Professor Oliver Wild FRMetS
ProfessorResearch Overview
Oliver's interests are in atmospheric composition, chemistry and transport, and in understanding how natural and anthropogenic emissions of trace gases affect regional air quality and global climate.
Research
He has spent more than 25 years developing and applying numerical models of atmospheric processes over a range of scales from urban to global, and has published more than 130 refereed journal papers. His recent research in atmospheric sciences has focussed on:
- Intercontinental transport of ozone and its precursors. This research informs air quality policy through the UN-ECE task force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (HTAP).
- Indirect climate impacts of short-lived gases such as NOx and CO through their influence over tropospheric chemistry. This has involved contributing to three IPCC climate assessment reports (2001, 2007, 2013).
- Regional and urban air quality in the UK and abroad, including contributions to the MAQS-Health and HEICCAM projects, and leading a chapter of a recent Royal Society report on air quality and climate change in the UK.
- Atmosphere-biosphere interactions and the role of atmospheric chemistry in the Earth System. Recent research has focussed on the impacts of biofuel cultivation on human mortality and crop yields in Europe, and on ozone dry deposition processes under the NERC Atmospheric Chemistry in the Earth System (ACITES) network.
- Processes controlling surface ozone and air quality over East Asia. This builds on almost 10 years experience working in the US and Japan and includees ongoing collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing on air quality, contributions to the APHH-Beijing and APHH-Delhi programmes, and the new COP-AQ project on Net Zero and Air Quality.
- Characterising and reducing uncertainty in atmospheric chemistry-transport models. This research has contributed to a number of recent international model intercomparison projects, including ACCENT, HTAP and CCMI.
Oliver is a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society, and was a member of council 2010-2013. He serves as a Core Panel Member of the NERC Peer Review College. He is a former editor of Scientific Online Letters on the Atmosphere, a journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan, and Atmospheric Science Letters, a journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
PhD Opportunities: He is happy to supervise PhD projects addressing atmospheric composition/chemistry, air quality or climate change related to any of the topics listed above.
Teaching
Oliver's teaching includes first and second year undergraduate courses on Atmosphere, Weather and Climate that provide a grounding in atmospheric science and meteorology for students on BSc and MSci degree schemes across the Lancaster Environment Centre. He contributes lectures on air quality and on the chemistry and transport of atmospheric pollutants to undergraduate and Masters courses. He also supervises undergraduate and masters dissertation topics focussing on atmospheric chemistry and transport, air quality and climate.
Roles
Oliver was Associate Director for Research in LEC from 2017-2023, and was formally undergraduate Admissions Tutor for Environmental Science degree schemes.
Research Interests
My research involves developing and using numerical models of atmospheric composition and chemistry to explore how natural and anthropogenic emissions of trace gases affect regional air quality and global climate. My principal interests are in the intercontinental transport of ozone and its precursors, meteorological influences on tropospheric composition, and the indirect climate impacts of short-lived gases such as NOx and CO. I am also interested in quantifying the uncertainties in current models of global atmospheric composition and climate, and in modelling the interactions and feedbacks in the wider Earth System that involve tropospheric chemistry.
PhD Supervision Interests
Numerical modelling of atmospheric composition and air quality. Key areas of interest include tropospheric chemistry and transport, chemical weather, urban air quality, climate change, atmosphere-biosphere interactions, Earth System modelling, uncertainty quantification and model parameterization.
Horizon Europe - HYDRA: Hydrogen Economy Benefits and Risks: Tools Development and Policies Implementation to Mitigate Possible Climate Impacts
01/11/2023 → 31/10/2027
Research
UK-China Collaboration to Optimise net zero Policy options for Air Quality and health (COP-AQ)
19/11/2021 → 31/03/2022
Research
HEICCAM: The Health and Equity Impacts of Climate Change Mitigation Measures on Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution Exposure
01/09/2020 → 31/08/2024
Research
DN424739 - CA19-1 Urban outdoor air quality modelling
06/01/2020 → 31/03/2022
Research
Indoor Particulate Matter and Personal Mitigation in Guangzhou, China
01/08/2017 → 01/08/2021
Research
Megacity Delhi Atmospheric Emission Quantification, Assessment and Impacts
30/11/2016 → 31/03/2022
Research
PROMOTE : Process Analysis, observations and modelling - Integrated Solutions for Cleaner Air in Dehli
14/11/2016 → 31/03/2022
Research
AIRPRO - Air Pollution Processes in Beijing
31/01/2016 → 30/07/2018
Research
Quantifying and Reducing Uncertainty in the Processes Controlling Tropospheric Ozone and OH
01/01/2016 → 17/04/2019
Research
Sources and Emissions of Air Pollutants in Beijing (AIRPOLL-Beijing)
01/01/2016 → 31/12/2019
Research
Atmospheric Chemistry in the Earth System (ACITES) Network
01/02/2013 → 31/01/2015
Research
Atmospheric Composition and Air Quality Modelling in China
01/07/2010 → …
Other
Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Model Intercomparison Project
20/06/2009 → …
Research
NCAS Weather: The role of mid-latitude cyclones in transport of air pollutants
01/02/2009 → 30/04/2017
Research
Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution
01/01/2004 → …
Research
International Commission on Atmospheric Chemistry and Global Pollution (iCACGP) (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Invited Seminar at IAMES Science Forum
Invited talk
IGAC Conference 2022
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Invited seminar for Global Air Quality Conversation Seminar Series
Invited talk
Invited keynote talk for public symposium celebrating World Ozone Day 2021
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Royal Society report on the effects of climate change and net zero policies on air quality (Event)
Membership of committee
Handbook of Air Quality and Climate Change (Event)
Editorial activity
Invited Seminar at GFDL, Princeton
Invited talk
IGAC Conference 2016
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Arctic monitoring assessment programme (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Asia Center for Air Pollution Research (ACAP) (External organisation)
Membership of committee
UNECE (External organisation)
Membership of committee
NERC (External organisation)
Membership of committee
IGAC Conference 2012
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Royal Meteorological Society National Meeting
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Acid Rain 2011
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Symposium on Asian Dust/Aerosol and its Impact on Global Climate Change
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Royal Meteorological Society (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Royal Meteorological Society Conference 2009
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
EGU General Assembly 2009
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Atmospheric Science Letters (Journal)
Editorial activity
IGAC Conference 2008
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
SOLA : Scientific Online Letters on the Atmosphere (Journal)
Editorial activity
UNECE (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Visiting Professor
Fellowship awarded competitively
- Atmosphere, Climate and Pollution
- DSI - Environment
- DSI - Health
- Improving global stewardship
- Understanding a changing planet