Accessibility statement

Lisa Emberson
Professor

Biography

Professor Lisa Emberson is an environmental pollution biologist in the Department of Environment and Geography. Lisa has over 20 years’ experience in the field of air pollution and climate change focussing on impacts on agricultural yields, forest productivity and the functioning of terrestrial semi-natural ecosystems. Her research has focussed on the development of modelling methods used to tighten controls on emissions leading to air pollution, and more recently to climate change. She has developed novel ‘flux-based’ risk assessment methods based on knowledge of atmospheric exchange processes and plant eco-physiology, which can be used to assess both pollutant deposition and uptake by vegetation and related damage. This has culminated in the atmosphere-terrestrial biosphere trace gas exchange model DO3SE (Deposition of Ozone and Stomatal Exchange) now used by practitioners world-wide to estimate the exchange of water vapour and carbon as well as O3 to assess the effects of poor air quality on vegetation. This research has supported emission reduction efforts under the UNECE Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP).

The DO3SE model also provides a deposition module within existing atmospheric chemistry transport models (e.g. the EMEP model used in the development of emission reduction policy by the UNECE CLRTAP). This allows estimates of pollutant deposition and ecosystem damage across large continental regions and helps to provide a more biologically relevant estimate of the role that vegetation plays in removing pollution from the atmosphere, and hence the remaining concentration levels in the atmosphere that may affect human health. The ecosystem damage component of the model has been developed through collaboration with experimentalists, enabling the derivation of novel dose-response relationships for a number of crop, forest and semi-natural grassland species. These dose-response relationships are an important policy tool that have been used to derive ‘critical levels’ (acceptable levels of air quality) as well as estimates of actual crop yield losses, forest biomass losses and changes in the composition of semi-natural grasslands. As such they provide tools to ensure ecosystem protection and allow cost-benefit analysis of emission reductions within policy fora to help protect food security, carbon sequestration and biodiversity.

More recently, Lisa’s research has focussing on O3 and aerosol pollution in combination with climate extremes (i.e. heat and water stress) and consequent impacts on agricultural productivity. This research builds on the work of the extremely influential World Meteorological Institute (WMO)/United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) commissioned global assessment of the costs and benefits of controlling short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs). Lisa was a lead author for the ‘impacts’ chapter of this report. To extend this research Lisa has been developing connections to the international crop modelling programme - AgMIP (Agricultural Modelling IntercomparisonProgramme). This is an exciting new development where, for the first time, air pollution damage modules are included in existing crop models to help support IPCC relevant estimations of future global food supply and emissions mitigation targets to alleviate near term climate change.

Lisa’s research also connects physical and socio-economic as well as policy disciplines. She is interested in understanding the role that bio-physical stress can play on food supply and how supply and demand econometrics can be used to assess impacts on food price and ultimately livelihoods of farmers and food access for consumers. She is also interested in policy to control and prevent pollution emissions and how technical and behavioural change interventions can lead to emission reductions, particularly in developing country contexts (i.e. south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa).

Lisa was the Centre Director of the Stockholm Environment Institute at York from 2012 to 2019. This role allowed Lisa to develop a broad understanding of the many challenges facing our future global environmental sustainability and how important a holistic understanding of environmental problems is to be able to find appropriate solutions. Lisa has worked at SEI York and the Department of Environment and Geography since 1999 holding various posts including ‘Atmospheric Environment’ programme director and ‘Managing Environmental Systems’ theme leader for the global SEI. Before this she was a post doc at Imperial College London (1996 – 1999). She holds a PhD in ‘Pollution Biology’ from Imperial College (1992 -1997) and a BSc in‘Environmental Biology’ from Manchester University (1989 – 1992).

Career

2017- Professor SEI-Y/Department of Environment and Geography, University of York
2014-2017 Reader SEI-Y/Department of Environment and Geography, University of York.
2000-2014 Senior Lecturer Department of Environment and Geography, University of York
1999- Senior research fellow SEI-Y, University of York
1997-1999 Post doc Imperial College, London
1996 PhD in Air Pollution Studies Imperial College, London
1992 BSc in Environmental Biology Manchester University
Emberson, Lisa

Contact details

Professor Lisa Emberson
Professor
Department of Environment and Geography
University of York
Heslington
York
YO10 5NG

Tel: 01904 322925