Anna and Annie Graduate!

Congratulations to senior undergrads Anna Leemon and Annie Barget on their graduations from the University of Michigan!! Anna graduated with a B.S. degree in Chemistry and will be joining the Stanford University Teacher Education Program in the fall to earn a M.S. in Education to teach high school chemistry! Annie graduated with a B.S. degree in Biomolecular Science and will be continuing research with us this summer as a Michigan Space Grant Fellow! Congratulations! We are so proud!

Prof. Pratt and graduate Anna Leemon

Prof. Pratt and graduate Annie Barget

Arctic snowpack molecular halogen production paper published!

Congratulations to former Purdue Univ. PhD student Kyle Custard and current student Angela Raso for their paper detailed the first measurements of snowpack Br₂ and Cl₂ fluxes - and observation of the Arctic snowpack as a source of Cl₂ and BrCl! "Production and Release of Molecular Bromine and Chlorine from the Arctic Coastal Snowpack" was recently published in ACS Earth and Space Chemistry. Please check out the paper! 

Congratulations to Alexa, Claire, Logan, and Maddie!

Congratulations to Pratt Lab undergraduate students Alexa Watson, Claire Mattson, Logan Vear, and Maddie Parks who were all awarded HHMI summer research fellowships to continue research in the Pratt Lab! These fellowships were for alumni of the HHMI-sponsored Authentic Research Connection.

Rachel Goes to Washington!

Earlier this month, Pratt Lab graduate student Rachel Kirpes was sponsored by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) to attend the AAAS Catalyzing Advocacy for Science and Engineering (CASE) workshop in Washington, D.C. To read more about what she learned from this experience, check out her post on AGU's science and policy blog, The Bridge!

Congratulations to Annie, Stephen, and Rachel!

Graduating senior Annie Barget and PhD students Stephen McNamara and Rachel Kirpes were awarded fellowships from the Michigan Space Grant Consortium! Congratulations!!

Stephen Volunteers in "You Be the Chemist" Event at UM

I (Stephen) gave a presentation about research in the Pratt Lab to regional elementary and middle school students participating in the "You Be the Chemist" Challenge held at the University of Michigan on March 23rd. This event, put on by local firm PVS Chemical, is part of a national program in which 5-8 grade students participate in a chemistry academic challenge, similar to a quiz bowl, supported by local industry and academic institutions. For more information, visit their website!

Before the competition, the students learned about research at UM through presentations and demonstrations by lab groups in the Chemistry department. It was a great opportunity for students to see what a career in chemistry research would look like!

Learning about polymers by making Shrinky Dinks!

Pratt Lab featured in Pacific Northwest National Lab highlight!

Pratt Lab PhD student Rachel Kirpes and rotation student Nicole Olson are featured on the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory website!
https://www.emsl.pnl.gov/emslweb/news/u-michigan-researchers-gain-insight-arctic-atmospheric-particles

Alaska Dispatch News covers Pratt Lab paper!

The Alaska Dispatch News (Anchorage daily newspaper) covered Katie's recent paper on Prudhoe Bay emissions impacting ultrafine particle growth on the North Slope!
https://www.adn.com/arctic/2017/04/09/what-tiny-particles-blowing-in-north-slope-air-tell-us-about-oil-field-pollution-impacts/
Link to paper published in Atmospheric Environment: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231016309785

Pratt Lab presents research at the Michigan Geophysical Union meeting

At the 14th Annual Michigan Geophysical Union meeting, six graduate students and five undergraduate students from the Pratt Lab presented their research. The topics highlighted the diversity of research that we are pursuing in our group. PhD student Matt Gunsch won first place in the Chemistry Section for his research on "Chemical Characterization of Atmospheric Particulate Matter from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska" and PhD rotation student Nicole Olson won second place in the Chemistry section for "Single Particle Analysis of Ambient and Laboratory Generated Lake Spray Aerosols". Senior Annie Barget won first place for the Michigan Geophysical Union Undergraduate category for her work on "Effects of Wind Speed and Sea Ice Conditions on the Chemical Composition of Coastal Arctic Snow". Congratulations to everyone who presented!

Matt Gunsch presenting his first place research on the single particle chemical composition in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

Nicole Olson with her award winning research on lake spray aerosols

Annie Barget with her award winning research on the connections between wind speed, sea ice leads and the chemical composition of snow

Anna Leemon presenting on Arctic snow composition during the spring melt

Logan Vear presenting research on the influence of wildfires on cloud water 

Ryan Cook talked about the organic composition of aerosols observed at the University of Michigan Biological Station during summer 2014

Alexa Watson discussed her work calibrating the ATOFMS using relative sensitivity factors

Nate May presented on the physical and chemical characteristics of lake spray aerosol

Rachel Kirpes discussing her research using microscopy to identify elemental composition and functional groups present in particles from Utqiagvik, Alaska

Stephen McNamara presented data on atmospheric chlorine chemistry in the springtime Arctic