Dr. Joost de Gouw
University of Colorado Boulder

Atmospheric Chemistry at the Nexus of Climate Change, Public Health and Environmental Justice

Abstract: In response to clean air policies, urban air quality has been changing for decades in the U.S., largely for the better. We are currently at a junction where further progress is difficult, in part because of the growing impact from climate change. In addition, there is a growing understanding of the disparities in air pollution and other environmental stressors between different groups. In this context, I will present some recent results from our research on urban air quality in Los Angeles and Denver. I will end by discussing indoor air chemistry, with a focus on air cleaning.

Bio: Joost de Gouw is a Professor in the Chemistry Department of the University of Colorado Boulder, and a Fellow in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). He earned a PhD in Physics from the University of Utrecht in 1994 and worked from 2001 through 2017 as a Research Scientist with the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory. Joost de Gouw’s research interests include atmospheric chemistry, urban air quality, wildfires and climate change. Joost de Gouw’s research group uses mass spectrometry as well as data from satellite remote sensing instruments in their work. Joost de Gouw was a co-recipient of the Colorado Governor’s Award for High-Impact Research in 2012, 2014 and 2022 was a Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher in 2017 and 2018, and was elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 2020.