Scott Allan Orr is a Honorary Research Associate at the School of Geography and the Environment. Previously he was a doctoral candidate and researcher within the Oxford Rock Breakdown Laboratory (OxRBL) and a Stipendiary Lecturer in Physical Geography at St Catherine's College, Oxford. He is currently working with Historic England to produce guidance on moisture measurement and monitoring in historic buildings and building materials. He is a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and part of the Management Group of the Council on Training in Architectural Conservation (COTAC).
Scott holds a BASc in chemical and environmental engineering from the University of Toronto, where he contributed to projects incorporating environmental monitoring and urban spatial distribution of atmospheric aerosols. From 2014 to 2018 he was a member of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Science and Engineering in Arts, Heritage, and Archaeology, undertaking an MRes and DPhil at University College London and the University of Oxford, respectively. This project was undertaken in collaboration with Historic Environment Scotland and the Consarc Design Group, a leading heritage conservation architecture firm based in Belfast but working throughout the UK. In 2016, Scott was a visiting researcher at the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing in Berlin.
Scott's current research within the area of heritage science is highly interdisciplinary, considering built heritage as complex chemical systems to better understand their physical change in response to environmental change. A significant component of his aims to inform policy development and practical aspects of heritage conservation and management of the built environment. To date, he has primarily explored two streams of research:
- The use of non-destructive techniques to monitor the presence and movement of water within historic stone masonry;
- Improving metrics and assessing future climate risks to the historic environment from wind-driven rain.
In what can be considered 'critical heritage science', Scott also explores data fusion algorithms to combine qualitative information and perceptions (e.g. heritage value, human comfort) with quantitative information, to improve decision making processes with heritage conservation. This includes emphasizing the importance of appropriate and innovative data handling and visualization techniques, to improve communication between heritage stakeholders.
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Journal Articles
- Wilhelm, K., Longman, J., Orr, S.A. and Viles, H.A. (2020) Stone-built Heritage as a Proxy Archive for Long-term Historical Air Quality: A study of weathering crusts on three generations of Stone Sculptures on Broad Street, Oxford. Science of The Total Environment. 143916.
- Fusade, L., Orr, S.A., Wood, C., O'Dowd, M. and Viles, H.A. (2019) Drying response of lime-mortar joints in granite masonry after an intense rainfall and after repointing. Heritage Science, 7(38).
- Orr, S.A., Young, M., Stelfox, D., Leslie, A., Curran, J. and Viles, H.A. (2019) An 'isolated diffusion' gravimetric calibration procedure for radar and microwave moisture measurement in porous building stone. Journal of Applied Geophysics, 163: 1-12.
- Richards, J., Orr, S.A. and Viles, H.A. (2019) Reconceptualising the relationships between heritage and environment within an Earth System Science framework. Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development.
- Orr, S.A. and Viles, H.A. (2018) Characterisation of building exposure to wind-driven rain in the UK and evaluation of current standards. Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 180: 88-97.
- Orr, S.A., Young, M., Stelfox, D., Curran, J. and Viles, H. (2018) Wind-driven rain and future risk to built heritage in the United Kingdom: Novel metrics for characterising rain spells. Science of the Total Environment, 640-641: 1098-1111.
- Richards, J., Wang, Y., Orr, S.A. and Viles, H. (2018) Finding Common Ground between United Kingdom Based and Chinese Approaches to Earthen Heritage Conservation. Sustainability, 10(9).
- Orr, S. (2014) Land-use regression modelling of highway ultrafine particle number concentrations. Canadian Young Scientist Journal, 1: 1-10.
Conference Papers
- Orr, S.A. (2018) Data fusion to synthesise quantitative evidence, value and socio-economic factors: a framework and example of Dempster-Shafer theory. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Energy Efficiency in Historic Buildings (EEHB).. 163-171.
- Orr, S., Viles, H.A., Leslie, A.B. and Stelfox, D. (2016) Comparability of non-destructive moisture measurement techniques on masonry during simulated wetting.Hughes, J. and Howind, T. (eds.) Science and Art: A Future for Stone Proceedings of the 13th International Congress on the Deterioration and Conservation of Stone.
Book Reviews
