James Brean PhD

James Brean

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Postdoctoral researcher in Environmental Health

Contact details

Address
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

James is an environmental physical chemist. His research focuses on the nucleation of gases in the atmosphere into nanometre-sized particles, which he studies via mass spectrometry in both pristine polar regions, and polluted urban centers. 

Qualifications

  • 2016: BSc Chemistry, University of Plymouth
  • 2020: Ph.D Atmospheric Chemistry, University of Birmingham

Research

My research focuses on the process by which gases in the atmosphere form new particles, in a process called new particle formation (NPF). NPF has some implications for climate and human health, and understanding it on a fundamental chemical level is key to constraining just how servere (or not) these implications are.

To investigate this process, I utilise a suite of particle counting instruments, including the scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS), particle size magnifier (PSM), and the neutral cluster and air ion spectrometer (NAIS). As well as this, I utilise state of the art on-line chemical ionisation time of flight mass spectrometry to investigate oxidation chemistry and cluster formation in the atmosphere. These instruments are deployed on field campaigns in the urban environment (Barcelona, Beijing) and the remote polar (Antarctica).

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Kumar, A, Iyer, S, Barua, S, Brean, J, Besic, E, Seal, P, Dall’Osto, M, Beddows, DCS, Sarnela, N, Jokinen, T, Sipilä, M, Harrison, RM & Rissanen, M 2024, 'Direct Measurements of Covalently Bonded Sulfuric Anhydrides from Gas-Phase Reactions of SO3 with Acids under Ambient Conditions', Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 146, no. 22, pp. 15562-15575. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.4c04531

Rowell, A, Brean, J, Beddows, D, Petäjä, T, Vörösmarty, M, Salma, I, Niemi, JV, Manninen, HE, Van Pinxteren, D, Tuch, T, Weinhold, K, Shi, Z & Harrison, RM 2024, 'Insights into the sources of ultrafine particle numbers at six European urban sites obtained by investigating COVID-19 lockdowns', Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol. 24, no. 16, pp. 9515-9531. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9515-2024

Zhang, Y, Sun, J, Shen, X, Chandani, VL, Du, M, Song, C, Dai, Y, Hu, G, Yang, M, Tilstone, GH, Jordan, T, Dall'Olmo, G, Liu, Q, Nemitz, E, Callaghan, A, Brean, J, Sommariva, R, Beddows, D, Langford, B, Bloss, W, Acton, W, Harrison, R, Dall'Osto, M & Shi, Z 2024, 'Measurements of particulate methanesulfonic acid above the remote Arctic Ocean using a high resolution aerosol mass spectrometer', Atmospheric Environment, vol. 331, 120538. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2024.120538

Brean, J, Rowell, A, Beddows, DCS, Weinhold, K, Mettke, P, Merkel, M, Tuch, T, Rissanen, M, Maso, MD, Kumar, A, Barua, S, Iyer, S, Karppinen, A, Wiedensohler, A, Shi, Z & Harrison, RM 2024, 'Road Traffic Emissions Lead to Much Enhanced New Particle Formation through Increased Growth Rates', Environmental Science and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c10526

Rowell, A, Brean, J, Beddows, DCS, Shi, Z, Kumar, A, Rissanen, M, Dal Maso, M, Mettke, P, Weinhold, K, Merkel, M & Harrison, RM 2024, 'The behaviour of charged particles (ions) during new particle formation events in urban Leipzig, Germany', Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol. 24, no. 18, pp. 10349-10361. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10349-2024

Brean, J, Beddows, DCS, Harrison, RM, Song, C, Tunved, P, Ström, J, Krejci, R, Freud, E, Massling, A, Skov, H, Asmi, E, Lupi, A & Dall'osto, M 2023, 'Collective geographical ecoregions and precursor sources driving Arctic new particle formation', Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 2183-2198. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2183-2023

Brean, J, Rowell, A, Beddows, D, Shi, Z & Harrison, R 2023, 'Estimates of Future New Particle Formation under Different Emission Scenarios in Beijing', Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 57, no. 12, pp. 4741-4750. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c08348

