Lelia N. Hawkins
Professor of Chemistry and Hixon Professor of Climate Studies
B.S., University of California, San Diego
PhD, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Air pollution and climate change are two of the major environmental crises of our time and students at Harvey Mudd are well-positioned to contribute to the body of knowledge informing policy on these issues. Specifically, research in my lab aims to address the general question, “How does air pollution affect climate and anthropogenic climate change?” To address this question, students work in one of four major areas:
- ambient measurement of LA air pollution in real time
- simulation of brown carbon compounds and their atmospheric changes in bulk samples
- mapping local particulate matter with mobile sensors, and
- simulation of brown carbon compounds in an atmospheric cloud chamber in Paris, France.
This work combines traditional analytical techniques with highly specialized equipment and statistical analyses to understand air pollution better.