Air quality and climate

The Earth's atmosphere is a giant and complex chemical reactor. We strive to quantify how the atmosphere is changing due to human activity and to predict how these changes will affect the environment and society.

We study the multitude of physical and chemical processes that occur in the atmosphere, with a focus on particulate matter. Students in our research groups:

design and build sensitive instrumentation
run laboratory experiments mimicking the atmosphere
run regional and global climate models
use observations collected from diverse locations around the planet and from satellites orbiting Earth

Sample research projects

Dominic Casalnuovo

Dominic Casalnuovo's research focuses on determining how sulfuric acid forms particles in the upper boundary layer. He is developing a novel, compact, battery-operated instrument to measure atmospheric sulfuric acid vapor where clouds form in the atmosphere. Casalnuovo's goal is to use these measurements to help reduce the uncertainty in how aerosols influence climate in global Earth-system models.

Advisor: Coty Jen

Eric Giuffrida

Eric Giuffrida's research involves simulating smoke episodes over the Southeast Atlantic Ocean using a climate model to disentangle and quantify radiative effects associated with smoke aerosol-cloud interactions. Aerosol-cloud interactions represent one of the largest sources of uncertainty in climate models today. Giuffrida is further exploring and quantifying structural uncertainties inherent to the model and uncertainties associated with how radiative effects are calculated.

Advisor: Hamish Gordon

Image caption: Simulated smoke plume transport in the South East Atlantic

Christine Troller

Christine Troller's research bridges knowledge gaps between microalgae emissions, atmospheric nucleation reactions, cloud formation, and climate change. Troller also has been investigating potential inhalation hazards from emissions produced by freshwater harmful algae blooms in the local PA region.

Advisor: Coty Jen

Victor Alejandro Sanchez

Victor Alejandro Sanchez studies the radiative effects of aerosols released into the atmosphere by fires in Southern Africa. His work focuses on building emulators for a climate model using machine learning and then using these emulators to comprehensively sample and evaluate the model's parameter space when simulating these fires.

Advisor: Hamish Gordon

Air quality and climate faculty

Peter Adams

Thomas Lord Professor
Civil & Environmental Engineering, Engineering and Public Policy

Full profile

Neil Donahue

Thomas Lord Professor
Chemical Engineering, Engineering and Public Policy, Chemistry

Full profile

Hamish Gordon

Assistant Professor
Chemical Engineering

Full profile

Coty Jen

Assistant Professor
Chemical Engineering

Full profile

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Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies

The Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies strives to be world leaders in science, engineering, and policy covering the full role of fine particulate matter in the atmosphere

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