Mentor Profile for Contract Research Staff

Department  of  Chemistry  -­‐  Mentor  Profile Last  Updated:  29  November  2013  

Dr  R.Tony  Cox  BSc.  PhD.  ScD.  FGS.  Acad.  Europaea.            Retired  Reader  in  Atmospheric  Chemistry    Department  of  Chemistry,  University  of  Cambridge  College  Affiliation:  Darwin  College      

About  Me    I  was  born  in  1941  and  spent  my  schooldays  in  the  West  Midlands.  I  graduated  in  Chemistry  in  1963  from  the  University  of  Manchester,  and  gained  a  PhD  in  Physical  Chemistry  in  1966.  I  then  held  a  postdoctoral  Fellowship  at  NRC  in  Ottawa,  Canada  and  returned  to  UK  in  1968,  joining  the  Environmental  and  Medical  Sciences  Division  at  the  UKAEA  Harwell  Laboratory,  Oxfordshire.    In  1995  I  joined  the  Chemistry  Department  at  University  of  Cambridge,  as  Reader  in  Atmospheric  Chemistry,  starting  a  new  research  group  studying  chemistry  of  atmospheric  aerosols.    I  retired  from  my  academic  post  in  2007  having  published  over  200  scientific  papers.    I  remain  a  member  of  the  Department  of  Chemistry  and  continue  my  data  evaluation  work  related  to  atmospheric  chemical  processes.  Since  coming  to  Cambridge  in  1995  I  have  also  pursued  wider  scientific  interests  in  the  environment,  including  natural  history  and  ecosystems,  geology  and  landscape.    I  also  have  interests  in  the  history  and  development  of  science,  technology  and  the  countryside.  I  live  with  my  wife,  Barbara,  in  a  converted  farm  complex  in  Barton.  We  cycle  into  town  regularly.    My  Research  Interests    At  Harwell  I  undertook  research  in  many  aspects  of  atmospheric  chemistry  and  combustion  chemistry,  with  an  emphasis  on  laboratory  studies  of  kinetics  and  photochemistry  of  gas  phase  reactions.    This  work  contributed  significantly  to  the  understanding  of  depletion  of  the  ozone  layer  which  underpinned  the  Montreal  Protocols  for  its  protection  by  UNEP.    I  also  contributed  significantly  to  elucidation  of  the  chemistry  of  photochemical  oxidants  and  its  significance  for  global  tropospheric  chemistry,  which  turns  out  to  be  important  for  climate  change.    I  was  a  founding  member  of  the  IUPAC  Data  Evaluation  Panel  for  Atmospheric  Chemistry  and  was  chairman  from  1999  until  2008.      Mentoring  Support  I  Can  Provide    I  feel  my  experience  in  research  in  the  scientific  civil  service  over  many  years,  before  my  recent  academic  career  over  the  last  years,  gives  me  a  useful  perspective  on  the  application  of  high  quality  basic  science  to  societal  problems,  especially  to  pollution  of  the  Earth’s  environment.    I  am  happy  to  share  this  experience  with  young  scientists  with  career  aspirations  in  this  area:  

• Specific  expertise  in:  gas  phase  kinetics  and  mechanism,  photchemistry,  physical  chemistry  of  aerosols  • Atmospheric  composition;  interface  between  chemistry,  meteorology  and  atmospheric  transport  • General  environmental  physics;  earth-­‐system  science  • Working  and  managing  research  projects,  strategy  for  research  and  resource  • Career  development  in  public/academic  sector;  networking  • Work-­‐life  balance;  developing  wider  interests  

 Mentoring  Availability  and  Contact    Please  contact  me  directly  at:  rac26@cam.ac.uk