Professor Marais Inaugural Lecture: Environmental Risks of Unregulation

Science & Technology

Data-Informed Evidence to Propel Regulation Targeting the Space and Agricultural Sectors

Join us for the Inaugural Lecture of Professor Eloise Marais, a leading expert in atmospheric chemistry and air quality at UCL.

Professor Marais and her team employ advanced research tools and datasets to close crucial knowledge gaps, gathering vital evidence to shape environmental policies.

Her work focuses on unregulated and emerging industries like the space sector, fossil fuels, and agriculture.

In this lecture, Professor Marais will explore how agriculture and the fast-growing space sector are significant sources of pollution and the associated impacts on health, climate, and ecosystems.

Through innovative applications of remote sensing and numerical modelling, she will discuss the urgent need for regulatory actions and outline future research directions.

Opening remarks will be given by Professor Daniel Jacob from Harvard University, and closing appreciation will be shared by Eloise's fellow UCL Department of Geography academic, Professor Mat Disney.

Abstract

Across the northern hemisphere, agriculture is the largest unregulated industrial sector, and so is a dominant source of air pollution in the US, Europe, and China.

The space sector is one of the fastest-growing industries that uniquely injects large quantities of pollutants into all layers of the atmosphere from rocket launches and re-entry burn-up of rocket bodies and satellites.

In this talk, Professor Marais will demonstrate the versatile application of remote sensing and numerical modelling to determine the risks these unregulated sources pose to human health, climate, the ozone layer, and sensitive habitats to steer regulatory actions and set the agenda for future research.

Inaugural Lecture Series 2024/25

This lecture is part of the 2024/25 series for the UCL Department of Geography. The series provides an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the achievements of our professors who are undertaking research and scholarship of international significance and offers an insight into the strength and vitality of the arts, humanities and social sciences at UCL.

All our lectures are free to attend and open to all. You don't have to be a UCL staff member or student to come along.

Lectures begin at 6:15pm and are typically one hour long. A drinks reception will follow, to which everyone is welcome to join.

We look forward to meeting you at one of our events.

Visit our news and events pages for other upcoming lectures.

Access profile

We aim to make our events as inclusive as possible so if you have any accessibility requirements please let us know in advance so we can try to make reasonable adjustments and ensure the appropriate measures are taken.

- The Sir Ambrose Fleming Lecture Theatre G06 is located on the ground floor of the Roberts Building.

- There is step-free access to the lecture theatre.

- There is staggered seating within the lecture theatre.

- The steps to the staggered seating do not have handrails.

- This lecture theatre does not have a hearing assistance system.

View the full access guide on the AccessAble website.

Photography

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