Welcome to the Pratt Lab blog! Dr. Kerri Pratt is an assistant professor in the Departments of Chemistry and Earth & Environmental Sciences and faculty associate of the Program in the Environment at the University of Michigan. We study the chemical interactions of atmospheric trace gases, particles, clouds, and snow, with a focus on the Polar Regions and wintertime environments. Our interdisciplinary research has relevance to climate change, air quality, and human health. As an analytical chemistry lab, we primarily apply novel mass spectrometry techniques to our field research. We invite you to follow our adventures in (and outside!) the lab!

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Arctic Field Study (Feb.-Apr. 2016)!

We are back to Barrow, Alaska this winter/spring! Our NSF-funded atmospheric chemistry study is a collaboration with Purdue University and Penn State University. Angela Raso, a Chemistry PhD student at Purdue University, spent the last 4+ months in the Pratt Lab at the University of Michigan to prepare the chemical ionization mass spectrometer for field deployment. Pratt Lab post-doc Dr. Siyuan Wang will be conducting one-dimensional modeling to evaluate the important chemical reactions that explain Angela's data.

Angela Raso arrived in Barrow earlier this week and will stay for the duration of the study ending in late April. Check out updates about her adventures at her blog: http://snowkidding.blogspot.com/
Arctic Tundra Lab! (Photo credit: Angela Raso)
We will be posting fieldwork updates here as well! During the University of Michigan's winter/spring break, Prof. Kerri Pratt, PhD student Nate May, freshman undergrad Alicia Kevelin, and freshman undergrad Claire Mattson will be traveling to Barrow! Nate, Alicia, and Claire will be snow-machining across the tundra and sea ice to collect snow samples for the Fall 2016 offering of CHEM 125/126-Snow (General Chemistry Laboratory - Authentic Research Experience in Snow Chemistry)! We are very thankful to several sponsors for this CHEM 125/126 fieldwork: 1) Howard Hughes Medical Institute through the Authentic Research Connection, University of Michigan Department of Chemistry, and University of Michigan Program in the Environment. In addition, Alicia and Claire both received Arctic Internship funding through the University of Michigan International Institute! Congratulations Claire & Alicia on this great accomplishment!