Airports Commission unveils new expert panel

The Airports Commission set up by the government to assess the UK’s long-term aviation capacity needs has unveiled a panel of leading environmental, engineering and transport experts to assist in its deliberations. The panel will ensure the Commission has access to the very best scientific and technical expertise, providing an extra level of challenge and quality assurance.

The Commission, chaired by Sir Howard Davies, has also published the criteria it will use when sifting any proposals for additional long term airport capacity.

Howard Davies said:

The experts we have appointed bring a wide range of skills and experience, and will ensure the Commission has access to a broad spectrum of quality scientific and technical expertise as we progress our work.

In addition, our sift criteria underline the Commission’s intention to conduct a process which takes into account the full range of relevant issues, including economic, social, environmental and operational factors.

The sift criteria announced today (3 may 2013) outlines the information required by the Commission in determining which options for additional long term airport capacity should be taken forward for more detailed development, should a need for more capacity be identified.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/airports-commission-unveils-new-expert-panel

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/airports-commission

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Expert Advisory Panel

The members of the expert panel appointed today (3 May 2013) are:

• Professor Helen Apsimon; Professor of Air Pollution Studies, Imperial College London
• Dr Charlotte Clark; Senior lecturer in Environmental and Mental Health Epidemidogy, Barts and the London School of Medicine
• Professor Piers Forster; Professor of Physical Climate Change, University of Leeds
• Dr Andrew Kempton; Chief Noise Specialist, Rolls-Royce
• Professor Peter Mackie; Research Professor of Transport Studies, University of Leeds
• Professor Andrew McNaughton; Technical Director, High Speed Two Ltd and previously Chief Engineer, Network Rail
• Professor Henry Overman; Professor of Economic Geography, London School of Economics
• Mr George Paulson; Independent consultant; former Director of Safety and Airspace, Eurocontrol
• Dr David Quarmby; Chairman, RAC Foundation and previously Chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority and British Tourism Authority
• Professor Andreas Schäfer; Professor in Energy and Transport, University College London
• Professor Keith Shine; Professor of Physical Meteorology, University of Reading
• Mr David Starkie; Senior Associate, Case Associates
• Professor Callum Thomas; Professor of Sustainable Aviation, Manchester Metropolitan University
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All appointments to the Expert Advisory Panel are made in a personal capacity.

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See also

The Expert Advisory Panel Terms of Reference 

Purpose
The function of the Expert Advisory Panel is to help the Airports Commission to access, interpret and understand evidence1 relating to the Commission’s work, and to make judgements about its relevance, potential and application. The Panel is strictly an advisory body, and has no executive powers.

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Terms of reference
The terms of reference for the Expert Advisory Panel are to advise the Airports Commission on a range of issues including (but not limited to) economics, climate change, aircraft noise, air quality, aviation technology, and engineering, and in particular to:

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 act as a sounding board on scientific, economic and technical issues relevant to the Commission’s work;

 expose the Commission to the full range of views on issues relating to the Commission’s work;

 advise on the quality, limitations and appropriate uses of research carried out by, or on behalf of, the Commission;

 advise on specific points from proposals on airport capacity where evidence is limited or further work is required;

 advise on specific issues and problems referred to it;

 help the Commission, where requested, to develop and maintain links with the
external research community and industry experts; and
 provide research papers or presentations where requested by the Commission.

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Given the range of issues that will have a bearing on the Commission’s work, the Advisory Panel may need to convene smaller, more specialist, working groups to examine specific issues, drawing on external expertise where appropriate. This will be by agreement with the Chair of the Airports Commission.

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Membership

Expert Advisory Panel: Membership – details given by the Airports Commission
(As of 3 May 2013)

(there is also additional information about many of the expert panel members below)

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Professor Helen ApSimon

Helen ApSimon is Professor of Air Pollution Studies in the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London. With thirty years of experience in air pollution modelling from continental to local scales, her research interests are now focused on scenario analysis and integrating science and policy. She has served on various expert groups including Defra’s Air Quality Expert Group, and played an active part in Task Forces under the UN ECE Convention on Long-Range Trans-boundary Air Pollution. She currently chairs the Emissions, Measurement and Modelling group of the APRIL (Air Pollution Research in London) network, bringing together scientists and those responsible for air quality management.

