Congrats to Rachel!

Congratulations to second-year PhD student Rachel Kirpes for receiving a Graduate Student Research Grant from the University of Michigan Rackham Graduate School!

Summer in Barrow, Alaska

I've been in Barrow for a few weeks now, and have gotten some reminders about what it is like to spend your summer above the Arctic Circle. This time of year, snow has already begun to fall!

The first snowfall since my arrival, covering the path to our lab.

On top of the snow, it is light out all day! The sunset is technically listed at 11:20 PM, but it never sets low enough to become very dark. The sun rise and set times change very rapidly up here, and the sun has been setting about five minutes earlier and rising about five minutes later every day.

This picture is from 12:20 AM. Hopefully Dr. Pratt notices the clock in the picture to see how late I've been working!

It is summer though, so I made sure to take some time to enjoy some typical summertime activities!

Me in my beach attire enjoying the Arctic Ocean. I can feel the tan starting already!

Even at the top of the world, there is always time for some football. Go Whalers!

American Chemical Society Fall National Meeting

On Sunday Prof. Pratt gave an invited talk titled "Diversity of Oxygenated Organic Compounds in Atmospheric Particles and Cloud Water during SOAS" at the ACS Fall Meeting in Boston in the Chemical Processes Involving Atmospherically Relevant Trace Gases, Aerosols, & Clouds symposium.  On Monday Prof. Pratt co-organized, with Prof. Amanda Grannas from Villanova University, the ACS Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology: Symposium in Honor of Dr. Paul B Shepson and gave a talk titled "Influence of Arctic Leads on Snow Chemistry and Sea Spray Production".

Prof. Pratt quoted in Chemical & Engineering News article

Prof. Pratt was quoted in a Chemical & Engineering News article about research in Prof. Jamie Donaldson's group at the University of Toronto!

NOAA/DOE Field Study in Barrow, Alaska!

This week, I (Matt Gunsch) left Ann Arbor to begin my trip to Barrow, Alaska. In Barrow, we will be conducting a field campaign, funded by NOAA and DOE and in collaboration with Prof. Rebecca Sheesley's group from Baylor University , to study the atmospheric aerosols emitted during drilling within the Arctic. After stops in Seattle, Anchorage, and Prudhoe Bay, I arrived in Barrow on Wednesday!

The first few days have been spent becoming accustomed to the area and getting equipment set up in our lab located out on the tundra.

My home on the tundra for the next five weeks!

After unloading all of the smaller crates and equipment, the first major challenge was moving our ~500 pound A-ATOFMS into the lab. The lab is located a couple hundred feet off of the road in the middle of the tundra, so this was not an easy task. The first step was to get the crated instrument into a truck and driven out to the lab.  I've spent the last two years building our A-ATOFMS, so this was a big day!

Our mass spectrometer (the key to my PhD!) hanging over a puddle!

The A-ATOFMS nearing the lab!

Once the A-ATOFMS arrived at the lab, the challenging part was getting the instrument across the tundra and into the lab. 

Close enough?

We enlisted the help of the staff of UIC - Science, and with our combined strength and planning, the instrument made it!  Thank you very much to everyone who helped safely move our instrument!

Removing the A-ATOFMS from the shipping crate.  Lots of folks helping!

The A-ATOFMS within a sled. The plan was to pull it across the boardwalk and tundra.

Almost there...

Made it to the lab! Now for that final step...

Our original plans called for a ramp to just roll the instrument into the lab. When that was deemed unfeasible, we went with a more direct approach.

After a long journey, the A-ATOFMS is comfortably resting within its new home.

2015 Karle Symposium

On Friday, August 7th, the University of Michigan Chemistry Department hosted the Karle Symposium, a student organized research symposium showcasing the work of students in the department. Pratt Lab graduate students Matt Gunsch, Nate May, Garrett Welshofer, Stephen McNamara, myself (Rachel Kirpes) and summer rotation student Ryan Cook all presented posters. It was a wonderful opportunity to interact with faculty, postdocs, and other students from the department and share our research. Each student presentation was evaluated by two judges, and Matt's poster, "Construction and Deployment of an Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer" and my poster, "Atmospheric Particle Mixing States in the Arctic during the Winter-Spring Transition" were both selected to receive travel awards (thank you to Dow for sponsoring!). I am excited to use this award for conference travel to present my research in the future.

Gordon Conference on Atmospheric Chemistry

Yesterday, Prof. Pratt gave an invited talk titled "Halogen Chemistry in the Arctic: Roles of the Snowpack and Atmospheric Aerosols" at the Gordon Conference on Atmospheric Chemistry in Waterville Valley, NH.