Professor Simon Pollard

Professor Simon Pollard, Cranfield University

Professor of Environmental Risk Management, Head of Sustainable Systems Department
Location: Building 61, Cranfield campus
E: s.pollard@cranfield.ac.uk
T: +44 (0)1234 754101
Sustainable Systems


Current activities

Professor Simon Pollard is research active across the fields of waste, water and energy technology.  He is the principal investigator for AwwaRF-funded research on ‘Risk analysis strategies for better and more credible decision-making’ (RFP2939) and ‘Developing a risk management culture – mindfulness in the international water utility sector’ (TC3184).  Grantscape-funded research into the mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) of solid waste is highlighting the policy and technological challenges of delivering this set of technologies to the market, with the associated production of solid recovered fuel (SRF).  A portfolio of research (EPSRC, Defra, Environment Agency) on risk and regulation is improving regulatory decision tools for comparative risk assessment, characterising environmental harm and risk assessment.  Cranfield's Centre for Resource Efficiency and Management have become leading contributors to the field of bioaerosol research and the risk assessment of wastes, including animal carcasses (Defra) and anaerobic digestion residues (WRAP).

Clients

  • American Water Works Association Research Foundation
  • BBSRC
  • Department for Trade and Industry (England))
  • Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (England)
  • Environment Agency of England and Wales
  • EPSRC
  • Grantscape (Shanks First, EB Nationwide)
  • International Water Association
  • Malaysian Ministry of Health
  • National Grid plc
  • NERC
  • Scottish Environment Protection Agency
  • Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research
  • Shell Global Solutions
  • SITA
  • Taiwan Environmental Protection Agency
  • UK Water Industry Research
  • Waste and Resources Action Programme (UK)
  • Yorkshire Water

Background

The Sustainable Systems Department has an international portfolio in energy technology, waste and resource efficiency, in automotive technology and water science. Simon is Head of Department, Professor of Environmental Risk Management and Director of the Collaborative Centre of Excellence in Understanding and Managing Natural and Environmental Risks - the ‘Risk Centre’. He studied Chemistry (BSc Hons) and Environmental Engineering (PhD) at Imperial College, and obtained his DSc from Cranfield University in 2009 for career contributions to resource and environmental risk management.

Simon has over 20 years’ experience in environmental management having worked in industrial R&D (Raychem) and as an risk specialist in academia (Universities of Alberta and Edinburgh), consultancy (Aspinwall) and environmental policy and regulation (SEPA and the Environment Agency). He has prepared 350 research contributions and over 85 papers on sustainable technologies, the management of wastes, regulation and policy and environmental risk governance. He is a former member of the Government’s interdepartmental liaison group on risk assessment (ILGRA; 1998-2002), of NERC’s Environmental Diagnostics steering committee (1997-2002) and he contributed risk governance expertise to the Beringer Report (BBSRC; 2007-2008). Previously, as head of risk analysis for the Environment Agency (1998-2002), Simon led a team of principal scientists in the fields of chemical risk, radioactive waste, flood risk, climate change, waste research and pathogen risk assessment and provided the external focus for its risk policy work in Government.

Simon joined Cranfield in 2002 as the founding director of the Integrated Waste Management Centre, now Cranfield’s Centre for Resource Management and Efficiency. His research is funded by, among others, NERC, BBSRC, EPSRC, ESRC, Defra, the Environment Agency, WRAP, the American Water Research Foundation and the Australian Collaborative Research Centre on remediation of the polluted environment (CRC CARE). He is an Associate Editor for Science of the Total Environment. Simon’s committee work has included:

Research Council

EPSRC Strategic Advisory Team (Process, Environment and Sustainable Engineering), 2008-
Member, EPSRC Peer Review College, 2000-
Referee, EPSRC Waste and Pollution Control Programme, 1996-1999

Government

Beringer Panel, BBSRC Review of Institute for Animal Health, Pirbright, 2008
Member, Interdepartmental liaison group on risk assessment, 1998-2002
Member, Cabinet Office ad-hoc Risk Officials Group, 1999-2002
Member, Government and Research Councils’ Initiative on Risk Assessment and Toxicology (RATSC ILGRA sub-committee), 1998-1990
Member, Research Advisory Committee, Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research (SNIFFER), 1997-8
Client Board Member, Environment Agency’s National Centre for Risk Analysis and Option Appraisal, 1997-1998
Client Board Member, Environment Agency’s National Centre for Groundwater and Contaminated Land, 1997-1998

