FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 23, 2003
FY04-02
Price Awarded First Marvin L. Wesely Environmental Fellowship
Heather Price, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington, has been awarded the first Marvin L. Wesely Distinguished Graduate Research Environmental Fellowship by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Global Change Education Program (GCEP).
The award was established in honor of the late Dr. Marvin L. Wesely, Argonne National Laboratory senior meteorologist and chief scientist of the DOE Atmospheric Chemistry Program, who died Jan. 20 from heart cancer.
Price has been a fellow in the GCEP Graduate Research Environmental Fellowship (GREF) program since September 2000. Her research involves the study of how air pollution from Asia travels across the Pacific Ocean to Washington State.
As part of her research, Price is developing techniques that use detailed measurements and computer models to estimate atmospheric levels of hydroxyl, a highly reactive ion that she describes as “the detergent of the atmosphere.”
“Hydroxyl is the main cleaning agent,” Price said. “Most pollutants we put in the atmosphere are destroyed by hydroxyl.”
Measuring hydroxyl poses a challenge for scientists because it only exists for a few seconds before reacting with other molecules in the atmosphere. This tremendous reactivity gives hydroxyl an important role in combating pollution.
The fellowship has provided invaluable building blocks for Price’s research. At Argonne National Laboratory, she collaborated with Dr. Paul Doskey to record the chemical signatures of various hydrocarbons found in samples of air that had been collected off the northwest coast of Washington State.
“It’s been a very valuable experience,” Price said. “Without this fellowship, I wouldn’t have been able to do the analyses. It takes a lot of time and energy. It would have been another Ph.D. just to set up the system that Paul Doskey has. It’s just been great to have that resource and expertise to draw from.”
Price expects to receive her doctorate by early 2004, and then join the University of Washington Program on Climate Change. It is an exciting opportunity to continue her involvement in atmospheric research, she said.
“We definitely don’t know all there is to know,” Price said. “There are fundamental changes that are happening to our atmosphere that are coming from the use of fossil fuels. Humans really are controlling the composition of the atmosphere today. Because of that, there is still so much for us to study. If anything, there are even going to be more questions.”
Price holds a bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University and a master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Washington.
The Wesley fellowship is open to all GCEP-GREF participants. Further details about the program can be found at www.atmos.anl.gov/GCEP/.
The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) administers the fellowship program for the DOE. ORISE is a U.S. Department of Energy institute focusing on scientific initiatives to research health risks from occupational hazards, assess environmental cleanup, respond to radiation medical emergencies, support national security and emergency preparedness, and educate the next generation of scientists. ORISE is managed by Oak Ridge Associated Universities.