Dr. Pablo Espina Martin

Pablo is an environmental researcher focusing on ammonium nitrate (NH₄NO₃), nitric acid (HNO₃) and ammonia (NH₃) measurements in rural and background sites to evaluate their temporal variability and geographical origin to provide information on how to mitigate the concentrations of these pollutants and improve air quality.

He obtained his B.Sc. in Environmental Science from the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in 2013, investigating the link between the heavy metal content in pine needles in Madrid city and the Saharan dust events periodically occurring there. In 2015, he obtained his M.Sc. in Environmental Pollution and Toxicology from the University of the Basque Country. Pursuing his interest in the air quality domain, he carried out his PhD entitled "determinants and sources of inorganic secondary aerosols in a rural area in the North of France", involving a one-year field campaign to determine the drivers of the inorganic secondary pollutants that occur frequently in the North of France. 

During a postdoctoral position, he worked in different NH₃ monitoring projects using passive samplers, wet chemistry-based techniques and Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy based instruments at different site typologies, with the purpose to better understand the links between NH₃ concentrations and secondary inorganic aerosols in Northwest Europe and the issues related to its sampling and quantification.

Pablo currently works at UKCEH in the ACE group on different projects aiming to monitor NH₃ concentrations in urban and rural environments using both state-of-the-art instrumentation and passive sampling to assess the NH₃ pollution levels. He also actively participates in the data QAQC process for the National Ammonia Monitoring Network and Acid Gases and Aerosols network.