Professor Oliver Wild FRMetS

Professor

Research 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 30 years experience in 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). A new focus is on the atmospheric and climate impacts of hydrogen usage for the EU-funded HYDRA project.
  • 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 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 10 years experience working in the US and Japan and includes ongoing collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing on air quality, contributions to the APHH-Beijing and APHH-Delhi programmes, and the 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 is Programme Director for Environmental Science and Earth and Environmental Science degree schemes. He was Associate Director for Research in LEC from 2017-2023, and was formerly undergraduate Admissions Tutor for Environmental Science degrees.

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 → 31/12/2024
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

Invited talk at 14th MICS-Asia International Workshop
Invited talk

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
  • Centre of Excellence in Environmental Data Science
  • DSI - Environment
  • DSI - Health
  • Energy Lancaster
  • Improving global stewardship
  • Understanding a changing planet