Promoting Geoscience Research, Education & Success

Dr. Lynne Gratz

Dr. Lynne Gratz, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science

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Lynne in the field – collecting ice cores, running instrumentation in a plane & checking on some field equipement

 

 

Education & Experience

B.S. in Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences, University of Michigan, 2004

M.S. in Atmospheric and Space Science, University of Michigan, 2005

Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Space Science, University of Michigan, 2010

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Italian National Research Council (CNR-IIA), 2010-2012

Research Associate, University of Washington-Bothell School of STEM, 2012-2015

Assistant Professor, Colorado College Environmental Program, 2015-present

My Interests

  • Free tropospheric mercury chemistry and long-range transport
  • Mercury point source emissions and impacts of the recent EPA Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS)
  • Relative contributions from local, regional, and global sources to ozone concentrations in the western U.S.

How I became a scientist

When I was in first grade, we were asked to bring in an interesting newspaper article and I brought the 7-day weather forecast. Somehow I knew I was interested in meteorology at a young age, and I also realized I really enjoyed math. After joining the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering and starting to study atmospheric science, I discovered that weather forecasting was not really for me. Instead I became very interested in the environmental impacts of air pollution after doing undergraduate research with a faculty member in Atmospheric Science and the School of Public Health. I found that research to be so interesting that I stuck with it and got my Ph.D. at the same school with the same professor!

How my work benefits society

My research seeks to better understand the contributions of anthropogenic emissions to concentrations of pollutants in the atmosphere over varying spatiotemporal scales (e.g. local, regional, global). I am motivated by the potential negative impacts that atmospheric emissions can have on sensitive ecosystems and human populations. Ultimately, my research can be used to inform environmental policies for improving air quality.