Current activities

Research is best understood by looking at our publications page.

Here's a current-ish CV

Extracurricular activities I juggle:
ETHOS Technical Committee on Cookstove Performance Testing
iCACGP Scientific Steering Committee
9th International Conference on Carbonaceous Particles in the Atmosphere

Background

Various people who have put up with me over the years (professional list only!!)

NCAR Visiting Scientist, 2002-2003

I did some chemical/transport modeling with the Climate & Global Dynamics Division of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. I also worked with Tad Anderson at the University of Washington.

NOAA Climate & Global Change Postdoctoral Fellow, NOAA/PMEL, 2000-2002

I worked with the Atmospheric Chemistry group at NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratories—especially on the ACE-Asia project. I burned a few things—mostly coal— and analyzed the smoke in a variety of ways (source characterization).

Interdisciplinary Ph.D., University of Washington, 2000

Dissertation Title: Light Absorption by Primary Particles from Fossil-Fuel Combustion: Implications for Radiative Forcing
In plain English: When you burn fuel, why does it make smoke, what does the smoke look like, and how does it affect the amount of sunlight entering the Earth system? I measured particles from a lot of burning things, using instruments that are usually applied to particles in the atmosphere. “Interdisciplinary” means that I had professors from three departments on my committee: Dr. Timothy Larson (Civil Engineering); Dr. Robert Charlson (Atmospheric Sciences), Dr. John Kramlich and Dr. Philip Malte (Mechanical Engineering). I can also explain what possessed me to do an interdisciplinary Ph.D. I am indebted to the National Science Foundation and the Hertz Foundation for graduate fellowships, without which none of this unfunded research would have been possible.

M.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, 1995

Thesis Title: Experimental and Numerical Investigations of the Catalytic Oxidation of Natural Gas
In plain English: Fuel can burn by reacting on a solid, instead of reacting as gas molecules. In that way, you can avoid making some of the pollutants that are usually made in flames. I did some preliminary work on setting up a catalytic reactor and measuring and modeling the progress of the reaction in Robert Dibble's Combustion Analysis Laboratory. I really liked burning things, and I had a great advisor and wonderful labmates. Alas, I became fascinated with the environmental implications of combustion, so I moved on.

B.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, 1993

I had a great time in the thermo-fluids-systems side of M.E., and I met the people who would later serve on my Ph.D. committee. I would have gotten a Chemistry minor if such a thing had existed at the time.

While I was an undergraduate, I did research on indoor air quality and air leakage in residential buildings at Ecotope, Inc., a small Seattle consulting company. Larry Palmiter was instrumental in training me not only as a researcher but as a scholar.

Personal

I have two really expensive hobbies, and I am grateful they are not teenagers yet.

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