Helen ApSimon


Helen Mary ApSimon, is an English climatologist and academic. She is a Professor of Air pollution Studies at Imperial College London. Her research includes the impact of acid rain, nuclear accidents and fine particulates on human health and ecosystems.

Early life and education

ApSimon was born on 28 April 1942 in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England. She was educated at Northampton High School, an all-girls independent school in Northampton, Northamptonshire. She went on to study Mathematics at Somerville College, Oxford, graduating in 1960. She completed a PhD in astrophysics at the University of St Andrews.

Research

ApSimon is a founding member and Chairman of the European Association for the Science of Air Pollution. ApSimon is well known for her research into the transport of radioactivity from the Chernobyl disaster. In the immediate aftermath, Russia issued a media blackout and ApSimon was one of few European scientists to detect rising radiation levels. She modelled the nuclear fallout, calculating Chernobyl released 15 – 20 megacuries of Iodine-131 and 1 – 2 megacuries of caesium-137. During the first few weeks after the disaster, ApSimon calculated the radioactive plum covered Scandinavia and the North coast of Europe. She travelled to Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria in 1988.
ApSimon has also worked extensively for Task Forces under the UN ECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, undertaking modelling and assessment of cost-effective strategies to reduce, eutrophication, excess tropospheric ozone and fine particulate concentrations.
ApSimon is interested in the impact of urban air pollution on human health and ecosystems. In 1995, she calculated the cost of building damage due to acidic European atmospheres. In 1998, the UK Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions commissioned ApSimon to study investigate the cost-effectiveness of controlling the shipping emissions in the North Sea.

Publications

ApSimon has been a member of several expert groups, including the National Expert Group on Transboundary Air Pollution, and the Air Quality Expert Group of DEFRA. In 1999, ApSimon was a member of the Royal Society Global Environmental Research Committee. In 2004, she contributed to the European Commission National Emission Ceilings Directive Review. ApSimon was invited to chair a new Heathrow air quality expert review group in 2017.

Personal life

In 1967, Helen Hollingsworth married Hugh ApSimon. He predeceased her, dying in 1998.

Honours

In the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours, ApSimon was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to air pollution science.