Şahin, ÜA, Harrison, RM, Alam, MS, Beddows, DCS, Bousiotis, D, Shi, Z, Crilley, LR, Bloss, W, Brean, J, Khanna, I & Verma, R 2022, 'Measurement report: interpretation of wide-range particulate matter size distributions in Delhi', Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol. 22, no. 8, pp. 5415-5433. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5415-2022

Song, C, Becagli, S, Beddows, DCS, Brean, J, Browse, J, Dai, Q, Dall'Osto, M, Ferracci, V, Harrison, RM, Harris, N, Li, W, Jones, AE, Kirchgäßner, A, Kramawijaya, AG, Kurganskiy, A, Lupi, A, Mazzola, M, Severi, M, Traversi, R & Shi, Z 2022, 'Understanding sources and drivers of size-resolved aerosol in the high Arctic islands of Svalbard using a receptor model coupled with machine learning', Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 56, no. 16, pp. 11189-11198. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c07796

Song, C, Dall’Osto, M, Lupi, A, Mazzola, M, Traversi, R, Becagli, S, Gilardoni, S, Vratolis, S, Espen Yttri, K, Beddows, D, Schmale, J, Brean, J, Kramawijaya, AG, Harrison, R & Shi, Z 2021, 'Differentiation of coarse-mode anthropogenic, marine and dust particles in the high Arctic islands of Svalbard', Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol. 21, no. 14, pp. 11317–11335. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11317-2021

Brean, J, Dall’Osto, M, Simó, R, Shi, Z, Beddows, DCS & Harrison, RM 2021, 'Open ocean and coastal new particle formation from sulfuric acid and amines around the Antarctic Peninsula', Nature Geoscience, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 383-388. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00751-y

Bousiotis, D, Brean, J, Pope, FD, Dall'osto, M, Querol, X, Alastuey, A, Perez, N, Petäjä, T, Massling, A, Nøjgaard, JK, Nordstrøm, C, Kouvarakis, G, Vratolis, S, Eleftheriadis, K, Niemi, JV, Portin, H, Wiedensohler, A, Weinhold, K, Merkel, M, Tuch, T & Harrison, RM 2021, 'The effect of meteorological conditions and atmospheric composition in the occurrence and development of new particle formation (NPF) events in Europe', Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 3345-3370. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3345-2021

Mehra, A, Canagaratna, M, Bannan, TJ, Worrall, SD, Bacak, A, Priestley, M, Liu, D, Zhao, J, Xu, W, Sun, Y, Hamilton, JF, Squires, FA, Lee, J, Bryant, DJ, Hopkins, JR, Elzein, A, Budisulistiorini, SH, Cheng, X, Chen, Q, Wang, Y, Wang, L, Stark, H, Krechmer, JE, Brean, J, Slater, E, Whalley, L, Heard, D, Ouyang, B, Acton, WJF, Hewitt, CN, Wang, X, Fu, P, Jayne, J, Worsnop, D, Allan, J, Percival, C & Coe, H 2021, 'Using highly time-resolved online mass spectrometry to examine biogenic and anthropogenic contributions to organic aerosol in Beijing', Faraday Discussions, vol. 226, pp. 382-408. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0fd00080a

Brean, J, Beddows, DCS, Shi, Z, Temime-Roussel, B, Marchand, N, Querol, X, Alastuey, A, Minguillon, MC & Harrison, RM 2020, 'Molecular insights into new particle formation in Barcelona, Spain', Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol. 20, no. 16, pp. 10029-10045. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10029-2020

Comment/debate

Alam, MS, Bloss, W, Brean, J, Brimblecombe, P, Chan, C, Chen, Y, Coe, H, Fu, P, Gani, S, Hamilton, J, Harrison, R, Jiang, J, Kulmala, M, Lugon, L, McFiggans, G, Mehra, A, Milsom, A, Nelson, B, Pfrang, C, Sartelet, K, Shi, Z, Srivastava, D, Stewart, G, Styring, P, Su, H, Van Pinxteren, D, Velasco, E & Yu, JZ 2021, 'General discussion: Aerosol formation and growth; VOC sources and secondary organic aerosols', Faraday Discussions, vol. 226, pp. 479-501. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1FD90011K

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