Industrial

Member Management Board, Integrated Pollution Management Knowledge Transfer Network (IPM-Net), 2006-2008
Member, CRC-CARE Research Advisory Committee (Aus), 2005-
Member, Executive committee, Hazards Forum, 2001-2004
Member, Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee, Australian Research Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation, 2003-
Member, Steering Committee, 1st Faraday Network for Remediation of the Polluted Environment, 2003-2005
Chair, Scottish Contaminated Land Forum, 1997-1998

Academic

Editor, Comm. Waste Res. Manage., 2007-;
Critical Reviews Editor, Environ. Intl., 2005-2008
Associate Editor, Sci. Tot. Environ., 2002-;
Visiting Professor, University of South Australia, 2006-.

Selected publications

  • A. Gouldson, Morton, A. and S.J.T Pollard (2009) Modern environmental regulation I: the contributions of risk based decision-making, Sci. Tot. Environ. in press
  • S.A. Rocks, R. Owen, S.J. Pollard, R.A. Dorey, P.T.C. Harrison, L.S. Levy, R.D. Handy, J.F. Garrod (2009) Risk assessment of manufactured nanomaterials. In: J. Lead, E. Smith (eds) Environmental and human health effects of nanoparticles, Blackwell Science, in press
  • Pollard, S.J.T., Bradshaw, R., Tranfield, D., Charrois, J.W.A., Cromar, N., Jalba, D., Hrudey, S.E., Abell, P. and Lloyd, R. (2009) Developing a risk management culture – ‘mindfulness’ in the international water utility sector (TC3184), Water Research Foundation, Denver, USA, ISBN 978-1-60573-045-5, 117 pp.
  • C.A. Velis, P.J. Longhurst, G.H. Drew, R. Smith and S.J.T. Pollard (2009) Production and quality assurance of solid recovered fuels using mechanical biological treatment (MBT) of waste: a comprehensive assessment, Crit. Rev. Environ. Sci. Technol., in press.
  • Garg, A., Smith, R., Hill, D., Longhurst, P.J., Pollard, S.J.T., and Simms, N.J. (2009) An integrated appraisal of energy recovery options in the United Kingdom using solid recovered fuel derived from municipal solid waste. Waste Manage. 29: 2289-2297
  • Drew, G.H., Jordinson, G.M., Smith, M.A. and Pollard, S.J.T. (2009) Evaluating the quality of bioaerosol risk assessments for compost facilities in England and Wales, Res. Conserv. Recyl. 53: 507-512
  • C.A. Velis, P.J. Longhurst, G.H. Drew, R. Smith and S.J.T. Pollard (2009) Biodrying for mechanical-biological treatment of wastes: a review of process science and engineering Bioresource Technol. 100: 2747-2761
  • Coulon, F., Orsi, R., Turner, C., Walton, C., Daly, P. and Pollard, S.J.T. (2009) Understanding the fate and transport of petroleum hydrocarbons from coal tar within gasholders, Environ. Intl. 35: 248-252
  • Wu, S., Hrudey, S.E., French, S., Bedford, T., Soane, E. and Pollard, S. (2009) A role for human reliability analysis in preventing drinking water incidents and securing safe drinking water, Wat. Res. 43: 3227-3238
  • Pollard, S.J.T., Davies, G.J., Coley, F. and Lemon, M. (2008) Better environmental decision-making – recent progress and future trends, Sci. Tot. Environ. 400: 20-31 (invited)
  • Risdon, G.C., Pollard, S.J.T., Brassington, K.J., McEwan, J.N., Paton, G.I., Semple, K.T. and Coulon, F. (2008) Development of a novel and robust analytical procedure for weathered hydrocarbon contaminated soils within a UK risk-based framework, Anal. Chem. 80: 7090 -7096
  • MacGillivray, B.H. and Pollard, S.J.T. (2008) What can water utilities do to improve risk management within their business functions? An improved tool and application of process benchmarking, Environ. Intl. 34: 1120-1131

Further publications