Dear Michael,

The first time I met you in 2006 at Oxford Brookes University, you and Fergus were pouring over your recent adaptive thermal comfort fieldwork surveys from the SCAT research project. 

You were clearly a highly intelligent boffin, and I stood in awe. Your twinkling smile and gentle words soon invited me into the warmth of your academic embrace. I was made to feel part of the Adaptive Thermal Comfort Family very quickly, thanks to you.

Your mentoring was superlative and your infinite patience with folk struggling to understand your profound work in building physics was a joy to be around.

Your contribution to our understanding of the relationships between people and their built environments was outstanding. It certainly re-shaped my thinking and helped me to ” see” thermal comfort for what it actually is.

Your gentle sense of humour and careful nudging through challenging research waters lifted everyone you worked with over many decades. Thanks for that.

There is a big hole where you were in life, but your life’s work lives on.

I miss you.

Much love, Fionn x