Chemistry Department News

  
22 January 2006    Geoff Smith Receives NSF CAREER Award

Assistant Professor Geoffrey D. Smith has received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award entitled "Roles of Particle Morphology and Substrate Composition in Determining the Rates of Chemical Transformation in Atmospheric Aerosols." The CAREER Program offers the NSF's most prestigious awards for new faculty members. It recognizes and supports the early career-development activities of those teacher-scholars who are "most likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century." CAREER awardees are selected on the basis of creative career-development plans that effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their organization. Dr. Smith's research involves the relationship between atmospheric aerosols and climate change. One of the factors contributing to the uncertainty regarding aerosols and global climate change is the complexity of ambient particles. Dr. Smith's proposed work will attempt to reduce this complexity by elucidating how particle morphology and the underlying particle substrate influence the reactivity of the particles. A variety of model particles, including humic, soot and sea salt particles, will be used to represent different types of ambient aerosols. The studies use two complementary techniques to investigate the rates of reactions occurring in the particles: Aerosol Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry (Aerosol CIMS), developed in his laboratory, and Single-Particle Mass Spectrometry (SPMS). Additionally, Dr. Smith will work with the Fernbank Science Center in Atlanta to integrate elements of atmospheric chemistry into the curriculum for elementary and high school science classes.