Barbara Maher

Environmental Scientist

Barbara is the Director of Lancaster University’s internationally-renowned Centre for Environmental Magnetism & Palaeomagnetism, in the Lancaster Environment Centre. She has a BSc in Geography and a PhD in Environmental Geophysics, both from Liverpool University. In addition to working on past climate records from geological sequences, she uses magnetic methods to resolve environmental processes and problems, including magnetic monitoring, sourcing and human health impacts of particulate pollutants, tracing of modern river sediment sources, and magnetic ‘clean-up’ of contaminated waters. Most recently, she has been working on magnetite pollution nanoparticles in the human brain. Media appearances include ‘The Great Air Pollution Experiment’ on BBC2’s Trust Me I’m A Doctor, as well as many interviews on the BBC News and BBC Radio. Awards and distinctions include the Schlumberger Award of the Mineralogical Society of Gt Britain & Ireland (2014), Pilkington Teaching Award (2013), a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (2006-2012), and the Institute of Physics’ award of the Appleton Medal (2005).