Gareth Thornton
User Profile
Dr. Thornton's research interests and background, broadly speaking, are concerned with the various aspects of Environmental Pollution. He is an experienced researcher and lecturer. He currently works full time for IPM-Net - A Knowledge Transfer Network - a central resource for the contaminated land, waste and water communities - as their Associate Director of Research, Technology Development & Skills Transfer. Prior to that, he worked for RESCUE – a multi-million Euro research project funded by the EU. The aim of this project was to improve the quality of derelict land recycling in terms of the sustainability of the built environment and the quality of urban life. It developed tools for the practical work of real estate owners, planners, architects, engineers and public authorities involved in the complex processes of brownfield regeneration projects. By reducing the costs of land rehabilitation it helped to overcome the current obstacles in such regeneration projects, and contributed to reducing the demand for greenfield development and therefore saved natural resources. He was responsible for work concerning the management of contamination and reuse of soil and debris, sustainable land use and urban design, methods for citizen participation and co-authoring the final deliverable of RESCUE - The Manual of tools for a European system approach in sustainable brownfield regeneration. Prior to working on sustainable approaches to brownfield regeneration and management within the RESCUE project and IPM-Net, he held a number of research positions at prominent universities. He worked at Swansea University, The Open University, Edinburgh University, and Nottingham University before moving to Oxford University. During this time he carried out research into the effects of acid deposition in the UK, Japan and the Himalayas, as well as investigating heavy metal pollution in former industrial sites in Wales and pristine river catchments in the mountains of Scotland. He has published numerous articles in international journals and edited books.