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Dr Charlotte Clark BSc (Hons) PhD CPsychol

Charlotte Clark is Senior Lecturer in Environmental and Mental Health Epidemiology at Barts and the London School of Medicine, Queen Mary University of London. She is a Chartered Psychologist and environmental epidemiologist. Her research examines how the environment can influence learning, mental and physical health, well-being, quality of life, and behaviour. She has worked in the field of noise effects on health and cognition for over ten years and has published many peer-reviewed journal papers on noise and health. She co-managed the European Union funded RANCH project, examining the effect of aircraft and road traffic noise exposure on children’s health and cognition and was co-director of the EU funded European Network on Noise and Health (ENNAH) – a network of over 30 partners across Europe tasked with identifying future research needs and priorities for noise and health research (2009–2012).Charlotte was Chair of Team 4 ‘Effects of Noise on Performance’ for the International Commission of the Biological Effects of Noise (ICBEN) from 2003–2011.

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Professor Piers Forster

Piers Forster is Professor of Physical Climate Change at The University of Leeds (appointed 2008) and also a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award Holder (appointed 2011). He researches the causes of climate change and, in particular, the role of aviation on climate via contrail formation. He was a contributing author of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) special report on aviation in the global atmosphere and is lead author of the current IPCC Fifth Assessment Report on climate change (due out in October 2013). He holds an undergraduate degree in physics from Imperial College, London (1990) and a PhD in Meteorology from the University of Reading (1994). Prior to Leeds, he spent time working as a Research Fellow at the University of Colorado and at Monash University, Australia.
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Dr Andrew Kempton CEng FRAeS

Andrew Kempton is Chief Noise Specialist and Associate Fellow at Rolls-Royce, and has worked on reducing aircraft noise for the past forty years. He is a visiting professor at Southampton University where he coordinates research at the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre in aircraft noise. He contributes to many international committees including ICAO’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection that sets standards for aircraft noise, European and UK networks that coordinate research into aircraft noise, and the UK Sustainable Aviation aircraft noise working group.

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Professor Peter Mackie

Peter Mackie is Research Professor of Transport Studies at the Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds. His principal areas of work are on the economic appraisal of transport projects/policies and on the economic organisation and regulation of the transport sector, notably the bus industry. He was a member of the Government’s Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment (SACTRA) for its three reports in the 1990s, a member of the 2006 Eddington Friends Group, and chaired the peer review group for the DfT’s refresh of the New Approach to Appraisal in 2009. He has worked for all levels of governance from World Bank and OECD to EU, national and local government.

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Professor Andrew NcNaughton FREng

Andrew McNaughton is Technical Director of High Speed Two Ltd, responsible for operational, engineering and environmental standards and design. He is also a Special Advisor to the Australian Government on high speed rail. In addition, Andrew is Honorary Professor of Rail Engineering at Nottingham University, and a Visiting Professor at both Imperial College, London and Southampton University. He has lectured widely on rail transport. Andrew has been engaged in railway engineering and management since 1973, holding senior positions in operational and business management before becoming Chief Engineer of Network Rail, where he was also responsible for research and development and investment authorisation. Andrew is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineers, the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and the Royal Geographical Society. He has been a Vice Chairman of the EU Transport Advisory Group and Chairman of the International Railway Union Infrastructure Forum.

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Professor Henry Overman BSc (Bristol) Msc (LSE) PhD (LSE) AcSS FRSA

Henry Overman is Professor of Economic Geography in the department of Geography and Environment at the London School of Economics and director of the Spatial Economics Research Centre. His current research interests include the causes and consequences of spatial disparities and the impact of urban and regional policy. His research has been published in leading economics journals (The Review of Economics Studies and The Quarterly Journal of Economics) and leading economic geography journals (Environment and Planning and Journal of Economic Geography). He has provided policy advice to, amongst others, the European Commission, Department for International Development, Department for Business Innovation and Skills, Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Transport, HM Treasury, the Manchester Independent Economic Review, the North East Independent Economic Review and Birmingham City Council.

