ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES
Robert Field, Senior Research Scientist
Room 6014, Engineering Building
Email: rfield1@uwyo.edu
Office Phone: (307) 766-2180
Visit: Centers of Excellence - Air Quality
Education:
- B.Sc. (Hons), Resources Science, Kingston University, 1989
- PhD., Civil Engineering, Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, 1996
Research Statement
My research is based within the general field of air quality. This work started with
air pollution surveying as part of environmental impact statements for UK airports.
Through 30 years of making high quality measurements, my focus has been upon volatile
organic compounds (VOC), in particular benzene. From my Ph.D. “The Sources and Behavior
of Selected Urban Air Pollutants” my data, including the last significant “pea soup”
smog event in London, was used to define new ambient air quality standards for benzene
and 1,3-butadine in the UK, my research extended to helping to build a national network
while developing novel data validation procedures that used AI for chromatographic
analysis. The UK standard for benzene was later adopted by the rest of the European
Union. My VOC research has paid particular attention to instrument development, method
standardization and wintertime ozone. At present my work has three focus areas: 1.)
Methane and VOC emissions from energy development, in collaboration with Shane Murphy;
2.) Long term background air quality monitoring; and 3.) Diffusive sampling development
in collaboration with the European Union. My research goals are to support the wider
community with developing methods and strategies for high quality measurements and
analysis to support both regulatory work and emerging air quality issues. This is
driven by a concern for the impacts of air pollution upon health and quality of life.
Current Projects/Research Areas
- VOC and methane emissions from oil and gas development, including influence upon wintertime
ozone.
- Long term monitoring of air pollution in Wyoming to support the National Environmental
Policy Act.
- Development of a novel passive sampler designed by the European Commission for commercial
application.
Selected Publications:
*Indicates graduate student author
- Derwent, R.G., Field, R.A., et al. (2017) Origins and trends in ethane and propane
in the United Kingdom from 1993 to 2012, Atmos. Environ., 156, 15-23, doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.02.030.
- Robertson, A.M., Edie, R.* et al. (2017) (authors include Field R.A.) Variation in
Methane Emission Rates from Well Pads in Four Oil and Gas Basins with Contrasting
Production Volumes and Compositions” Environ. Sci. Technol., 51(15), 2017.
- Ballesta P.P, Grandesso E., Field R.A., and Cabrerizo A. (2016) Validation and modeling
of a novel diffusive sampler for determining concentrations of volatile organic compounds
in air; Analytical Chimica Acta, 908, 102-112, doi:10.1016/j.aca.2015.12.032.
- Field R.A. et al. (2015) Distributions of air pollutants associated with oil and natural
gas development measured in the Upper Green River Basin of Wyoming, Elementa: Science
of the Anthropocene, 3, 000074, doi: 10.12952/journal.elementa.000074.
- Field R.A. et al. (2015) Influence of oil and gas field operations on spatial and
temporal distributions of atmospheric non-methane hydrocarbons and their effect on
ozone formation in winter; Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 3527–3542, 2015, doi:10.5194/acp-15-3527-2015.
- Field R.A., Soltis J. and S. Murphy (2014) Air Quality Concerns of Shale Gas Production;
Environmental Science, Invited Perspective, Environmental Science, doi: 10.1039/C4EM00081A.
- Edwards, P.M. et al. (2014) (authors include Field, R.A.), “High Winter Ozone Generated
by Carbonyl Photolysis in a Shale Gas and Oil Producing Region” Nature 514, 351–354,
doi:10.1038/nature13767, 2014.