Research Projects

PAST + PRESENT

The working title of my dissertation is: "The Impact of Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms on Air Quality". As such, my research projects at UNC have been focused on characterizing human respiratory exposure to primary/secondary aerosols emitted/derived from freshwater algal blooms. Browse the links below to learn more about the research objectives, methodology, current status, and latest findings from my ongoing studies.

Cyanobacterial Aerosolization Dynamics in the Chowan River, North Carolina

2020 Summer field campaign, aimed at characterizing the aerosolization of microcystin and cyanobacterial DNA in the airshed of the Chowan River-Albemarle Sound, a eutrophic estuary in eastern North Carolina.

Secondary Aerosol Formation from Cyanobacterial-Derived Volatile Organic Compounds

Experimental and environmental work exploring secondary organic aerosol formation from geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol, two volatile metabolites produced by bloom-forming cyanobacteria.

Aerosol Emissions from Cyanobacterial Blooms in the Bay Delta, CA

Understand cyanotoxin and other cyanobacterial metabolite emissions and their atmospheric transformations in the airshed of residential sites in the San Francisco-Bay Delta watershed.

Cyanobacteria and Air Quality Community Collaborative in eastern North Carolina

With community scientists from the Chowan Edenton Environmental Group in Edenton, NC, we are installing community-based PurpleAir Sensors across eastern NC to investigate links between water and air quality in systemically-excluded, rural communities.

Research Projects

Cyanobacterial Aerosolization Dynamics in the Chowan River, North Carolina

Secondary Aerosol Formation from Cyanobacterial-Derived Volatile Organic Compounds

Aerosol Emissions from Cyanobacterial Blooms in the Bay Delta, CA

Cyanobacteria and Air Quality Community Collaborative in eastern North Carolina

I'd love to chat science with you!