GROUP
Rawad Saleh rawad@uga.edu
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I joined the School of Civil, Environmental, Agricultural, and Mechanical Engineering at UGA and established AQCUGA in Fall 2016. Prior to that, I spent five years in the Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies at Carnegie Mellon University as a research scientist (2014-2016) and a postdoctoral researcher (2011-2014). Originally trained in mechanical engineering (BSc from the Middle East Technical University (2003) and MSc from the American University of Beirut (2005), I hold a PhD in Environmental Engineering from Duke University (2010). I entered the world of aerosols through studying the dynamics of tobacco smoke during my MSc, which was my gateway to air quality and climate research.
PHD STUDENTS
Omar El Hajj Omar.ElHajj@uga.edu
I joined the AQCUGA group in 2018 for my Ph.D. in Engineering. I’m currently examining the physicochemical properties of soot formed at low-temperature combustion (LTC) and the chemistry involved in the process. I’m also working on designing a gravimetric micro-feeder to be used for biomass combustion. I had previously obtained my M.E degree from the American University of Beirut in 2018 and B.E from Beirut Arab University in 2015.
Kruthika Kumar Kruthika.Kumar@uga.edu
I started my graduate program for Environmental Engineering in Spring 2022 at the University of Georgia (UGA). I received my bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science in Fall 2021 from UGA. I joined the AQCUGA group in Fall 2020 as an undergraduate researcher. Currently, as a graduate researcher, my project focuses on how utilizing different emission inventories for wildland fires impacts the comparison between model output and speciated surface-level observations obtained from EPA networks. Also, I am looking into implementing brown carbon light absorption parameters in WRF-Chem.
MS STUDENTS
Chase Glenn ckg27385@uga.edu
I joined the Air Quality and Climate group in the Spring of 2021 as an undergraduate research assistant. After graduating with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, I joined the lab full time to pursue a M.S. in Environmental Engineering. Initially, I worked to repair the Lab’s OC/EC and I am currently examining the effect of filter storage techniques on the thermal and optical degradation of aerosol samples. This Fall (2022), I will work with the lab, analyzing real-time biomass burning to better understand the emissions from wildfire conditions.
Anita Anosike Anita.Anosike@uga.edu
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I started my Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering at UGA, in Spring of 2022, and joined the AQCUGA group as a graduate research assistant.
My research focuses on Secondary organic aerosols formation pathways in the atmosphere from low temperature combustion emissions, and their physiochemical property identification. Prior to starting graduate school at UGA, I obtained a bachelors degree in Chemistry from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria in 2019.
HIGH-SCHOOL INTERNS
Aissatou Sarr
Cedar Shoals High School.
Luz Bazarte De La Luz
Cedar Shoals High School.
ALUMNI
PHD
Khairallah (Khai) Atwi 2017 - 2021
Soroush Neyestani 2017 - 2021
Zezhen (Jay) Cheng 2016 - 2020
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MS
Charles Perrie 2020 - 2022
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UNDERGRADUATE
Ethan McNally 2021 - 2022
Fabian Aragon 2019
Travis Onyima 2019
Daniel Tarquinio 2017 - 2019
Alexis Dominguez 2017 - 2019
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HIGH-SCHOOL
Ifeoma (Ify) Ijeli 2019
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