DrNicole Cowell

Nicole leads research at the nexus of air pollution, technology and policy. She joined the Centre for Environmental Policy in 2023, initially as a Hoffmann Fellow in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. The Hoffmann Fellowship embedded Nicole into both Imperial and Forum activities, engaging with leading experts and thought leadership to embed clean air science into the global agenda. At the Forum, she contributed to writing reports and blogs for international audiences, including contributing to the Global Risks Report in 2025 and planning and facilitating events and sessions relating to air quality and urban sustainability. Currently, Nicole is leading the co-creation activity of AI solutions to environmental health challenges across Bradford, London and Guildford as part of the AI4Urban-Health Network+. She is particularly interested in research at the intersection of climate, health and air quality, and how we utilise data and evidence to inform decision making for co-beneficial outcomes. 

Nicole is Co-Chair of the Allin Wayra community, a network working to collaborate and promote the use of small sensors for Atmospheric Science, hosted within International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC). Here, she led a collaboration with the Citizen Science Global Partnership to develop and co-design a guidance document that aims at supporting newcomers to low-cost sensors in initating citizen science monitoring projects. She contributes to the Air Quality Communications Network which is lead by the Environmental Research Group at Imperial.  She regularly reviews for leading international journals on the topic of environmental and public health including BMC Public Health, The Lancet Planetary Health, Urban Transitions and Environmental Research Communications.