Dr Kirsty Smallbone - tomorrow's air today

In 1918, for the first time, women were given the vote (if they were over 30 and owned property). One hundred years later and, although she is over 30, owns a property and always votes, Dr Kirsty Smallbone is still frustrated that we still live in an unequal society, where the gender pay gap exists, where the fields of science and engineering are male dominated fields and where environmental pollution disproportionately affect the poor and the vulnerable.

As Dean of the School of Applied Sciences she wants to create a culture within her school and university where all students and all staff can excel, whatever their gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity or start in life.

Dr Kirsty Smallbone

Kirsty has worked with a variety of organisations on the problem of air quality; with local councils to provide air quality forecasts to those who are vulnerable to air pollution and to evaluate its effectiveness; with DEFRA and the Committee of the Medical Effects of Air Pollution to revise and update the UK air quality index and health advice to make air pollution information is easier to understand. At the same time, she has worked with consortiums of international colleagues to develop both cutting edge research into the monitoring of novel air pollutants, the health effects of which are yet to be determined and, to develop toolkits to aid the knowledge dissemination and direct action by those who are most vulnerable.

Before joining the university, she worked in environmental consultancy while she completed her PhD which looked at the geography, and temporal variation of nitrogen dioxide at the small scale area. Kirsty's research has continued to push forward the field of air quality science, where she wants to improve air quality by providing an evidence base for policy change and, recognising that policy never changes quickly, to empower people to make informed choices about their exposure to air pollution in their everyday lives.

Inspiring others

Air quality disproportionately affects the young, the elderly and those with pre-existing cardio-respiratory conditions; but there is also an unequal distribution of effects in towns and cities across the globe, as in the time of the Suffragettes when killer smogs occurred with depressing regularly, it is still the poorest in our society who are exposed to the highest levels of invisible, deadly air pollution. Kirsty's research, like her leadership of the School of Applied Sciences, aims to empower change and to make a difference.