Makoto Kelp came to us from Reed College. His hometown is Bellevue,
Washington.
"This summer I worked with Professor Emily Fischer at CMMAP evaluating the
importance of the degradation of monoterpenes, a species of organic compounds
emitted from vegetation, for the global acetone budget.
"When many people hear the compound 'acetone' they think of a nail polish
remover or of a solvent used for cleaning especially in industrial settings.
However, in the atmosphere acetone is an important source of PAN, a reservoir
species for reactive nitrogen (NOx) that leads to the production of ozone, and
for HOx in the upper troposphere, which produces the dominant atmospheric
oxidant OH. On a global scale, acetone is primarily produced from the biosphere,
and monoterpenes are thought to be an important source.
"I used the chemical transport model GEOS-Chem to investigate how sensitive
monoterepene emissions are to the production of global acetone.
"I will be a senior this year at Reed College in Portland, Oregon studying
chemistry with a focus on atmospheric chemistry, specifically oxidative
chemistry of the troposphere." Makoto's research poster was
Evaluating the Potential Importance of Monoterpene Degradation for Global
Acetone Production.
He writes, "I enjoyed my time in Fort Collins hiking in the Rocky Mountains,
walking around Old Town, and visiting coffee shops and bookstores."
|