics of Imperial College London British climatologists Women climatologists Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford People educated at Northampton High School, England Alumni of the University of St Andrews Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Living people 1942 births Air pollution in the United Kingdom