Karn Vohra

In my research, I make extensive use of ground- and space-based observations, and state-of-knowledge chemical transport and health risk assessment models to improve our understanding of the influence of air pollution and its sources on atmospheric chemistry and public health and motivate regulatory action.

In my postdoctoral research in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Stockholm Environment Institute, I use an atmospheric chemistry model GEOS-Chem and contemporary health risk assessment models to advance the understanding of the influence of oil and gas lifecycle stages on multiple pollutants and health outcomes in the USA.

More about Dr Vohra

I obtained my PhD in Environmental Health and Risk Management from the University of Birmingham, funded by the University’s Global Challenges Studentship. Motivated by the current air pollution scenario in India, I make extensive use of multiple data sources to determine long-term changes in air quality and the impacts on human health at multiple scales, from cities, to regions, to the globe.

I completed my Bachelors and Masters in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India in 2015. Prior to moving to the UK, I worked with McKinsey and Company as a data analyst for 2 years.

I am passionate about early career researcher development and I served as a PhD representative at the University of Birmingham, acting as a liaison between the PhD cohort and the departmental administration. Currently, I regularly mentor junior members of the research group at UCL and serve on the international iCACGP-IGAC Early Career Scientific Steering Committee.

Publications

Peer-reviewed

E. A. Marais, J. M. Kelly, K. Vohra, Y. Li, G. Lu, N. Hina, E. Rowe, Impact of legislated and best available emission control measures on UK particulate matter pollution, premature mortality, and nitrogen-sensitive habitats, GeoHealth, 7, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GH000910, 2023.
K. Vohra, E. A. Marais, W. J. Bloss, J. Schwartz, L. J. Mickley, M. Van Damme, L. Clarisse, P.-F. Coheur, Rapid rise in premature mortality due to anthropogenic air pollution in fast-growing tropical cities from 2005 to 2018, Science Advances, 8, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm4435, 2022.
K. Vohra, E. A. Marais, S. Suckra, L. Kramer, W. J. Bloss, R. Sahu, A. Gaur, S. N. Tripathi, M. Van Damme, L. Clarisse, P. F. Coheur, Long-term trends in air quality in major cities in the UK and India: A view from space, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 21, 6275–6296, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6275-2021, 2021.
K. Vohra, A. Vodonos, J. Schwartz, E. A. Marais, M. P. Sulprizio, L. J. Mickley, Global mortality from outdoor fine particle pollution generated by fossil fuel combustion: Results from GEOS-Chem, Environmental Research, 195, 110754, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2021.110754, 2021 (ISI Web of Science Hot and Highly Cited Paper).
K. Vohra, K. Ghosh, S.N. Tripathi, I. Thangamani, P. Goyal, A. Dutta, V. Verma, Submicron particle dynamics for different surfaces under quiescent and turbulent conditions, Atmospheric Environment, 152, 330-344, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2016.12.013, 2017.

Under review

K. Vohra, Madhumitha, S., A. Chakraborty, Bharrathi A. S., Urgent issues regarding real-time air quality monitoring data in India: Unveiling solutions and implications, under review.
T. K. Sayyed, U. Ovienmhada, M. Kashani, K. Vohra, G. Kerr, C. O’Donnell, L. Gladson, M. Harris, A. Titus, S. Adamo, K. Fong, E. Gargulinski, A. Soja, S. Anenberg, Y. Kuwayama, Satellite data for environmental justice: A scoping review, under review. [Preprint]

Presentations

Invited Talks

NASA Langley Satellite-Assisted Particulate Matter (SAPM) meeting, virtual, 2023.
Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, virtual, 2023.
UCL Physical Geography seminar series, London, UK, 2023.
University of Edinburgh Global Change seminar series, Edinburgh, UK, 2022.
University of Birmingham Air Pollution and Atmospheric Chemistry seminar series, virtual, 2021.
Great Ormond Street Hospital lunchtime seminar, virtual, 2021.
University of the Third Age Science Group Meeting, Birmingham, UK, 2019.

