Andrew Ault selected as Sloan Research Fellow in Chemistry!

Professor Ault was selected as a Sloan Research Fellow in Chemistry. From the Sloan Foundation website:
https://sloan.org/fellowships/2018-Fellows

"The Sloan Research Fellowships seek to stimulate fundamental research by early-career scientists and scholars of outstanding promise."

"These two-year fellowships are awarded yearly to 126 researchers in recognition of distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field"

Professor Ault was 1 of 23 assistant professors of chemistry in the US and Canada chosen for this prestigious award across all disciplines of chemistry. The selection was based on Professor Ault's work in the area of physical/analytical chemistry focused on studies of atmospheric aerosols and engineered nanoparticles. The nomination noted the Ault Group's development of novel spectroscopic measurements for measuring aerosol acidity and phase, as well as contributions to understanding aerosol production from freshwater lakes and ingested engineered nanoparticles.

The announcement was made in an ad in the New York Times (pdf)!

This award recognizes all of the great work by members of the Ault Group over the past few years!

Secondary Organic Aerosol paper in ES&T

Recently a new paper titled “Effect of Aerosol-Phase State on Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation from the Reactive Uptake of Isoprene-Derived Epoxydiols (IEPOX)” by Dr. Jason Surratt’s group and Dr. Ault’s group has been accepted in Environmental Science and Technology Letters Check it out!

This study investigated how aerosol-phase state plays an important role in reactive uptake processes by quantify uptake coefficient of IEPOX on acidic ammonium sulfate particles coated with secondary organic aerosol (SOA) derived from α-pinene ozonolysis. The Ault lab used atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to study the morphology of α-pinene SOA particles, and confirmed phase separation.

AFM image of phase separated a-pinene SOA, showing core shell structure.

Lake Spray Aerosol Paper Chosen for ES&T Cover Art, Gains Media Attention!

A recent collaborative paper between the Ault and Pratt Groups, led by Nate May was chosen for the cover art of Environmental Science and Technology for the week of January 18, 2018. The paper focuses on aerosol emitted from Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and had multiple stories about it in print (Michigan News, Popular Science) and over the radio (Michigan Radio (NPR) in Ann Arbor and WCMU in Northern and Central Michigan). This work involved a broad team grad students, a postdoc, and undergraduates across the two groups and shows the need for further studies of aerosol production from freshwater lakes. Watch for more exciting work in this space!

Michigan News
Michigan Radio

Ault lab preparing for field study to North Carolina

Ault lab members have been working hard on preparing the single particle ATOFMS for an upcoming field study. This summer, the Ault group will be traveling to Chapel Hill, North Carolina where we will be collaborating with Jason Surratt's lab to create and analyze secondary organic aerosol particles generated in the Surratt lab indoor chamber.

      

PhD students Nick Ellsworth and Nicole Olson tuning the ATOFMS.

Congratulations Dr. Amy Bondy!

Congratulations to Dr. Amy Bondy on passing her defense and becoming the first doctoral graduate of the Ault Lab! As the first member of the Ault Lab, Amy was with the lab from the beginning and helped get many of the lab's projects started. During her time as a graduate student she has published 14 papers (4 first author, with one still being finished) on topics ranging from atmospheric aerosols to engineered nanoparticles. Her next step is continuing to follow her passion for electron microscopy at the Life Sciences Institute (LSI). Once again, congratulations Amy!

Nicole receives Michigan Sea Grant Fellowship!

Doctoral student Nicole Olson was recently selected as a recipient for the Michigan Sea Grant graduate student fellowship! Nicole's project aims to further analyze harmful algal bloom emissions from wave breaking on the Great Lakes. This summer Nicole will be partnering with Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to collect biweekly freshwater samples from 8 sites along Lake Huron and Lake Erie, as shown on the map below. The freshwater samples will then be brought back to the lab to create lake spray aerosols. Nicole will be analyzing the biological content of the freshwater and aerosol samples to determine changes throughout duration of the harmful algal bloom season.

Ault Group at AAAR

Ault Group at AAAR

We are excited to have multiple presentations this year on research in the Ault Group! Come check out what we are up to and our work with collaborators at these talks and posters this week. Links to the abstracts below:

Nicole Olson (Doctoral Student) - Poster
Thursday 12:15 8MO.23
Single Particle Morphology and Phase State Analysis of Secondary Organic Aerosol Particles.
NICOLE OLSON, Rebecca Craig, Ziying Lei, Yue Zhang, Yuzhi Chen, Amy Bondy, Jason Surratt, Andrew Ault, University of Michigan
 
Rebecca Craig (Doctoral Student) - Talk
Thursday 3:30 9AC.8
Direct Measurement of Size Resolved Aerosol Acidity.
REBECCA CRAIG, Peter Peterson, Ryan Dodson, Andrew Ault, University of Michigan

Dr. Andrew Ault (Professor/PI) - Talk
Friday 11:15 11AC.1
The Importance of Particle History When Exploring Particle Phase, Viscosity, and Structure within Individual Organic-Inorganic Mixed Particles Using Microscopy and Spectroscopy. ANDREW AULT, Amy Bondy, Rebecca Craig, Sydney Niles, Nicole Olson, University of Michigan

Collaborators
Dr. Yue Zhang (Postdoc at UNC-Chapel Hill) - Talk
Thursday 10:45 7AC.5
The Effects of Aerosol Phase State on Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation from the Acid-Catalyzed Reactive Uptake of Isoprene-Derived Epoxydiols.
YUE ZHANG, Yuzhi Chen, Andrew Lambe, Amy Bondy, Nicole Olson, Rebecca Craig, Zhenfa Zhang, Avram Gold, Timothy Onasch, John Jayne, Douglas Worsnop, Charles Kolb, William Vizuete, Andrew Ault, Jason Surratt, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dr. Jonathan (Nate) Slade (Postdoc at Purdue) - Talk
Friday 12:00 11AC.4
Diel Variations in the Phase State of Atmospheric Aerosol in a Mixed Forest: The Role of Molecular Composition and Liquid Water.  
JONATHAN SLADE, Alexander Bui, Ryan Cook, Amy Bondy, Sarah Desrochers, Rebecca Harvey, Jenna Ditto, Drew Gentner, Kerri Pratt, Andrew Ault, Robert Griffin, Brandon E. Boor, Giuseppe Petrucci, Paul Shepson, Purdue University
 
Mutian Ma (Masters Student at UNC-Chapel Hill) - Poster
Thursday 12:15 8MO.2
The Influence Pre-existing Organics on Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation
from Reactive Uptake of Isoprene Epoxydiols in a Regional Scale Model.
MUTIAN MA, Havala Pye, Yue Zhang, Yuzhi Chen, Chitsan Wang, Sri Budisulistiorini, Andrew Ault, Jason Surratt, William Vizuete, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


Editors Note: Concept for page inspired by McNeill Lab at Columbia.