Lives Remembered: Gareth Rees

Professor Gareth Rees, Director for Environmental Health at the Robens Centre for Public Health at the University of Surrey, was an internationally acknowledged environmental scientist and author in the field of microbiology, water quality and public health.

Born in Pencoed, South Wales in September 1951, Rees graduated in Marine Zoology from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1973 and was awarded his PhD in Marine Fungal Ecology from Portsmouth in 1980. In September of that year he was appointed as a lecturer at Farnborough College of Technology.

It was not long before his expertise was being acknowledged on the national and international stage. He became Associate Editor of the international journal The Environmentalist in 1984 and only four years later was appointed as National Co-ordinator of Coastwatch UK. This ground-breaking coastal management project attracted very significant attention, including major sponsorship by Norwich Union and support from the Daily Mirror, primarily because it embraced the concept of direct public participation in environmental monitoring and action.

Rees's international work in water quality and public health did not stop with the Coastwatch project. In the mid-1990s he was appointed Specialist Advisor to the House of Lords Select Committee on European Affairs concerned with environmental matters; in 1999 he was appointed Expert Advisor to the European Union for its re-draft of the Directive on The Quality of Bathing Water; between 1999 and 2004 he was External Advisor to the National Beach Action Plan programme in the United States after a personal invitation from the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Rees held several expert advisor roles, undertaking very important work over a long time, with the World Health Organisation. His expertise saw him act as consultant to the British Council examining sea water and beach pollution in Gaza, which resulted in the establishment of a public health training programme.

From 1997 onwards Rees was an Honorary Director of the Robens Centre for Public and Environmental Health, a centre involved in research and consultancy in sanitation and health throughout the world. In August 1999, he was appointed as a Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey in recognition of his personal contribution to the field of water and health. In 2003 Rees was appointed as a Programme Advisor to the Domestic Sector Hygiene research programmes of the Food Standards Agency, advising on hygiene in the home.

In April 2002, Rees took up the position of Principal at Askham Bryan College in York. During the five years before ill-health forced his retirement in July 2007, the College was transformed into a regional champion for the food and farming industry. Major achievements included the establishment of a Centre of Vocational Excellence in Food Chain Technology and the National Beef Training Centre. In November 2007 Rees was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from York St John University in recognition of his contribution to social change through educational partnerships.

On 31 October 2008, Rees passed away at his family home in Millington, near York, following a long battle against cancer.

Sam Rees

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