Professor Daniel Stone

Profile

I joined the University of Leeds in 2008 as a post-doctoral researcher, having completed my undergraduate degree and PhD at UCL and a post-doctoral research position at the University of Manchester. I was awarded a NERC Independent Research Fellowship in 2014 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2019 and then to Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry in 2025.

Research interests

My research focuses on the study of atmospheric oxidation processes, with links to combustion chemistry and astrochemistry. The main goal of my research is to provide a fundamental understanding of the chemical processes controlling the composition of the atmosphere, and the ways in which chemistry impacts air quality and climate. In particular, my interests lie in the chemistry of reactive species, including the hydroxyl radical (OH), peroxy radicals (HO₂ and RO₂), and Criegee intermediates (R₂COO), that dominate the chemistry of the troposphere. Research of this nature requires a combination of laboratory experiments, field measurements, and numerical modelling, and my group is active in all three areas.

Laboratory experiments in my group involve the development and use of time-resolved broadband UV absorption spectroscopy, cavity enhanced UV absorption spectroscopy, and high resolution mid-infrared quantum cascade laser absorption spectroscopy for studies of elementary reaction kinetics and for mechanistic studies in an atmospheric simulation chamber. These aspects of our work provide the necessary inputs for accurate and reliable modelling of atmospheric chemistry used to assess and predict air quality and climate. We use atmospheric models to investigate the impacts of new laboratory measurements on our understanding of atmospheric composition, and to highlight areas of current uncertainty.

Fieldwork in my group is currently focussed on measurements of OH reactivity, a quantitative measure of the total reactive pollutant loading within an air mass, for which we have developed a novel instrument capable of making long-term measurements in a wide range of environments. Measurements of OH reactivity provide opportunities to test our understanding of atmospheric composition measured in the field, with comparisons between measured and modelled reactivity offering the potential to identify the presence of unmeasured species and their impacts on air quality and climate.

Our work is closely linked to current activity in the Atmospheric, Planetary and Theoretical Chemistry research group in the School of Chemistry, the Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science (ICAS) in the Schools of Chemistry and Earth and Environment, the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), and aligns with the aims of the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures.

I am a committee member and secretary of the RSC Gas Kinetics Interest Group, and chaired the local organising committee for the 27^th International Symposium on Gas Kinetics and Related Phenomena which welcomed over 160 participants to Leeds in 2024.

• Closing the budget in marine atmospheric Oxidative Capacity through the quantification of Oceanic VOC

Professional memberships

• Royal Society of Chemistry
• Society for Natural Sciences

Student education

I teach Physical Chemistry at all undergraduate levels, with input to theory modules, laboratory classes, and undergraduate research projects. I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and have lectured material in kinetics, thermodynamics, statistics, data analysis, and computer programming. I am involved in the delivery of programmes in Chemistry and Natural Sciences, for which I am year tutor.

Research groups and institutes

• Atmospheric and Planetary Chemistry