Science Presentations

UK Clean Air Research Futures Group Meeting, virtual, 2023.
2nd GEOS-Chem Europe Regional Meeting, UCL, 2023.
IGAC Science Conference, Manchester, UK, 2022.
International GEOS-Chem Meeting, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, USA, 2022.
AMS Conference on Atmospheric Chemistry, virtual, 2022.
IGAC Science Conference, virtual, 2021.
AGU Fall Meeting, virtual, 2020.
Annual Aerosol Science Conference, virtual, 2020.
1st GEOS-Chem Europe Regional Meeting, virtual, 2020.
Birmingham Environment for Academic Research Conference, virtual, 2020.
UK National Centre for Earth Observations (NCEO) conference, virtual, 2020.
EGU General Assembly, virtual, 2020.
EUMETSAT-ESA Atmospheric Composition Training Course, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 2019.
Doctoral Conference, University of Birmingham, Birmingham UK, 2019.
AGU Fall Meeting, Washington DC, USA, 2018.
NCAS Air Quality Symposium, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK, 2018.
NCEO Atmosphere-Biosphere Meeting, Oxfordshire, UK, 2018.
IGAC Science Conference, Takamatsu, Japan, 2018.
NCEO Conference, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, 2018.
Research Poster Conference, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, 2018.
Doctoral Conference, University of Birmingham, Birmingham UK, 2018.

Impact

Public Engagement

An invisible killer hangs in the air of Asia’s cities, 360info, January 2024.
Air pollution in fast-growing African cities presents a risk of premature death, The Conversation, June 2022.
Science can clear the air for pollution policymakers, 360info, August 2022
Ditching fossil fuels will have immediate health benefits for millions – world leaders must seize the chance, The Conversation, November 2021.

Media Engagement

2024: Expertise sought on air pollution exposure in India, AGU's Eos
2023: Expertise sought on air pollution and health effects from oil and gas production, BBC News
2023: Expertise sought on urban air pollution and its sources, BBC Future
2023 Expertise sought on health burden of oil and gas production, Environmental Health News
2022: Media coverage of Vohra et al. (2022), doi:10.1126/sciadv.abm4435 on trends in air quality and health in emerging tropical megacities
News coverage in The New York Times, Popular Science, New Scientist and Nature Middle East.
2021: Expertise sought on the deadly smog in New Delhi, iNews
2021: Media coverage of Vohra et al. (2021), doi:10.1016/j.envres.2021.110754 on global health burden of fossil-fuel combustion
- Extensive social and traditional media coverage overview provided by Altmetrics.
- News coverage in over 480 articles worldwide such as The Guardian, The Independent, The Times, The Economist, Forbes, Le Monde and Rolling Stone.
- Interviews for Greenpeace Spain, Biosfera Show on Portuguese TV and Moncrieff Show on Newstalk National Radio, Ireland.

Interactive Dashboards

UK PM_2.5 pollution and premature mortality for present day and for 2030 by adopting currently legislated or all feasible measures. (dashboard)
Trends in premature mortality (dashboard) and in air quality (dashboard) in emerging megacities in the tropics
Premature mortality from air pollution linked to fossil-fuel combustion distributed as national estimates for all countries (dashboard), as state-level for the US (dashboard) and India (dashboard), and for provinces in Canada (dashboard).

Open-source Datasets

UK administrative area PM_2.5 health burden (dataset)
Global premature mortality due to exposure to air pollution from fossil fuel combustion. (dataset)
Gridded PM_2.5 for the tropics from GEOS-Chem. (dataset)
Corrected surface NO₂ data for Indian cities Delhi and Kanpur. (dataset)

Research Grants, Prizes and Awards

2022: Early Career Researcher Plenary Talk Award at the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) Project Science Conference, Manchester, UK
2022: The Michael K. O'Rourke Best Publication Award, best paper from the PhD cohort at the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK
2021: Honorary Mention for Early Career Scientist presentation at IGAC Science Conference
2021: Westmere Scholarship awarded by University Graduate School, University of Birmingham, UK
2020: Travel grant awarded by College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK
2019: First prize for outstanding presentation skills at the West Midlands Finals of the IMechE Speak Out for Engineering competition; Shortlisted for the UK Finals
2019: Travel grant awarded by European Space Agency to attend remote sensing training
2019: People’s Choice Award for communicating PhD research to a non-specialist audience in less than 3 minutes at the Birmingham 3-minute Thesis (3MT) competition, UK (video)

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2017: Global Challenges PhD studentship at University of Birmingham, UK
2015: Academic Excellence Award for outstanding academic performance, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-Kanpur), Kanpur, India
2010 - 2015: Numerous undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships, IIT-Kanpur, India