What’s in Our Air? A Look at Los Angeles Smog and How it Affects Climate Change –
Speaker – Dr. Lelia Hawkins, Associate Professor of Chemistry at Harvey Mudd College
We know that ozone and smog in Los Angeles come from cars and that these pollutants are bad to breathe. However, they also play an important role in Earth’s energy balance that doesn’t get much public attention. Dr. Hawkins will tell us how particulate air pollution is measured here in Claremont, and what the latest innovations in particle measurement tell us that previous methods could not. In addition, she will explain how air pollution impacts climate change and why we should actually be concerned about cleaning up our smog too completely! Dr. Hawkins is an atmospheric chemist and a newly tenured associate professor at Harvey Mudd College. Her scholarship is centered at the intersection of air pollution and climate change. She received a double BS in Environmental Science and Chemistry at UC San Diego and a PhD in Oceanography at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. After one year as a postdoctoral researcher at UC San Diego, she began teaching at Harvey Mudd College, where she is very highly rated by her students.
Introduction: Bill Waggener
Fellowship: Bill Waggener
Greeters: Larry Wicksted, Tom Helliwell