Industrial Methane Measurement Conference 2022 - Scientific Committee

Name: Rod Robinson
Company: National Physical Laboratory
Position: Principal Research Scientist
Country: United Kingdom and Europe

About Rod Robinson: Rod Robinson is a Principal Research Scientist at NPL and a Team Leader for Environmental Monitoring using DIAL (Differential Absorption Lidar). In addition to his role at NPL, Rod is Vice Chairman of the CEN Committee for Air Quality TC 264.

Rod has over 20 years' experience with NPL, covering all aspects of environmental monitoring. He is technically responsible for all NPL contracts on remote environmental sensing and is recognised as a leading international authority on the practical application of DIAL. Rod works with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the EPA's National Optical Sensing Workgroup, and he has been instrumental in obtaining EPA approval for the DIAL technique in the USA and has led eight long DIAL campaigns in the US and Canada since 2007.

Rod is an international authority on industrial emissions measurements and is on the Management Board of the UK's Source Testing Association. He has previously been the Quality Officer and Chairman. He consults for the UK Environment Agency in this context, and has been invited to give a keynote presentation at the last four annual conferences of the US Source Evaluation Agency.

Rod also has wide experience of instrument development projects and is highly regarded as a gas measurement specialist. He developed breath alcohol test equipment to simulate human breath samples for the type approval of evidential breath analysers to UK Home Office test specifications.

Name: David Lowry
Company: Royal Holloway University of London
Position: Reader in Stable Isotopes and Greenhouse Gases
Country: United Kingdom

About David Lowry: David Lowry has been part of the greenhouse gas group at RHUL since its inception in 1994, setting up methane isotope extraction techniques for large air samples. Research interests include the development of techniques for the stable isotope analysis of greenhouse gases, particularly related to reducing sample size and increasing precision (in collaboration with Dr. R. Fisher and Isoprime UK), and the use of isotopes to verify of UK and EU emissions declarations and inventory assessments. Current interests in the use of Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) for the measurement of greenhouse gases, through automated systems at remote sites and by mobile measurement of emission plumes. Successful 2011 and 2013 projects with NPL and DEFRA to assess methane oxidation by landfill soils using isotope methodology. Supervisor (first or joint) of 8 successful PhD candidates from the greenhouse gas laboratory at RHUL since 1997 with 3 more in progress. Attended and presented at the WMO Greenhouse Gas Measurement Techniques meeting since 2001. Co-convenor of session on greenhouse gases at the AGU Fall meeting, 2007, lead convenor 2013 session on Arctic CH4 Sources, and 2015 session on Mobile CH4 Measurement. Current investigator / co-investigator on a range of NERC-UK methane projects, UN CCAC North Sea and Cities projects, and partner and WP2 leader on 2017-2021 MEMO2 Marie Curie training network.

Name: Jan Liebetrau
Company: DBFZ
Position: Head of Biochemical Conversion Department
Country: Germany

About Jan Liebetrau: Dr. Jan Liebetrau is head of Biochemical Conversion Department at The Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum (DBFZ) in Leipzig.

After obtaining a Diploma in Civil Engineering Jan Liebetrau received his PhD at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar on the topic "Control System for the anaerobic treatment of organic waste". From 2006 to 2007 he was a visiting scientist at the Alberta Research Council, Canada, working on a project “Integrated Manure Utilization System” (IMUS). Since 2008 he has been employed at DBFZ, where in 2011 he became Head of Department for Biochemical Conversion. Jan Liebetrau’s main research interests are process control of AD processes, solid state fermentation and emissions from biogas plants.

Name: Phil DeCola
Company: Sigma Space Corporation
Position: Chief Science Officer
Country: United States

About Phil DeCola: Phil DeCola is Chief Science Officer of Sigma Space Corporation and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Maryland. Dr. DeCola’s work has focused on the use of remote-sensing data for Earth science research and resource management applications. Phil has served as an advisor on climate change and Earth observations for two administrations as Senior Policy Analyst in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (2007- 2010). At NASA, he was Atmospheric Composition Focus Area Lead and Program Scientist in the NASA Science Mission Directorate (1994 – 2007). Phil also has served as Lead Scientist on a number of U.S. Government delegations to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 2002 – 2010, and worked on the IPCC scientific assessments since 1994. Dr. DeCola was co-Chair of the U.S. Group on Earth Observations (USGEO) and led the formulation and writing of the USGEO strategic assessment of U. S. Earth observation and monitoring priorities (2008 – 2010). During his career at NASA, Phil was the Lead Scientist and Evaluation Co-Chair for the NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder Program, and as Program Scientist for a number of NASA space missions including the EOS Aura Mission, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory Mission, the SAGE-2 and SAGE III Missions, as well as for a number of airborne field campaigns. Phil is currently the chair for a WMO/UNEP global initiative, the Integrated Global GHG Information System (IG3IS), which has a goal of supporting the UNFCCC Paris Agreement and other GHG emission reduction policies and measures.

Name: Olivier Duclaux
Company: TOTAL
Position: Research Engineer
Country: France

About Olivier Duclaux: Olivier Duclaux received his PhD in Kinetics and Catalysis from the University of Lyons in 1997 for his work on VOC's destruction. With combined industrial and academic experience, his research includes numerical modelling of atmospheric processes, pollutant analysis and reduction technologies.

Currently, Olivier is a Senior Researcher in the Air Quality Laboratory at the Oil & Gas Company TOTAL.

His current research focuses on the quantification of pollutants by combining measurement from various technologies (optical; punctual, monitoring network) to reverse modelling approach. He participates to the elaboration of several CEN standards for fugitive / diffuse emission quantification by remote sensing and reverse modelling approach.

Olivier is involved as an expert in the CONCAWE (CONservative Clean Air & Water for Europe) consortium for the quantification of emissions from refining activities.

Name: Thomas Röckmann
Company: Utrecht University
Position: Professor
Country: Netherlands

About Thomas Röckmann: Prof. Thomas Röckmann is a professor at Utrecht University, the Netherlands, where he is currently the chair of atmospheric physics and chemistry. Thomas has a long history of working in greenhouse gas research where his interests include development of devices for sampling atmospheric trace gases, global trace gas budgets, stratospheric chemistry and exchanges, development of isotopic measurement techniques, investigation of isotopic effects, and paleo-atmospheric research.

Thomas is the scientific coordinator of the European MEMO² project, a training network for developing mobile methane measurements and modelling at different scales.

Name: Daniel Zavala-Araiza
Company: Environmental Defense Fund
Position: International Scientist
Country: United States

About Daniel Zavala-Araiza: Daniel Zavala-Araiza, Ph.D. is an international scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund. His current work focuses on methane emissions from the global oil and gas system with an emphasis on measurement and characterization of emissions. He provides scientific guidance and coordination for the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) Oil and Gas Methane Science Studies. Daniel is also part of the science team of the Integrated Global GHG Information System (IG3IS), a WMO/UNEP initiative supporting the UNFCCC Paris Agreement and other GHG emission reduction policies and measures.