Alexander B. MacDonald, Postdoc at UC Riverside Pursuing a Career in Government or Industry
ALEXANDER B. MACDONALD,
University of California, Riverside Abstract Number: 762
Working Group: Meet the Job Seekers
AbstractI am currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Riverside (UCR). My background is in chemical engineering (undergraduate studies at Universidad La Salle México, and graduate studies at the University of Arizona (UA)). My doctoral research at UA, under the supervision of Dr. Armin Sorooshian, focused on aerosol-cloud interactions. I participated in two Navy Twin Otter aircraft campaigns studying the stratocumulus cloud deck off the California coast, and the NASA Cloud, Aerosol and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment (CAMP
2Ex) campaign in the Philippines. I extensively analyzed the composition of cloud water collected onboard these aircraft campaigns using ion chromatography (IC), which resulted in two first-author publications. Also as a graduate student at UA, I participated in the NASA Student Airborne Research Program (SARP) as the aerosol mentor twice (2019 and 2020), where my responsibility was to guide a total of 14 undergraduate students develop aerosol-related research projects. My postdoctoral research at UCR, under the supervision of Dr. Roya Bahreini, has focused on two projects examining secondary organic aerosol (SOA) with extensive use of aerosol- and gas-phase measurement instruments including an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS). The first is a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project studying the morphology of secondarily produced brown carbon particles. The second is a California Air Resources Board (CARB) funded project comparing the chemical composition of ambient aerosol in Riverside and Long Beach, California; these data were collected over three one-month field campaigns. My professional goal is to work for an organization (government or industry) that strives to understand, prevent, and mitigate air pollution and climate change. I enjoy working as part of a team to solve interesting and relevant environmental problems. I am available to start work once my postdoc contract ends mid-June 2024, with no geographical preference within the USA.