(3el) Improving Our Understanding of Atmospheric Particulate Matter Concentrations and Feedbacks

I am currently a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities working with Dr. Julian Marshall. I am part of a team working on studying the potential air quality impacts associated with using biofuels in place of gasoline to meet future transportation energy demands.  We are using an integrated life cycle analysis, regional chemical transport modeling and societal cost estimation approaches. I completed my Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in May 2009 at Carnegie Mellon University while working with Dr. Spyros Pandis. My doctoral research focused on the development, evaluation and application of an efficient source apportionment algorithm which I used to study different aspects of the atmospheric aerosol population.

My poster will focus on my future interests continuing research in air quality modeling both through model development and also new extensions and applications of these models. Some of the areas that I most hope to expand my research into is the study of health impacts, environmental justice, air quality in the developing world and the interactions between air quality and climate change. For many years, I have viewed chemical transport models as a natural, but underutilized, tool for studying these issues.

My interest in pursuing a position within academia focuses not only on doing research but also the opportunity to teach both in the classroom and through time spent advising both graduate and undergraduate students doing research.  I view my time spent working with students doing research as teaching them to be strong researchers.