Patrick Thomson headshot
Water Science • Policy and Management
patrick.thomson@ouce.ox.ac.uk
+44 (0)1865 285048

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Patrick Thomson is Lead Researcher for the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment's Water Programme at the University of Oxford. Patrick's research focuses on the use of technology and improved data to enable institutional change and improve health outcomes in the rural water sector. Patrick developed the first 'Smart Handpump' and manages its continuing technical evolution and operational implementation at Oxford University.

Along with colleagues in Oxford鈥檚 Department of Engineering, Patrick holds a patent for using the Smart Handpumps technology for aquifer depth estimation and pump failure prediction. Prior to moving into academic research, Patrick worked for The HALO Trust for over five years, living variously in Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and the Caucasus. He is a Chartered Engineer, having worked as an aerospace system engineer following his undergraduate studies.

Research Interests

  • Gro for GooD: Groundwater Risk Management for Growth and Development
  • Insuring against rural water risk in Africa
  • Groundwater Risks and Institutional Responses for Poverty Reduction in Africa
  • Does Intermittent Quality of Water Supply due to Broken Handpumps influence Diarrhoeal Disease Incidence in Rural Kenya?
  • New Mobile Citizens and Waterpoint Sustainability in Rural Africa
  • Pump-priming Mobile Water Science for Global Development Impacts
  • Smart Water Systems

Education

  • Currently undertaking a part-time PhD at the University of Reading, investigating whether improved rural water services lead to measurable health improvements
  • MSc in Water Science, Policy and Management at the University of Oxford in 2010
  • MEng from the University of Oxford

Recent Publications

  • Thomson, P. (2021) WIREs Water, 8(2). e1502.

  • Ferrer Ramos, N. Folch, A., Fernandez-Garcia, D., Lane, M., Thomas, M., Mwangi Gathenya, J., Wara, C., Thomson, P., Custodio, E. and Hope, R. (2020) . Journal of Hydrology, 586. 124920.

  • Hope, R., Thomson, P., Koehler, J. and Foster, T. (2020) . Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 36(1): 171-190.

  • Katva, J., Hope, R., Foster, T., Koehler, J. and Thomson, P. (2020) . Groundwater for Sustainable Development, 10.

  • Katuva, J., Hope, R., Foster, T., Koehler, J. and Thomson, P. (2020) . Sustainability, 12(17). 6943.

  • Koehler, J., Thomson, P., Goodall, S., Katuva, J. and Hope, R. (2020) . World Development. 105231.

  • Manandhar, A., Greeff, H., Thomson, P., Hope, R. and Clifton, D. (2020) . Journal of Hydrology X, 8. 100057.

  • Manandhar, A., Greeff, H., Thomson, P., Hope, R. and Clifton, D.A. (2020) . Journal of Hydrology X, 8. 100057.

  • Ramos, N., Folch, A., Fern脿ndez-Garcia, D., Lane, M., Thomas, M., Gathenya, J., Wara, C., Thomson, P., Custodio, E. and Hope, R. (2020) . Journal of Hydrology, 586. 124920.

  • Thomas, E., Jordan, E., Linden, K., Mogesse, B., Hailu, T., Jirma, H., Thomson, P., Koehler, J. and Collins, G. (2020) . Science of the Total Environment, 727. 138772.

  • Charles, K.J., Nowicki, S., Thomson, P. and Bradley, D. (2019)听Water and Health: A Dynamic, Enduring Challenge. Chapter 6 in, Dadson, S.J., Garrick, D.E., Penning-Rowsell, E.C., Hall, J.W., Hope, R. and Hughes, J. (eds.)听Water Science, Policy, and Management: A Global Challenge. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. pp. 97-116. ISBN: 9781119520603.
  • Dadson, S.J., Hirpa, F., Thomson, P. and Konar, M. (2019)听Monitoring and Modelling Hydrological Processes. Chapter 7 in, Dadson, S.J., Garrick, D.E., Penning-Rowsell, E.C., Hall, J.W., Hope, R. and Hughes, J. (eds.)听Water Science, Policy, and Management: A Global Challenge. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. pp. 117-137. ISBN: 9781119520603.
  • Hope, R., Foster, T., Koehler, J. and Thomson, P. (2019)听Rural Water Policy in Africa and Asia. Chapter 9 in, Dadson, S.J., Garrick, D.E., Penning-Rowsell, E.C., Hall, J.W., Hope, R. and Hughes, J. (eds.)听Water Science, Policy and Management: A Global Challenge. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. pp. 159-179. ISBN: 9781119520603.
  • Nowicki, S., Lapworth, D.J., Ward, J.S.T., Thomson, P. and Charles, K. (2019)听Tryptophan-like fluorescence as a measure of microbial contamination risk in groundwater.听Science of The Total Environment, 646: 782-791.
  • Thomson, P., Bradley, D., Katilu, A., Katuva, J., Lanzoni, M., Koehler, J. and Hope, R. (2019)听Rainfall and groundwater use in rural Kenya.听Science of The Total Environment, 649: 722-730.
  • Foster, T., Willetts, J., Lane, M., Thomson, P., Katuva, J. and Hope, R. (2018)听Risk factors associated with rural water supply failure: A 30-year retrospective study of handpumps on the south coast of Kenya.听Science of The Total Environment, 626: 156-164.
  • Koehler, J., Rayner, S., Katuva, J., Thomson, P. and Hope, R. (2018)听A cultural theory of drinking water risks, values and institutional change.听Global Environmental Change, 50: 268-277.
  • Colchester, F.E., Marais, H.G., Thomson, P., Hope, R. and Clifton, D.A. (2017)听Accidental infrastructure for groundwater monitoring in Africa.听Environmental Modelling and Software, 91: 241-250.
  • Koehler, J., Thomson, P. and Hope, R. (2016)听Mobilizing Payments for Water Service Sustainability. Chap. 6 in, Thomas, E.A. (ed.)听Broken Pumps and Promises: Incentivizing Impact in Environmental Health. Springer International Publishing. pp. 57-76. ISBN: 978-3-319-28641-9.
  • Thomson, P. and Koehler, J. (2016)听Performance-oriented Monitoring for the Water SDG 鈥� Challenges, Tensions and Opportunities.听Aquatic Procedia, 6: 87-95.
  • Koehler, J., Thomson, P. and Hope, R. (2015)听Pump-priming payments for sustainable water services in rural Africa.听World Development, 74: 397-411.
  • Colchester, F.E., Greeff, H., Thomson, P., Hope, R. and Clifton, D.A. (2014)听Smart Handpumps: A Preliminary Data Analysis. IET Appropriate Healthcare Technologies (AHT), London.. 1-4.