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Mr George Paulson FCILT, FRAeS

George Paulson graduated from Southampton University and following post graduate work on V/STOL feasibility for civil operations joined WS Atkins to undertake airport development work. In 1972 he joined the Civil Aviation Authority. For over a decade he was responsible for runway and airspace capacity assessment and optimisation. He was seconded to ICAO for two years. On return, as Director Planning Analysis, he was architect of NATS’ Operational Strategic Plan helping to shape operational evolution out to the millennium. He then became responsible for NATS international co-ordination. In 1998 he joined Eurocontrol. As Director Safety and Airspace and ATM Programmes he was responsible for delivering major European ATM improvements through multinational programmes including airspace reorganisation (RVSM), enhanced safety (ACAS) and integration of airports into the ATM network (CDM). Following retirement from Eurocontrol, he is Director of a consultancy specialising in ATM. He is FCILT and FRAeS.

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Dr David Quarmby CBE MA PhD Hon DEng Hon DSc FCILT FCIHT FTS CORS

David Quarmby’s career has embraced policy, planning, management, operations and research in transport, retailing and tourism, with 38 years’ board level experience in government, public agencies, and in the private sector. He is currently chairman of the RAC Foundation, member of Woolwich Regeneration Board, and advisor to Greenwich Council on transport policy. In 2010 he led a government review on the winter resilience of England’s transport systems, and advised the Heathrow Enquiry Panel following their winter disruption Christmas 2010. In 2008 he was a Member of the A12 Commission of Inquiry. Since 1996 he has been a non-executive director of Abellio, the international bus and rail subsidiary of Netherland Railways, a director of Colin Buchanan and Partners, deputy chairman and then chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority, chairman of the Docklands Light Railway, board member of TfL, chairman of the British Tourist Authority, and the first non-executive director at the Department for Transport. Prior to 1996 David was for 12 years a main board director of Sainsbury’s, first as Logistics Director and then Joint Managing Director responsible for all company operations. Before 1984 he was Board Member for Planning and then Managing Director (Buses) at London Transport. In the 1960’s he was an Economic Adviser at the Ministry of Transport.

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Professor Andreas Schäfer

Andreas W. Schäfer is a Professor in Energy and Transport at the UCL Energy Institute at University College London. Prior to this position, he held appointments at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Cambridge, and Stanford University. He holds an MSc in Aerospace Engineering and a PhD in Energy Economics, both from the University of Stuttgart, Germany. His research interests include energy and transportation systems analysis. He is lead author of Transportation in a Climate-Constrained World (MIT Press, 2009).

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Professor Keith P Shine FRS

Keith Shine is Professor of Physical Meteorology at the University of Reading. His undergraduate degree is in Physics (Imperial College, London) and his PhD degree is in Meteorology (University of Edinburgh). He moved to Reading 25 years ago, following periods as a researcher at the Universities of Liverpool and Oxford. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2009. He specialises in climate physics, concentrating most on understanding the mechanisms (so-called “radiative forcings”) that drive climate change. He has contributed significantly to the assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and is a Review Editor on its ongoing Fifth Assessment Report. He is actively involved in quantifying the climate impact of aviation, including the quantification of the non-CO2 effects, such as contrails and the effects of emissions of oxides of nitrogen and water vapour, collaborating widely in Europe.

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Mr David Starkie

David Starkie is senior associate at Case Associates, London and visiting professor in industrial economics, Hochschule Bremen, Germany. He is also visiting research fellow University of Adelaide, Australia, where he was previously South Australian Government professorial fellow. His former appointments include director of transport planning and research, Government of Western Australia, and director of Putnam Hayes & Bartlett Inc. Cambridge Mass. He has been a member of advisory committees including the road transport committee of the Australian Road Research Board and a specialist adviser for a dozen House of Commons select committee inquiries including ‘Privatisation of National Air Traffic Services’ (1995) and ‘UK Airport Capacity’ (1996). David was lead expert witness, High Court New Zealand, Wellington airport v Air NZ and others, (1994); economic advisor to the European Commission’s CAEP delegation, Montreal and Washington DC (1995–97) and a member of the CAA expert panels for the NATS price cap (2006) and airport competition framework assessments (2010–11). His books feature Japanese and Chinese editions; his latest is Aviation Markets: Studies in Competition and Regulatory Reform (Ashgate).

