2021 News & Events
CSL Welcomes Summer Research Students
22 June 2021
Summer has arrived in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. In Boulder, Colorado, that means hiking, rock climbing, whitewater rafting, and most importantly, a new class of summer research students at the NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory.
This summer, we have five talented young scientists joining us to work with CSL mentors on research projects about surface ozone, global circulation, urban air quality, Arctic halogens, and atmospheric chemistry of organic compounds. We are excited to welcome them to CSL!
Miranda Helena Miranda Bosquez
Chemistry & Climate Processes
Miranda Miranda joins CSL this Summer through the NCAR/UCAR Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science (SOARS) undergraduate research program.
Born in El Paso, Texas and raised in its bordering city, Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, Miranda is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Texas at El Paso. While pursuing a major in Environmental Science with a Chemistry concentration, Miranda has found that she also enjoys learning from, guiding, and sharing her interests with other students.
She is currently the president of the American Chemical Society - Student Organization at UTEP and the historian of Engineers for a Sustainable World - Student Organization. She learned about CSL through the SOARS program and is currently working under the guidance of Dr. Amy Butler and Dr. Tara Banerjee. Miranda's goal for the summer is to understand the relationship between large-scale circulation and surface ozone variability in North America.
Selena Zhang
Tropospheric Chemistry
Selena Zhang is a 2020 Hollings Scholar and a student at Harvard University pursuing a double major in Chemistry and Environmental Science and Engineering. NOAA's Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship program is a 2-year scholarship that includes a 10-week internship at NOAA facility during the summer.
Selena is originally from Rochester, New York, and has a research background in materials chemistry and thermal energy. Her interest in environmental work centers around issues of air quality and human health, and she is excited to contribute to the understanding of secondary pollutant formation and urban air pollution this summer at CSL. Under the mentorship of Dr. Matthew Coggon, Selena is developing chemical mechanisms for the oxidation of volatile chemical products (VCPs) to improve the modeling of urban ozone formation. Oxygenate chemistry in the atmosphere is not yet comprehensively represented in models, so this work will help to strengthen the representation of atmospheric chemistry and related air quality impacts in urban areas.
Henry Bowman
Tropospheric Chemistry
Henry was previously a summer research intern at CSL in 2020, working with Dr. David Parrish on understanding the seasonal cycle and trends of background tropospheric ozone on regional to global scales. We welcome Henry back again this summer into our Tropospheric Chemistry research program, where he will work with Dr. Jeff Peischl on investigating nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from cars and trucks as part of our SUNVEx field project.
Henry is a rising junior at Carleton College, where he is majoring in physics and minoring in math, as well as taking some chemistry classes on the side. Henry was born in New Jersey, but has lived in Colorado since 2008 (and considers himself much more of a Coloradoan than a New Jerseyan). Two of Henry's passions are science and spending time outdoors, which is why he is interested in climate science: it involves using science to address issues that affect the environment. After Carleton, Henry is planning to go to graduate school for physical chemistry. When he's not busy with college classes or working with NOAA, you can probably find Henry running on the trails somewhere in Boulder County or relaxing in a hammock.
Mai Abdelraham
Chemistry & Climate Processes
Mai Abdelraham is a summer research intern at CSL through the CIRES Research Experience for Community College Students (RECCS) program. She graduated with an Associate of Science degree from the Community College of Denver and now attends the University of Colorado Denver.
Mai was born in Sudan and came to the U.S. five years ago. When she arrived in the U.S., she had to learn English very quickly. Now married with two young boys, Mai attends college, volunteers at the UC Health Hospital Emergency Department, and works as a pharmacy technician at a local Walgreens pharmacy. She has been interested in the medical profession and medicine since she was a child, stemming from a personal desire to help others recover from sickness and ease their physical pains. Mai plans to continue her studies in Biology and work towards becoming a pharmaceutical professional.
This summer, Mai is working with Dr. Erik Larson to investigate and quantify changes in atmospheric aerosol emissions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. She hopes to gain valuable scientific knowledge and experience, and an understanding of the scientific research process.
Stephanie Lin
Regional Chemical Modeling
Stephanie Lin is currently a second-year Master's student at Penn State University with strong interests in atmospheric chemistry, particularly in the Arctic region, air pollutants, and aerosols. She joins CSL this summer through NOAA's Experiential Research & Training Opportunities (NERTO) program working with our Regional Chemical Modeling research program under the mentorship of Drs. Brian McDonald, Greg Frost, and Wayne Angevine.
Stephanie has had a lifelong interest in the Earth Sciences. She is originally from New York City and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Atmospheric Sciences from Cornell University. At CSL, she will pursue her interest in Arctic chemistry through 1-D numerical modeling, focusing on polar halogen chemistry, with the goal of improving model representation of these unique chemical processes.