Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

Jean-Francois Doussin
CIRES Visiting Fellow
2012-2013

Sabbatical
Ph.D., University of Paris 7

Project: Interaction between water and carbonyls: A multiphase approach of the isoprene chemistry contribution to secondary organic aerosol formation in the atmosphere

Jean-Francois Doussin is a professor in chemistry at the University of Paris East at Créteil. He studies atmospheric chemistry, specifically the experimental simulation of organic carbon’s atmospheric fate.

While at CIRES, he is working with Veronica Vaida’s group to investigate production of secondary organic aerosol (SOA)—a type of air pollution—from the multiphase oxidation of the compound isoprene. Produced by plants, isoprene is the major volatile organic compound (VOC) emitted on a global scale. In the atmosphere, isoprene can react with the sun and ozone to yield other compounds such as water-soluble VOCs. These secondary compounds can lead to the formation of significant additional amounts of SOA. This may “deeply modify the current yield estimation of SOA on the global scale and their climatic impact,” Doussin says. His work will lead to a better account of isoprene’s contributions to air pollution.

Along with designing new experiments and analyzing data, Doussin’s favorite activities are scuba diving and deep freediving. “Boulder is certainly not the best place to practice it. Nevertheless, I also very much like hiking, and Boulder is much better for that,” he says.

Sponsor: Veronica Vaida