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Professor Callum Thomas PhD ARCS FRAeS

Callum Thomas is Professor of Sustainable Aviation at the Manchester Metropolitan University having returned to academia in 1998 after 13 years working in the aviation industry. He has since been responsible (with colleagues) for establishing the Centre for Aviation, Transport and the Environment (CATE). He has been an advisor to the European Commission, the Civil Aviation Administration of China, UK Government, airports and airlines on aviation, environment, and sustainability issues. He was responsible for establishing and managing Manchester Airport’s Bird Control Unit, its Environment Department and Community Relations Department. His expertise involves the sustainable development of aviation, managing environmental constraints upon airport growth and the impact of airport operations on local communities. Most recently his research has focused upon carbon management at airports, the implications of a changing climate upon air transport and the relationship between aviation, tourism and climate change. By training he is a bird biologist who spent many years researching the behaviour and ecology of seabirds before moving on to address the hazards posed by birds to aircraft. He has co-authored five books and over 60 papers. In 2008 he was invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society for his lifetime contribution to aviation.

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Senior Lecturer in Environmental and Mental Health Epidemiology

Charlotte works in the fields of applied environmental psychology, environmental epidemiology, and psychiatric epidemiology. Her research interests include how the environment affects mental health, well-being and quality of life. She conducts research on noise effects on health, the effect of the built environment on psychological health, and lifecourse predictors of common mental disorders and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Charlotte has received funding from UK Research Councils (MRC, ESRC), Government bodies (DEFRA, HSE, DWP, NIHR), non-government organisations (Mental Health Foundation), and the European Union.

Noise and Health Research

Charlotte has co-managed the EU-funded RANCH project, which examines the effect of aircraft and road traffic noise exposure at school on children’s health and cognition, with Professor Stephen Stansfeld since 2002. RANCH has been a high profile study, influencing the political agenda and the EU environmental noise directive. She has recently undertaken a follow-up of the UK RANCH cohort, examining the long-term consequences of noise exposure for children’s learning funded by the ESRC.

Charlotte was co-director of the European Network on Noise and Health (ENNAH) (September 2009-present). This role involved co-ordinating networking and research activities with the 33 ENNAH partners across Europe.

Charlotte was the Chair of Team 4 ‘Effects of Noise on Performance’ for the International Commission of the Biological Effects of Noise (ICBEN) from 2003-2011.

She has contributed to work on the effects of noise on health for the World Health Organisation (Europe), the Health Protection Agency, the Japanese Government, Ben Cave Associates UK, the Centre for Aviation Medicine, the Royal Air Force, and for Berry Environmental Ltd.

She has also contributed to work on the effects of the built environment on psychological health for the London Borough of Greenwich, Greenwich Teaching and Primary Care Trust, and Ben Cave Associates UK.

Psychological and Epidemiological Research

Charlotte has published several papers examining lifecourse predictors of mental health in mid-adulthood using data from the 1958 British birth cohort study. Her research interests include the role of childhood psychological ill-health, childhood adversity, job characteristics, social support, and socioeconomic effects on common mental disorders. Charlotte has also received funding from the MRC to examine lifecourse predictors of chronic fatigue syndrome in the 1958 British birth cohort study.

Another recent project, collaborating with colleagues at NatCen, examined occupation, the psychosocial work environment, and mental health in England in the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey. This project examined the associations between employment and poor mental health, job characteristics and poor mental health, and the contribution of stress in work and non-work domains to poor mental health

Charlotte has also worked on the RELACHS study – a longitudinal study of adolescents’ mental and physical health in East London. Charlotte is also part of a research team recently funded by the NIHR to examine the effect of regeneration associated with the 2012 London Olympics on the health and well-being of adolescents living in East London over a 5 year period.

Selected Recent Publications  …… details at 

http://www.wolfson.qmul.ac.uk/psychiatry/staff/clark_c.html

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Prof Piers Forster

Professor of Physical Climate Change, Faculty of Environment, University of Leeds; Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award holder. Webpage including his publications at  http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/people/p.forster

His memberships include Royal Meteorological Society, American Geophysical Union, American Meteorological Society, Sustainable Aviation Stakeholder Panel.

