Andrew Blowers

Andrew Thomas Blowers (born 1940) is a British geographer and environmentalist and Emeritus Professor of the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences at the Open University.

Early life and education Blowers attended Colchester Royal Grammar School and won an Open Exhibition to read Geography at Durham University. He graduated in 1962 with a 2:1 degree.

Career After periods teaching at Newcastle Polytechnic and Kingston Polytechnic he joined the Open University, where he eventually became Dean of Social Sciences.

His academic work has focused on environmental protection, particularly nuclear waste management. In 1993 he campaigned against the opening of the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant at Sellafield.

Alongside his academic career, Blowers served for almost 30 years as a councillor on Bedfordshire County Council, where he was at various times chair of the Environment Committee and leader of the Labour Party group. He was involved in the council's successful opposition to a proposal by Nirex to establish a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility at Elstow, near Bedford. In 2004, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and received an honorary DLitt from De Montfort University.

Selected publications Books

As editor

Journal articles