Geographical Information Science has been part of my research activity for nearly 20 years. However, I have been researching spatial patterns in emissions and pollutant concentrations for nearly as long (Lindley et al 1996; 1999; 2000; Lindley & Walsh, 2005). Recent projects in this area include the Joint Environment & Human Health Programme Affinity Zones project (Harris et al 2009) and the EU European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects project (ESCAPE). Urban air pollution and its management remains a continuing component of my ongoing research agenda.

Since 2003 I have also begun researching climate change adaptation, particularly (but not exclusively) in relation to urban heat. Themes include risk and vulnerability analysis and research into urban ecosystem services (Pauleit et al 2003; Nguyen Van De et al 2008; Dao Kim Nguyen et al 2008; Mcmorrow et al 2008; Qureshi et al 2009). This latter area of work was further developed through a network of African case study cities as part of the EU FP7 CLimate Change and Urban Vulnerability in Africa (CLUVA) project and I am now contributing to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Regional Assessment for Africa.

Having developed a spatial risk assessment and management framework through the EPSRC Adaptation Strategies for Climate Change in the Urban Environment (ASCCUE) project (Lindley et al 2006; 2007), I have subsequently sought to populate that framework with an improved evidence base for decision-making. ASCCUE helped to construct key datasets (e.g. Gill et al 2008) upon which an understanding of the geographical patterns of hazards and hazard drivers could be developed, e.g. via the Sustainable Cities: Options for Responding to Climate cHange Impacts & Outcomes (SCORCHIO) project (Smith et al 2009; 2011).