Research interests
Overview. Ken's research aims to improve our understanding of atmospheric aerosol particles and the effects they have on climate. His publications cover much of this field, including natural aerosols, Arctic aerosols, aerosol formation, dust and biogeochemistry, ice-nucleating particles, radiative forcing, volcanic impacts on climate and health, palaeo-aerosols, air quality, uncertainty quantification, geoengineering, stratospheric aerosols, polar stratospheric clouds and the ozone hole.

His early research led to the discovery of liquid polar stratospheric clouds and the role of large cloud particles in Arctic denitrification. His group was among the first developers of a global model of aerosol microphysics (GLOMAP) which is now part of the UK Earth System Model. His group's research established that new particle formation accounts for around half of climate-relevant aerosol particles in the atmosphere. In the CERN CLOUD experiment his research led to the first global model of new particle formation based entirely on laboratory measurements, a status achieved for gas-phase chemistry over thirty years ago. Ken's group has a wide interest in natural aerosols, showing that they are a major component of the uncertainty in aerosol effects on climate. His group also developed a global model of ice-nucleating particles based solely on laboratory measurements of their physical properties, leading to an explanation of large biases in radiation in climate models. His research increasingly focuses on reducing model uncertainty by applying novel statistical techniques and extensive observations.