Also information at http://www.unitedbankofcarbon.com/forster-biography/   The United Bank For Carbon is dedicated to saving rainforest – and Piers is a trustee, “His research has convinced him that rainforest protection should be the first priority of any successful mitigation strategy. Due to increasing CO2 levels in the atmosphere, rainforests around the world are actually growing more and more vigorously – this increasing growth rate actually removes around a quarter of the CO₂ mankind emits every year. Yet we are still deforesting at an alarming rate. Research at Leeds has shown how this deforestation leads to both increased CO₂ emissions and widespread climate effects, such as a reduction of rainfall in tropical regions.”  However, the use of these comments by climate sceptics has been questioned:  http://denierlist.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/piers-forster/

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Dr Andrew Kempton

More information about him at http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Andrew-Kempton/480066522

And the University of Southampton Institute of Sound and Vibration Research,

UK Environmental Technology National Technical Committee – Noise. This National Technical Committee is managed by the Aerospace and Defence Knowledge Transfer Network.  The objectives of the UK Environmental Technology National Technical Committee – Noise (ETNTC) network are similar to those of the UK X-Noise Network in Aeroacoustics, therefore for most of the practical aspects (communications, strategies, roadmaps, etc.) they are treated as a single network.

The ETNTC will cover research of advanced concepts in the areas of:
• Technologies and design approaches to meet the ACARE 2020 goals for civil aircraft (baseline – year 2000 operations):
1) 50% reduction in CO2 emissions per passenger km.
2) Half current perceived average noise levels.
3) 80% reduction in NOx.
• Technologies for minimising the effects of smoke and noise emissions from military aircraft including small-scale particulate emissions.
• Step-change developments in both powerplant (combustor temperature control, component / system efficiency) and airframe design (drag reduction, noise attenuation, turbulence control).
• Improving local air quality and noise near airports, for passengers and cabin crew within the aircraft and for support staff on the ground.
• Reducing dependence on scarce minerals and compounds and increasing sustainability.

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/xnoiseuk/about_us/etntc.html

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Professor Peter Mackie

His page on the University of Leeds website is at http://www.its.leeds.ac.uk/people/staffProfile/?personId=200

“Within the field of appraisal of transport projects, Peter has helped to develop the framework of cost-benefit analysis in transport, has addressed particular issues such as the valuation of travel time savings and has engaged in research on the economic impacts of infrastructure projects, the logistics benefits of road investments and the so-called wider economy impacts of transport projects. He has led ITS’s work on disseminating transport appraisal methods to the user community through the World Bank Toolkit, several projects for the European Union, work for the UN Economic Commission for Europe and for the national Governments of the UK and Ireland. He has worked for the OECD and the International Transport Forum and has participated in many ITF Round Tables including in Paris, Boston and last year in Queretaro, Mexico.”

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Professor Andreas Schäfer

There is information on his webpage at http://www.weforum.org/global-agenda-councils/andreas-schafer

MSc in Aerospace Engineering and PhD in Energy Economics, University of Stuttgart, Germany. Twenty years’ experience in transportation, energy, and environment. Formerly, with: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Stanford University; University of Cambridge. Lead-Author, Transportation in a Climate-Constrained World (2009). Some of his recent publications are at http://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=ASCHA90 including       Schafer, A., & Evans, A. (2013). The Rebound Effect in the Aviation Sector. Energy Economics, 36 (March 2013), 158-165. doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2012.12.005  for which the abstract says:

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Professor Keith P Shine

 Keith P. Shine FRS is the head of the Atmospheric Radiation and Climate group and previous head of department at the University of Reading‘s meteorology department. He was a lead author of Climate Change 1995, the 1995 IPCC report on global warming. He held the University’s annual Children’s Christmas lecture on Clouds in 2008. Keith Shine was admitted as a fellow to the Royal Society in 2009.

2007:  “Carbon dioxide hogs the spotlight on the stage of chemical culprits causing global warming, but other greenhouse gases deserve some blame, scientists say.

“People need to be aware that it isn’t just CO2 that’s the problem,” said Keith Shine of the University of Reading in England, co-author of an article in the March 30 issue of the journal Science discussing the many unknowns about the complex mixture of greenhouse gases emitted into Earth’s atmosphere.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Shine

His page at the  University of Reading is at http://www.met.reading.ac.uk/users/users/242 including publications.

“Research interests:
Keith Shine’s research is broadly in the area of radiative transfer and climate; the work includes computer modelling and close collaboration with colleagues making laboratory and field measurements. Most of his recent work falls into two areas. First, in understanding the radiative impact of water vapour, and in particular improving our knowledge of the characteristics and causes of the water vapour continuum. Second, in radiative (or climate) forcing – a particular emphasis has been on the radiative forcing due to different modes of transport, especially aviation, and the development of metrics which attempt to place emissions of different gases and aerosols (or their precursors) on a common “climate” scale.”

