Faculty Profiles

I am an atmospheric chemist who studies the origins, transport, and fate of air pollutants, such as mercury and ozone. My work is motivated by the negative impacts that atmospheric emissions can have on sensitive ecosystems and human health. I combine field-based chemical and meteorological measurements with statistical and meteorological models to investigate the transport pathways, chemical reactions, and removal processes that pollutants undergo in the atmosphere. My research has taken me to urban-industrial areas in the Midwestern U.S.; to mountaintop observatories in Colorado, Oregon, Italy, and Nepal; and onboard the NSF/NCAR C-130 research aircraft. Most recently, I have been the lead PI on a 3-year NSF-funded project at the Storm Peak Laboratory in Steamboat Springs, CO studying the origins and chemistry of oxidized mercury in a background continental atmosphere. I am also increasingly interested in measuring the impacts of wildfires on air quality in both urban and remote areas. Relatedly, my teaching interests lie at the intersection of topics such as atmospheric and environmental chemistry, meteorology, climate change, energy generation, public health and environmental justice. I received my B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. I was then a post-doctoral researcher at the CNR-IIA in Rende, Italy and at the University of Washington-Bothell. Prior to joining the Reed faculty in Chemistry and Environmental Studies, I was a professor in the Environmental Studies Program at Colorado College.