Prashant Kumar wins 'air quality's Nobel Prize' – the Haagen-Smit Clean Air Award

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has recognised Professor Prashant Kumar with the prestigious Haagen-Smit Clean Air Award – an honour widely considered to be the 'Nobel Prize' in air quality achievement.

Surrey Shapes hero image of Professor Prashant Kumar

Professor Kumar, Founding Director of the University of Surrey's Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), has been recognised for his contribution to international education. CARB cited Professor Kumar's "transformative contributions, widespread impacts, novel accomplishments, and exceptional leadership and achievements in this field".

Professor Kumar is one of the most highly cited scientists in his field and is a leading researcher on the impact air pollution has on the health of children and young people. His current focus is on the impact kitchen-based air pollution has on vulnerable communities and the impact green-blue-gray infrastructure (such as trees, lakes and stormwater) has on mitigating air pollution and excessive heat in towns and cities.

I have seen first-hand how passionate Prashant is about research that addresses indoor and outdoor air pollution. He has conducted many citizen science projects, helping people understand air quality standards in their neighbourhoods and has helped them develop ways to monitor and improve it.

Prashant lives by GCARE's ethos – clean air for all. We are proud that his work at Surrey has been recognised with this prestigious Haagen-Smit Clean Air Award. Professor Lu, Max, President and Vice-Chancellor

Since 2001, CARB has annually bestowed the distinguished Haagen-Smit Awards to extraordinary individuals to recognise significant career accomplishments in at least one of these air quality and climate change categories: research, environmental policy, climate change science, science and technology, public education, community service and environmental justice, and international leadership.

The award is named after Dr Arie J. Haagen-Smit, a Dutch scientist known as the "father" of air pollution control. In 1948, his research found that smog in California was caused by the reaction of vehicle and industrial emissions with sunlight, leading to the air quality standards we use today. Dr Haagen-Smit was also the first chairman of the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

I am truly honoured to have received the Haagen-Smit Clean Air Award – an honour that would not have been possible without the support of my family and my colleagues at the University of Surrey, as well as my GCARE team members and collaborators all around the world.

It is also a reminder of how much there is yet to do. There are millions of people who lose their lives every year because of the quality of the air they breathe or because their town or city's heat is too extreme for them to cope with. If our work gets us even a step closer to cleaner air, with cooler temperatures, then it would all have been worthwhile. Professor Prashant Kumar, Co-Director, Institute for Sustainability, Professor and Chair in Air Quality and Health; Founding Director, Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE)

CARB's mission is to promote and protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through the effective reduction of air pollutants while recognising and considering its effects on the economy. CARB is the lead agency for climate change programs and oversees all air pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain health-based air quality standards.

The Haagen-Smit Award recognise the inspirational work happening across the nation and world to reduce pollution and fight climate change.

Action can come in many forms, whether it's academic research that leads to innovation, advocacy that drives policy change, or legal defences of environmental laws. This year's awardees reflect the necessary and diverse work that is needed to achieve clean air. Elizabeth Scheehle, the Research Division Chief at CARB