Helen Mary ApSimon, (born 28 April 1942) is an English

air pollution Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...

scientist and academic. She is a Professor of Air pollution Studies at

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

. Her research includes the impact of

acid rain Acid rain is rain or any other form of Precipitation (meteorology), 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 b ...

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, la ...

and fine

particulates Particulate matter (PM) or particulates are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspension (chemistry), suspended in the atmosphere of Earth, air. An ''aerosol'' is a mixture of particulates and air, as opposed to the particulate ...

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 (), also spelled Ashby de la Zouch, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire borders. Its population at the 2021 census was ...

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

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, Northamptonshire. She went on to study Mathematics at

Somerville College Somerville College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The college's liberal tone derives from its f ...

, 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 On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

. In the immediate aftermath, Russia issued a

media blackout A media blackout is the censorship of news related to a certain topic, particularly in mass media, for any reason. A media blackout may be self-imposed or voluntary or enforced by the government or State (polity), state. In countries with stro ...

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,

eutrophication Eutrophication is a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of organisms that may deplete the oxygen in the water; ie. the process of too many plants growing on the s ...

, excess

tropospheric ozone Ground-level ozone (), 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 clo ...

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 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. 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 primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

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

Heathrow Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two 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