James Allan

James Allan is a Reader at the University of Manchester and a Senior Research Scientist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS). He holds a joint position since 2013, focusing on atmospheric aerosols, black carbon, and air quality. His academic roles include Air Pollution Theme Leader at NCAS (since 2023) and Senior Editor at Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. He earned a PhD from UMIST (2004) and an MPhys (1st Class Honors, 2000).

Research interests include urban aerosols, secondary organic aerosols (SOA), and black carbon's climatic impacts. He specializes in advanced instrumentation like the Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2). He co-founded the Manchester Air Quality Supersite (2019) and has led over 272 research outputs. Awards include multiple Editors' Citations for Excellence in Refereeing and the Atmospheric Chemistry Colloquium for Emerging Senior Scientists (ACCESS).

His work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to climate action and clean air. He advises on UK air quality policy via DEFRA's AQEG and collaborates internationally on projects like the FAAM research aircraft and tropical field campaigns.