I was an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and am an Emeritus Fellow of Worcester College. My research spanned fundamental atomic physics, quantum and nonlinear optics, design of novel lasers for spectroscopy and development of new techniques for optical diagnostics and gas-sensing for environmental monitoring. Later research was focussed on applying methods developed in our group to problems in Engineering Science and Chemistry. These applications included a method for precise and accurate remote sensing of temperature and pressure in hostile environments such as engines and plasmas. This work was done in collaboration with colleagues in the departments of Engineering Science and Physical and Theoretical Chemistry in Oxford and the Department of Engineering, Cambridge University. Much of this work had extensive support from major industrial companies including Rolls Royce, Shell Research, BP, British Gas and Jaguar Land Rover and recent work has been relevant to development of low-carbon propulsion for mitigation of climate-changing emissions.