Presentation on radiative forcing at http://www.pa.op.dlr.de/attica/stakeholder-meeting/PDF/Shine_climate_change.pdf

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Mr David Starkie

Case Associates – is a competition economics  consultancy firm http://www.casecon.com/

“CASE economists are highly trained with postgraduate degrees in economics, and often another discipline such as accounting, management, law and/or statistics.

CASE economists have wide practical experience in applying economics in competition and regulatory proceedings and before the courts across Europe and the AsiaPacific region.  It also has a well developed litigation and damages practice

CASE economists are particularly specialised in the application of economics and quantitative techniques in network industries.

CASE economists have undertaken assignments in communications, energy, transport, finance, consumer products, beverages, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, computers and software, property, air freight, electronics, media and many other sectors.”

David Starkie has written about “Aviation Markets – Studies in Competition and Regulatory Reform” http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9780754673880

David Starkie is a senior associate of Case Associates, London. During the last 20 years he has been a director of several economic consultancies and undertaken work for both private and public sector clients including: the CAA, IATA, European Commission, BAA plc, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Qantas, Air New Zealand. He has worked extensively on the regulation of airports in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and since early 2001 has been economic adviser to the Commission for Aviation Regulation, the regulator for Irish airports. More recently, he was on the CAA’s panel of advisers for its review of the NATS price cap.

Apart from a two-year contract with the Western Australian government, when he served as deputy to the Director-General of Transport, he followed a mainly academic career until 1985 and was, latterly, Professorial Fellow in the Department of Economics at the University of Adelaide and Research Associate at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, London.

During his career he has also served on a number of government committees and has advised select committees of the House of Commons on more than a dozen inquiries covering wide-ranging subjects, including: airline CRSs, US/UK aviation bi-laterals, and both UK and EU aviation policies.

A graduate and post-graduate of the London School of Economics, he is a member of the Royal Economic Society and the author of many papers and books. He has been co-editor of the Journal of Transport Economics and Policy since 1997.

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 Professor Callum Thomas

 His webpage at Manchester Metropolitan University is at http://www.cate.mmu.ac.uk/people/professor-callum-thomas/

An AirportWatch member comments:  “Before becoming an academic, Callum Thomas worked for Manchester Airport for many years, trying to show consideration for environmental and community issues. He is an out and out fan of aviation – almost in the geekish mould of Simon Calder. I have no doubt that the aviation industry will be delighted with this appointment.”

CATE – Centre for Aviation Transport and the Environment.

Chair of Sustainable Aviation, having returned to academia in 1998 after 13 years in the aviation industry. He has been an advisor to the UK Government, the European Commission, the World Economic Forum and the international air transport industry on environment and sustainability issues associated with the development of aviation.

Prof. Thomas is internationally known within the industry, having been an advisor to the UK Government and the European Commission on aviation and environmental/ sustainability issues. He was responsible for establishing and managing Manchester Airport’s Bird Control Unit, its Environment Department and Community Relations Department – all UK firsts and all of which have enjoyed international acclaim.

His expertise involves the sustainable development of aviation, environmental constraints upon airport growth and the impact of airport operations on local communities.  Most recently his research has focused upon the implications of aviation for climate change, carbon management at airports, climate impacts upon air transport and the relationship between aviation, tourism and climate change.

By training Prof. Thomas is a bird biologist.  He spent many years researching the behaviour and ecology of seabirds before moving on to address the hazards posed by birds to aircraft. He has co-authored two books and over 60 scientific papers. In 2008 he was invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society for his lifetime contribution to aviation.

He is a member of Airports Council International European Environment Committee (Chair 1995 – 1997) and sits on the WORLD Standing Committee for Environment.

Main activities and responsibilities

“Appointed to the Chair of Sustainable Aviation to direct research towards clarifying :- the role of aviation in driving regional development.- the most sustainable way of meeting the aviation needs of the region.- the timing and extent of any significant environmental and social constraints likely to effect aviation in general and airports in particular.- ways of maximising the environmental capacity of individual airports.”

His presentation on Sustainable Airport Development is at http://www.fdb.ie/Callum_Thomas.pdf

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More about the Airports Comission at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/airports-commission