Spokespeople

The OPAL partnership benefits from the expertise and knowledge of numerous individuals who can give informed comment on a broad range of environmental topics.

If you would like to speak to one of our spokespeople, please contact the OPAL press office on 020 7942 5946 or media [at] opalexplorenature [dot] org.

Dr Linda Davies, OPAL Director, Imperial College London

Dr Linda Davies is an urban ecologist with particular interests in lichenology, biological monitoring, air quality management and public engagement in science. She joined Imperial College London in 1999 and works in the Centre for Environmental Policy.

Linda has worked tirelessly to increase public interest in the environment by getting scientists to work with communities and address environmental issues of regional or local concern. As a result, OPAL received an £11.7 million grant from the Big Lottery Fund to develop the Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) initiative across England.

Linda is passionate about what OPAL has set out to achieve. By bringing together a network of partners, she has created a project that will increase knowledge, awareness and participation in some of the environmental challenges facing society today. Ultimately OPAL will create the first community-led study of the environment and help to inspire the next generation of nature enthusiasts.

Dr John Tweddle, OPAL, Natural History Museum

Ecologist, Dr John Tweddle, is based within the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at the Natural History Museum. John coordinates a range of OPAL projects that aim to support the amateur naturalist community and inspire the public about nature.

John is interested in how Britain’s landscape has evolved through time to look as it does today, along with the effects that access to nature can have on our quality of life. He is passionate about developing new approaches that enable people to share the knowledge they have of local wildlife and environments. John is also looking at new ways to communicate science more effectively and increase active public participation in science research.

Within OPAL John leads four projects. Collectively, these aim to support and develop natural history societies, produce free educational tools and resources on taxonomy and wildlife, and provide fun and informal opportunities for wide audiences to participate in OPAL.

Dr Nick Voulvoulis, OPAL Soil Centre, Imperial College London

Dr Nick Voulvoulis is Director of the OPAL Soil Centre, which is working towards a greater understanding of the science of soil and how it is affected by climate change. Soil is vital for plants and for food production, it also provides a home for a vast array of life. Soil stores and filters water, and provides the important foundation for buildings.

Nick is leading the national OPAL soil and earthworm survey, which is open to everyone, and aims to build a better picture of soil quality and earthworm populations all over England. The work also includes learning more about soil pollution - the sources, how it moves through the soil and how it affects soil quality.

Nick is a reader in Environmental Technology and Director of the MSc in Environmental Technology in the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London. He teaches and undertakes research in environmental assessment, water and waste management. He is an international expert in pollution of water by dangerous substances such as biocides, pesticides and pharmaceuticals, and associated policy and management issues.

Dr Sally Power, OPAL Air Centre, Imperial College London

Dr Sally Power is a senior lecturer in the Division of Biology at Imperial College London. An ecologist by training, Sally studies the effects of air pollution and climate change on plants and ecosystems. Her research and associated outreach activities are aimed at improving understanding of the impacts of human activities on the natural environment.

Within OPAL, Sally leads the Air Centre and Climate Impacts projects which are investigating the effects of ozone and climate change on plant communities. She also leads the South East regional project which aims to engage local communities and develop a more detailed understanding of how traffic pollution impacts on local environments.

Sally is coordinating the OPAL air survey, due to launch nationally, in September 2009.

Dr Neil Rose, OPAL Water Centre, University College London (UCL)

Dr Neil Rose is a Professorial Research Associate in the Environmental Change Research Centre at UCL. His research is mainly focussed on the use of lake sediments as a natural archive, particularly in remote areas. By looking at atmospherically deposited pollutants in lakes and their sediments, Neil’s research shows how contamination has changed over time and how this has affected the aquatic organisms that live there.

Within OPAL, Neil leads the OPAL Water Centre which is using a series of monitoring tools to assess water chemistry, aquatic life and physical features in lakes across England. This work includes obtaining new information on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and trace metals in sediments and fish. Neil is also coordinating the OPAL water survey due to be launched in spring 2010.

Prof Jonathan Silvertown, OPAL Biodiversity Centre, Open University

Jonathan Silvertown is Professor of Ecology at The Open University. Jonathan’s research is in plant population biology about which he has published over 100 research papers and several books. Currently, he is researching the ecology and evolution of plants in the Cape of South Africa.

Jonathan is passionate about communicating science to the widest possible audience and is a keen practitioner of – and advocate for – citizen science, believing that the most effective way for the public to understand science is to participate in it. He directs six OPAL projects including iSpot, a social networking website for natural history. The site is designed to help create a new generation of naturalists by helping beginners learn how to identify animals and plants in their neighbourhood.

In September 2010 the Open University will run the OPAL biodiversity survey as one of the five OPAL national surveys. This citizen science project will invite the public to explore ecological interactions among familiar animals and plants and to participate in testing relevant scientific hypotheses.

Dr Mark McCarthy, OPAL Climate Centre, The Met Office

Dr Mark McCarthy is a climate research scientist in the Met Office Hadley Centre. Mark is an atmospheric physicist by training and his research and publications have covered a wide range of climate science from the Indian Monsoon to the urban heat island of Manchester.

He is currently researching the impacts of climate change and energy use within world cities to improve our understanding of how climate change will both affect, and be affected by, an ever growing world urban population.

Mark and colleagues at the Met Office and Royal Meteorological Society are leading the OPAL climate survey. This survey aims to better define the relation between climate and human behaviour, looking at ways in which human activity affects climate, and how climate affects us as individuals. The OPAL climate survey will be open to everyone and is due to launch nationally in March 2011.