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Rebecca Ivy MatichukPh.D., University of Colorado at Boulder, Atmospheric Sciences SPONSOR: Fred Fehsenfeld TITLE: Simulations of Aerosol Emissions and Optical Properties Using a Transport Model and Comparisons to Observations During the 2006 TexAQS/GoMACCS Field Study PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Improving the treatment of aerosols in global and regional models to understand the impacts these aerosols have on human health and climate change. THEMES: Advanced Modeling and Observing Systems; Climate System Variability Office: NOAA-David Skaggs Research Center, 2A101 |
The environmental effects of urban pollution near her hometown in the northern suburbs of Detroit, Michigan was all it took to convince Rebecca Matichuk to become an atmospheric scientist. Today, she works with the Weather Research and Forecasting – Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model to improve our understanding of air pollution formation and the effects various aerosols have on climate. One of her specialties is developing and validating climate models. "During the Texas Air Quality Study of 2006, satellite instruments observed dust from the Sahara Desert over Texas. Since these aerosols originate outside the model domain, I'm determining how these long-range transported aerosols should be treated in regional models, such as WRF-Chem. I hope the results improve the representation of aerosols in air quality models and help us understand how these aerosols impact the measurements and local aerosol distributions over Texas.” says Matichuk. But Matichuk wasn't always an atmospheric aerosol modeler. She started her academic career doing field work, collecting measurements of various aerosols and trace gases. This experience helps her bridge the gap between experimentalists and modelers, she says. Matichuk has also made an effort to teach others about air chemistry and atmospheric science. As an undergraduate, she served three years as the Environmental Sciences club president at the University of Michigan – Flint, organizing clean-ups along highways and watersheds, planting trees, and even teaching elementary school kids how to take weather observations outside their classroom. "The key is getting kids outside and exposed to the physical environment around them. This helps kids relate the topics discussed in class to reality or something tangible,” she says. Matichuk plans to continue, and hopefully merge, these two endeavors. She would like to further advance aerosol measurements and modeling while at the same time informing the public, and especially youth, about their importance. |
