Current Interests

Dr Richard Brown is leading work in the trace chemical analysis area to provide traceability for, and improve the accuracy of, measurements of pollutants in ambient air and other environmental matrices. He is also working on novel electrochemical analysis techniques, in particular to reduce the uncertainty of primary pH measurements, and is involved in research into complex data analysis techniques.

Biography

Richard received his BSc in Chemistry (together with the Governors' Prize for Chemistry) and his PhD in Electrochemistry from Imperial College, London, in 1997 and 2000, respectively. Since then he has worked for NPL.

In 2009 Richard was awarded the 34^th SAC Silver Medal by the Royal Society of Chemistry "for his excellence in the application of measurement science to a variety of analytical chemistry problems. In particular, the areas of: environmental analytical chemistry, electroanalysis and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy." In 2008, he won the CITAC Award for the Most Important Paper in Metrology in Chemistry for his work on mercury vapour measurement.

In 2012 Richard was awarded the Doctor of Science (DSc) Degree from Imperial College London in 'The Application of Measurement Science to Environmental Analytical Chemistry for Air Quality Studies'.

Richard has published in excess of 115 peer-reviewed papers.

Richard is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a Chartered Chemist, a Chartered Scientist and holder of the European Chemist designation.

He is currently Knowledge Leader for the Analytical Science Division (ASD) and Science Area Leader for the Environmental Measurements Group within ASD.

Selected publications

• Memory effects on adsorption tubes for mercury vapour measurement in ambient air: elucidation, quantification and strategies for mitigation of analytical bias
  R. J. C. Brown, Y. Kumar, A. S. Brown, K-H. Kim
  Environmental Science & Technology, 2011, 45, 7812-7818
• Comparison of estimated annual emissions and measured annual ambient concentrations of metals in the United Kingdom 1980-2007
  R. J. C. Brown
  Journal of Environmental Monitoring, 2010, 12, 665-671
• Accurate calibration of mercury vapour measurements
  R. J. C. Brown, A. S. Brown
  Analyst, 2008, 133, 1611-1618
• A practical uncertainty budget for ambient mercury vapour measurement
  R. J. C. Brown, A. S. Brown, R. E. Yardley, W. T. Corns, P. B. Stockwell
  Atmospheric Environment, 2008, 42, 2504-2517
• Twenty-five years of nationwide ambient metals measurement in the United Kingdom: concentration levels and trends
  R. J. C. Brown, et al
  Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2008, 142, 127-140

Contact details

E-mail: richard.brown@npl.co.uk
Tel: 020 8943 6409